Road Wheels …

Tim’s disc brake front wheel

Tim wanted a new wheel for a project bike he was building. On the road, the disc brake is coming fast and Tim was looking at a bike that could be taken on all 3 roads – sealed, dirt and full on off road.

Tim had a nice shiny Phil Wood 36 hole hub that would do nicely. Being a 36 hole hub limited our options a little but we knew the Mavic Open Pro would handle all that could be thrown at it with its double eyelets and good Maxtal aluminium.

Keeping the shiny classic look going we used silver DT Swiss competition spokes and silver brass nipples.

If Tim’s training keeps going well this wheel may also get to go on the Kiwi Brevet. Good and reliable he asked – no problems.

Peter’s DI2 Alfine

Peter came into us to asking if we could build the Shimano DI2 11 speed Alfine hub he had just purchased into his existing rim. Seeing the DI2 Alfine hub for the first time I knew It would be a interesting project that dose not come up all that often.

The Shimano DI2 Alfine hub would solve the reliability problems that Peter was having with the gears skipping when the electric motor was at full power. The hub matched the number of spoke holes on the rim so we where good to go.

36 DT Swiss competition spokes latter, some time fitting the wheel to the bicycle, two men to lift the bicycle from the repair stand and the next thing I was down the road with out pedaling into a good (Wellington) headwind at 25kshr.

Peter will now enjoy the commute with out the maintenance of external gears when he chooses to pedal and a reliable rear wheel for years to come.

Daniels White T11 hubs and Pacenti SL23 rims training wheels

Dan wanted a pair of durable training wheels. He races at a National level so these wheels will see plenty of kms of training as well as club racing. For bigger races he’ll use his carbon wheels but these will end up in the wheel wagon.

Durability and ease of maintenance were two strong criteria of Dans. We chose the White Industries T11 hubs – they run on large bearings and the titanium freehub body means the cassette cogs won’t dig into the freehub.

Pacenti SL23 rims are wider than usual and will let Dan run lower tyre pressure for better grip and cornering as well as better comfort for the long miles on the road.

DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples finish off a super durable wheelset.

Paul’s DT Swiss 240s disc hubs with 11 speed and Crest rims

Paul’s custom Independent Fabrication disc road bike was waiting on two final pieces to be complete: the hubs. We were initially waiting for King’s new R45 disc which were slated for delivery in January but it’s now the end of April and we’re still waiting so the decision was made to move to DT Swiss 240s hub.

I used the mountain bike version of the 240s to accept a Center Lock rotor. I removed the 10 speed freehub body and fitted a 11 speed unit from the road hubs – this widens the over-locknut by 1mm but that’s no problem: Most of the 11 speed road hubs are 1mm wider than their usual 130mm width to accommodate the extra cog without impacting on flange spacing too much – in reality this is only 1/2mm per side of the hub which the frame needs to stretch and most frames are built slightly over 130mm to ensure the wheel is easy to install and remove so it’s really no issue. In this case the hub is 136mm as the frame is built to mountain bike / disc road standards.

The rims are Stan’s ZTR Crest. Why no carbon? The rarity of disc-road hubs meant using 28 hole hubs – for Paul’s weight using a 24h with a stiff rim would have been fine – so there was no benefit in spending extra money just for carbon-bling. The Crest rims are extremely light and will be suitably stiff with the 28 drilling.

Spokes are DT Swiss Aerolites with two white spokes and red nipples at each valve.

Sub-1400 gram weight is ridiculously light for a ‘normal’ road wheel – factor in the disc brake hubs and this is impressive.

Dan’s Flite carbon with Chris King hubs

This is a build that we love to do!

We like to think that we do a good job and a repeat customer is the highest compliment We build a lot of cool wheels BUT its the repeat business that we like the best. We are proud of our work and a repeat order just makes us smile that little bit more.

We built up some alloy road wheels around a year ago and they are going well but Dan wanted something a bit faster and lighter for the race days and still go the distance day in day out. We chose the Flite 35 front and Flite 45 rear to keep the weight down, stiffness and aero speed up. Dan’s alloy wheels will be passed onto his second bike.

