Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

Last year I built Clint a pair of wheels using red XR-270 rims and DT Swiss 240s hubs. Clint is  a tall, powerful rider who clocks up some serious weekly kilmetres and wanted a robust, but lightweight wheelset for general use. The XR-270 is a great lightweight, 27mm deep aluminuim  rim and is a proven workhorse for many of my clients. However, Clint’s rear rim developed some cracking at some of the spoke holes. Hence, I replaced the rear rim a few months ago but the replacement did the same. I began to realise with the combination of  Clint’s stature and the high kms he’s logging, the 28-hole spoke count and XR-270 just wasn’t suitable for the rear wheel in this instance. Although I was surprised, I take a fair amount of the responsibility – a big part of having custom wheels built is that the components are matched to the rider and their intended  use. Lightweight products are a staple of the cycling market, and there is often some pressure to produce the lightest possible wheelset which meets that need, but in this case the tolerance was just a little fine.

I’ve rebuilt Clint’s hubs using the DT Swiss 585 rim.  It’s a similar depth to the XR-270 but a heavier, stiffer rim. Athough the front wheel had no such problems both of us understandably wanted to colour match the wheelset, therefore we opted to rebuilt both wheels.

The new rims have a slightly different depth and require different length spokes, so all new spokes and spoke nipples were used.  As with the original wheelset the front nipples are aluminium to save weight, and the rear are brass.

Will wanted to upgrade to a power meter and with plenty of last-years PowerTap hubs being special’ed off by US retailers he supplied this Pro+ unit.

To keep with a classic theme we used the DT Swiss 465 rim.  This is a super high quality, box-section, double-eyelleted rim.  These DT rims really do build up well.

DT Swiss Competition spokes and black brass nipples round-out the 32×3 rear wheel.

Colin in Sydney wanted a pair of wheels which would be suitable for daily riding on a new stainless steel bike.

The Hed C2 rims have a fantastic ride quality and build up really well.  They’re getting harder to get which is a real pain and I’ll be looking for a good substitute.

Polished Chris King R45 hubs and polished DT Swiss Aerolite spokes are modern and high-tech but add a touch of old-school class to the wheelset.

The front wheel uses 24 radial laced spokes with aluminium nipples.  The rear wheel is built with brass nipples and 32 spokes, 3-cross.

This is a great looking pair of wheels.

Paul wanted a stiff rear wheel…I mean really stiff.  He’d had some bad luck with Reynolds and decided that the Enve 65 rim would be the best option.  I agreed.

We used an Alchemy ORC hub.  This hub has the best driveside bracing angle of anything out there meaning it builds into a stiff wheel.

I laced them together with 28 DT Swiss Aerolite bladed spokes.  Why 28?  Because its, you guessed it, stiff.

Custom black Enve decals look awesome.

Kevin called wanting a pair of tubular event / race wheels which would be aerodynamic and light.  He’s not very heavy so he also wanted a wheelset which would handle crosswinds well.

The Enve 3.4 tubulars are the perfect rim for these roles.

I used an Alchemy ELF front hub and a DT Swiss 240s rear hub, and had the hubs and two spokes at each valve coloured in arctic white to match Kevin’s bike.

All spokes are DT Swiss Aerolites with Enve internal spoke nipples.

1254 grams is a great weight for such an aerodynamic and versatile pair of wheels.

Peter wanted a pair of carbon clinchers which could be used for events and racing.

Pete is a powerful rider so we used a White Ind H3 rear hub.  The titanium freehub body won’t allow the cogs to dig-in like an aluminium freehub body will, and the wide flange spacing builds into a stiff wheel.  There won’t be any Zipp-style brakepad rub with this wheelset!

An Alchemy ELF hub keeps the front wheel light and stiff to match the rear.

All the spokes are bladed DT Swiss Aerolites.  Two white spokes at each valve add a bit of style.

The rims are a Wheelworks-branded 45mm deep full-carbon clincher.  Even with the ‘heavy’ rear hub this pair of wheels is only 1438 grams which is 90 grams lighter than a 303 clincher while being stiffer, costing less, and including a 3 year broken spoke guarantee.

Steve wanted a light weight carbon clincher wheelset with a PowerTap rear hub.

This PowerTap is the new G3 with improved flange spacing over the older G2 hubs.  With a weight increase of only 100 grams over a standard light-weight rear hub this hub is a very weight-concious way of measuring power.  Laced to a 45mm rim this wheel gives a great balance of aero and light weight.

A 35mm deep carbon clincher front rim is laced to an Alchemy ELF hub to keep the wheelset weight down.

These wheels are off to Sydney for their new owner.

Michael wanted a pair of light weight full-carbon clinchers for everyday use.

I used a Wheelworks 35mm front rim and 45mm rear rim to provide great lateral stiffness and light weight.

A front Alchemy ELF keeps the weight down and increases stiffness.  A rear DT Swiss 240s provides a top-quality freehub body mechanism and pairs well to the 45mm rim.

Spokes are bladed DT Swiss Aerolites.

Matt black decals on both the hubs and rims give a stealth look.  1362 grams is exceptionally light for a pair of everyday clinchers.

Mike wanted a new pair of carbon clinchers for the upcoming Tour of New Zealand.

We chose the Enve 45 clincher rims with a 24 front / 28 rear spoke count to provide great stiffness and durability for Mike.

Chris King Campagnolo-compatibile hubs in red add a nice touch of colour to the wheels and work well with larger and more powerful riders because of their wide flange spacing and exceptional quality.  Custom black Enve decals provide a stealth look at the rim.

These are a top-quality pair of carbon clinchers.

Well a lot of people (myself included) thought it was never going to happen, but Chris King finally started shipping their Campagnolo rear hubs!  Campagnolo compatibility was the main reason they introduced the R45 hubs and moved away from their ‘Classic’ 72-point engagement system to the smaller 45-point road system (hence the R45 name)

This pair of black hubs is laced to a pair of 23mm wide Hed C2 rims.  I used DT Swiss bladed Aerolite spokes on both the 24 hole front and 28 hole rear wheels.  The front spoke nipples are aluminium while the rear are brass.

I’ve built a couple (one, two) of wheelsets for Daniel and his awesome bikes like this Look so it was great to build a pair for his new Hampsten.  Daniel will be happy to know these wheels were laced while the Tour of Flanders played in the background.