Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

Last October I built a pair of wheels for Tim who was getting into endurance cycling.  Tim wasn’t a light rider at the time and he was having some problems breaking spokes on his factory Shimano wheels, and I promised him that I could build something better.

I just got this email from him.  It’s a great feeling to know that the wheels I build get ridden hard and perform well.

Hi Tristran,

I thought it was time I updated my original comments on the wheels, as at last posting I’d only done 400k on them.

Well just over 10 months and 20,000km…yes 20K! on they are still as good as the day I first put them on my bike. I ride on them all the time, they don’t get cosseted as ‘race day or event’ wheels. I did in a moment of laziness chuck my Shimanos on rather than fix a puncture, these are wheels that had less than 3000km on and with in 100k they broke a spoke!

Only issue we have had was not due to any fault in the wheel but more due to the fault of the idiot in the bunch who decided that at 38kmh in the middle of the bunch the thing to do was stop pedalling and stand up to rest the butt cheeks! The resulting accident put me off the bike for a week and sent the wheel slightly out of true, but you quickly sorted that for me in about 2 minutes!

Might have to look at some more wheels once I get below the 85k mark to save some more weight on the rolling mass.

Sam wanted some new wheels for his Stumpjumper and chose the gold Pro2 hubs to match the linkage plates of the bike. With the price of gold at an all-time high this pair of wheels is quite fitting.

Pro2 EVO hubs will work on Sam’s current bike and because of their modular design will likely work on his next one too, regardless of what front and rear axle ‘standards’ the industry has created in a few years time.

A combination of DT Swiss Revolution and Competition spokes keeps the weight down while providing enough lateral stiffness.

Rear driveside spoke nipples are black brass. All the others are aluminium, and the front is alternating black and gold to match the rear wheel. Bling, bling.

 

Bill sent me a used Rohloff and a new Pro2 EVO front hub for his new 29er. The Rohloff had been used on a 26″ wheel.

I supplied the Stan’s Arch rims, DT Swiss Competition spokes, and the hard-to-find black brass nipples.

The front wheel is built 3x on both sides. The Rohloff needs to be laced 2x because of the large flanges and the design of the cutouts. I’m not 100% sure as I don’t keep the serial numbers of the Rohloffs but I think I built this hub a few years back into it’s 26″ rim.

 

The Balfour Pennington handicap series is back! Signaling the end of winter and the start of the spring race season the Balfour Pennington series will be run on six fantastic Wellington circuits.

I’m very excited to be sponsoring this year’s series and in doing so I’ll be giving away a pair of $1600 Flite01 wheels to a lucky entrant.  It works like this:

• You have to be a PNP club member. Join the club now if you’re not already a member.
  
• Each time you marshal or compete in a Balfour Pennington race you get an entry into the (digital) ballot box
• At the post-series prizing giving we’ll (digitally) draw the winner of the wheels.
• There are three variants of the wheels which cover rider weights from 65kg to 95kg.
  

Download Balfour Pennington 2011 Poster

Race 1 – Burnham wharf > Lyall bay > return

August 6.  Registration 12:30-1:15

Starts: Chocolate Fish. Finishes: Kau Bay

Download BP2011 race 1 poster

29km with 200m of climbing.  Mapmyride course route.

 

Race 2 – Wanui > coast > return

August 13. Registration 12:30-1:15

Starts and Finishes: Homedale road, Wainuiomata

Download race 2 poster

36km with 183m of climbing. Mapmyride course route.

 

 

Race 3 – Burnham wharf > Lyall bay > return > Mt Crawford

August 20.  Registration 12:30-1:15

Starts: Chocolate Fish. Finishes: Mt Crawford

37km with 327m of climbing. Mapmyride course route.

 

Race 4 – Blue Mountains > Wallaceville

August 27.  Registration 12:30-1:15

Starts and finishes: Gorrie Road, Whitemans Valley.

51km with 470m of  climbing.  Mapmyride course route.

Race 5 – Eastbourne > Wainui > coast > return Wainui

September 3.  Registration 12:30-1:15

Starts: Eastbourne. Finishes: Wainuiomata

52km with 373m of climbing.  Mapmyride course route

 

Race 6 – Burnham wharf > Awa Rd > Mt Crawford

September 10.  Registration 12:30-1:15

Start Chocolate fish. Finishes: Mt Crawford

45km with 439m of climbing.  Mapmyride course route.

Prizegiving to follow