Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

Paul wanted an internal-hub wheel to match an electric motor front wheel.  He used the Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub and we matched it to an Alex Adventurer rim which is a close visual match to the front rim.

The spokes are DT Swiss Competition and use brass nipples.

This silver Rohloff 14 speed hub is laced to a Stan’s Arch EX rim.  This was the first time I’d had a chance to see the internals of a Rohloff and they’re truly impressive!

Ian wanted a stiff but light pair of wheels for general XC riding around Nelson’s Rabbit Island.

We used the awesome Pro2 hubs front and rear.  Both hubs are setup for standard quick release levers but should Ian upgrade to a new frame or fork in the future it’s easy to convert these hubs to nearly every axle ‘standard’ out there.

The Arch EX works very well as a crosscountry rim for larger, more powerful riders.

The front spokes are a combination of DT Swiss Competitions and Revolutions with aluminium nipples.  The rear spokes are all Competitions with brass nipples.

After re-building Mat’s Tune hubs with some new Enve tubeless XC rims Mat went on to give them a good thrashing.  Here is his writeup after a few rides:

http://mathewwaghorn.webs.com/apps/blog/show/15060990-my-new-bling-enve-composite-rims

Just before the T42 race, I received a nice upgrade to my race bike. My old rims were getting buckled and dented, as light weight rims do with age. Tristan, from Wheelworks informed me that it would a good idea to replace them before I went overseas, as they may not be able to last the entire trip. For a while I was thinking about another set of Notubes rims, but I would eventually have to replace them again. Tristan then suggested I look at the Enve Carbon rims. After a few emails and some thought consolidation I decided to go for them. They weigh about 30g per Rim heavier than my old rims, but they easily make up for this unnoticeable weight difference with their control and the peace of mind you acquire from them. I have got the the T42 race, a club race, and the 24 hour Moonride under my belt on these rims as well as a training session to get used to them and find for myself the performance benefits received. As soon as I hit the first corner of my first ride I could feel the difference. These Rims are extremely stiff. They handle like a dream; you point the wheel in a certain direction and you WILL go there (traction permitting). The tracks at Santoft are some of the more twisty and tight tracks that I ride. At the club race there I was loving it. Flying around corners and being able to trust my wheels 100% to do their job. I see these wheels as a Hybrid between my Crossmax SLR wheelset and my Notubes wheelset. Stiffer than my Crossmax with weight of my Notubes. It’s great to be able to have the peace of mind that these rims offer. They have just bumped up their warranty to 5 years. That is some serious confidence in their product, and therefore some serious confidence for their customers. They say “The ENVE XC rim is made for cross country racers and trail riders alike, and is only limited by the amount of time you have to ride them”. That sounds good to me! I have been running them with my 2.2 continental tires, and the combination makes for such an incredible ride. The extra absorption from the tires, plus the dampening effects of the carbon rims make it extraordinarily smooth. I really feel that the balance in this wheelset between light weight and handling is perfect. They have tremendous control around each corner and still great acceleration and speed. And to top it all off, they look great. The slightly deeper rims with my fat 2.2 tires make them look extremely meaty and fast. Just the look they deserve, and live up to. On top of that, the decals are done with perfection. An awesome Logo by Enve and the ever impressive wheelworks decals, customized with my name. Perfection.

  

If you are currently looking for a great upgrade to your bike then go no further than these rims. I couldn’t rate them any higher; 5 stars from me.

HUGE thanks to Wide Open (the distributors of ENVE) and Tristan from Wheelworks for sorting these wheels out for me. I rate Tristan’s wheel builds very highly; he’s your man if you need to know anything about wheels, or if you need a set built or maintained. Feel free to contact him, a link to his website is on my sponsors page.

Thomas wanted a new pair of wheels for his mountain bike and after I built a pair of wheels for his road bike last year he knew where to come.

Hope Pro2 hubs in red look great and work exceptionally well.  The new EVO version means it’s even easier and cheaper to upgrade the wheels to different axle sizes should a new frame or fork come along.

Stan’s Arch EX are a personal favorite rim – light, stiff, easy to use tubeless, but often overlooked for the lighter Crest.

I used alternating red and black spoke nipples to match the hubs.  The driveside rear spoke nipples are black brass.

A combination of DT Swiss Revolution and Competition spokes will give the right combination of lateral stiffness and light weight for Thomas’ weight and riding style.

A couple of years ago I built Mag Waghorn a pair of light weight mountain bike wheels with Tune hubs and Stan’s Race rims.  Mat’s had a lot of use out of these wheels (including a trip to the Worlds in Canada) and the rims were starting to look a bit second-hand.  The Stan’s Race rims are just that – a very light weight rim which works well for racing but isn’t the most durable rim in the world.

Mat’s light Tune King and Kong hubs were in great shape so we rebuilt them onto a pair of Enve XC tubeless rims.

The Enve rims are slightly heavier than the Race but are much stiffer and will have better durability.

Spokes are DT Swiss Revolution.  The rear wheel is laced 2-cross on the driveside because that’s how the Race wheels were built and it’s always best to use the same lacing pattern on a used hub.  The rear non-driveside and both sides of the front wheel are 3-cross.

1319 is a slight weight increase but I’m looking forward to Mat’s feedback on how the stiffer rims ride.

David originally brought in his rear wheel with a destroyed American Classic hub to have the ZTR Olympic rim re-laced into a new hub, however after looking at the dents and marks on the rim I suggested that a new rim would be a good idea.

I used gold aluminium nipples to match the gold Hope Pro2 hub.   DT Swiss Competition spokes on the driveside and Revolution spokes on the non-drive provide a good balance of stiffness and light weight for David’s weight and riding style.

As with all wheels I build this one has a 3 year broken spoke guarantee.

Back in January I built a rear wheel for Mike in Ashburton- well it must have worked well for him as he ordered a matching front!

A blue Hope Pro2 with a QR15 axle, blue Wheelworks decal, and a Stan’s Flow rim match the rear. I used DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples.  Mike is a big fella so this combination will be stiff and durable for him.

James needed a new rear wheel for his Gary Fisher after breaking spokes after almost every ride.

A strong rim was in order and the Stan’s Flow is perfect.  These are a wide, stiff rim which build up really well and will work with a wide range of tyre widths.

I used the awesome Pro2 rear hub as it stands up extremely well to larger riders, and all the small-parts for servicing are easy and affordable to get.

DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples tie everything together and will keep the wheel running true and broken-spoke-free for many years to come.

James sent me his old hub with cassette and rotor still attached so I fitted these to the new wheel and it’s on it’s way back to Rotoura.

I stand behind my work 100% and guarantee no broken spokes for 3 years (barring any big hits or crashes of course) so if you’re a larger fella and you want your wheel problems to go away give me a call.

Simon’s new Specialized Epic 29er is an awesome bike but the factory wheelsets leave a lot to be desired and Simon wanted to drop some weight.

I laced a pair of DT Swiss 240s hubs to Stan’s Crest rims.

The front hub is a 9mm thru-axle for the RWS skewers used on the Epic forks. The rear is the awesome 142×12 thru-axle.

DT Swiss Revolution spokes on the front and rear non-driveside keep the weight down. Competition spokes on the rear driveside add some stiffness which is lost from the offset of the cassette.

Red aluminium nipple and red decals give the wheelset some colour.

These are off to Rotorua for the Oceania’s on the weekend – best of luck Simon!