The Chris King hubs are a all time classic with their precision machining, awesome looks and super smooth bearings. We chose the red to tie in with the bikes colour scheme and to stand out from the many black hubs out there. The rear hub is fitted with a Campagnolo freehub body.

The DT Swiss Aerolite spokes keeps the wheel weight down while helping the aero rims hold the speed gained with every pedal stroke.

A happy customer now with two sets of great performing wheels to which we at Wheelworks say thanks.

Will’s Flite clincher with ELF and 240s 11 speed hubs

Will wanted a pair of carbon road wheels which could be used for events like the Half Ironman as well as general road riding and training.

Our Flite carbon rims fit the bill perfectly so we matched them to an Alchemy ELF front hub and DT Swiss 240s rear. These hubs are both very light and require almost zero maintenance meaning Will can spend more time riding and less time fiddling with his bike.

Spokes are bladed DT Swiss Aerolite and like all of our wheels we guarantee Will won’t ever break one.

1347 gram actual weight is lighter than a Zipp 202, DuraAce C24 or basically any other wheelset out there, and this wheelset uses an aero 45mm rear rim.

Malcolms 45mm deep Flite carbon clinchers with ELF and T11 hubs

Just in time for the Grape Ride! Malcolm damaged his front wheel a couple of weeks ago and decided to upgrade to a new pair of Flite carbon clinchers.

We used an Alchemy ELF front hub matched with a White Industries T11 rear. These hubs have wide flange spacing and will build into a stiff pair of wheels.

DT Swiss Aerolite spokes with two white spokes at each valve hold the wheels together. Like all of our wheels these have a lifetime broken spoke guarantee.

The Flite 45mm carbon rims are a perfect all-around rim and build into a wheelset suitable for everything from daily training to events and funrides.

Bruce’s Pacenti SL23 rims and ELF and T11 hubs

Bruce purchased a pair of Enves from us a couple of months ago and was obviously impressed enough with the service and the wheels that he ordered a second pair of wheels for his training bike.

The Pacenti SL23 was used for it’s 24m width – this opens a normal tyre up and allows for lower air pressure for better comfort and grip – perfect for training and commuting.

Bruce’s last pair of wheels used Chris King R45 hubs but he wanted to try something different so we used an Alchemy ELF and White Industries T11 for this wheelset.

Spokes are bladed DT Swiss Aerolites – a bit overkill for commuting but it means these wheels can see fast group rides, club racing etc as well.

Black-on-black decals and Bruce’s nickname written at the valve give a very subtle look to this high performance wheelset.

Paul’s Alchemy ELF and DT Swiss 240s laced to Pacenti SL23 rims

Paul wanted a great pair of aluminium all-around wheels for training and events.

We’re transitioning away from using the Hed C2 rim and will be using these Pacenti SL23 rims in the future. They’re very similar: both are 23mm wide and build up really well. The SL23 is slightly deeper but a very similar weight and with a sensible pair of hubs will build up into a very light, stiff wheelset.

For this wheelset we used an Alchemy ELF front hub and paired it to a DT Swiss 240s rear. Both of these hubs are class leaders in durability and ease of use.

Spokes are DT Swiss Aerolites with two white spokes at each valve and custom white decals.

1430 gram actual weight.

Jurjens Enve 45 rims with an ELF front hub and Powertap rear

Jurjen came down pretty hard in last weekend’s Waikanae fun ride – not much fun. His Zipp rear rim was badly damaged and needed to be replaced.

The 28 hole PowerTap hub was still in good shape so it made sense to re-build onto it. The Enve 45 rim is a great rim, much lighter than his old Zipp, and comes in a 28 hole drilling. Perfect!

Jurjen decided to have a matching front wheel built. We used an Alchemy ELF hub and a 20 hole Enve 45 rim.

The Enve 45 rims don’t get a lot of love with the 3.4 being available but they’re fantastic rims and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Spokes are DT Swiss Aerolite with two red spokes at each valve. Red had been scientifically proven* to be the fastest colour and therefore red spokes will make this wheelset faster. Plus they match the red decals.