Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

Scott wanted a pair of stealth Enve clinchers for everyday riding.

Scott is a big guy so we went with a 24 hole front wheel and a 28 hole rear to ensure stiffness and durability will be good.  The molded spoke hole in the Enve rims mean the fibers are not damaged by drilling and there is a carbon ‘pad’ for the nipple to sit on which almost eliminates the chance of cracking around the spoke hole.

Chris King R45 road hubs are not the lightest option out there but their high quality and great flange dimensions means they’re well suited for this use.  All King products are made in a ‘green’ factory in Portland, Oregon.

DT Swiss Aerolite spokes and internal nipples tie the wheels together.  The front wheel is laced radially, and the rear is two-cross on both sides.

The black decals are a custom upgrade which I offer at Wheelworks and can be done in any colour under the sun. Personally I think the black-on-black decals look great.

Garth’s original DT Swiss RR1.1 rim had cracked at the eyelets and he cut out the hub and sent it to me to rebuild.

The RR1.1 is now called the 465 which is a double-eyeletted rim with CNC sidewalls and a welded seam – a very nice, high quality rim.

To match the front wheel I used DT Swiss Competition spokes and black brass nipples.

The rebuilt wheel should be ready for many more kms on Auckland’s roads.

Paddy was looking for a pair of year-round training wheels which would stand up to bad roads and inclement weather.

I suggested the DT Swiss 240s hubs as they’re the lowest-maintenance hubset I’ve come across and they’re a great center for a wheelset.

Paddy wanted a high spoke count,’traditional’ wheelset, so we used the Mavic Open Pro rims. No rim lasts forever, especially with the extra wear and tear of wet-weather braking so the Open Pros were chosen for their affordability and ease of replacement in the future.

I used DT Swiss Competition spokes. The front spoke nipples are aluminium to save weight, and the rear are black brass.  The front wheel uses 28 spokes which are laced two-cross, and the rear uses 32 spokes laced three-cross on both sides.

These are a great-looking pair of wheels which should last a loooong time.

Aaron sent down his 28 hole PowerTap Pro+ hub to be built up. After talking about his weight, riding style, and what this wheel was going to be used for we settled on bladed DT Swiss Aerolite spokes and a Kinlin XR-270 rim.

Brass nipples on the driveside add some durability and aluminium on the non-driveside will cut some weight.

At 1063 grams this a weight-conscious way of adding power to a bike.

Peter is doing a lot of riding and improving rapidly and wanted a pair of quicker wheels for events and fast group rides.

With stiffness and durability being key I suggested the excellent Kinlin XR-270 rims and laced with with a light weight DT Swiss 240s rear hub and Alchmey ELF front.

DT Swiss bladed Aerolite spokes will keep the weight down and are bladed for aerodynamics. A combination of brass and aluminium spoke nipples provides strength where needed and light weight where it’s not.

1414 gram actual weight.

680 grams is pretty light for a front wheel, however for an aluminium clincher rear wheel this is pretty much unheard of.

Start with a 136 gram hub then use only 20 light weight Sapim CX-Ray, matched with aluminium nipples, and an American Classic CR420 rim. I’m generally not a fan of rebuilding onto a used rim (more often than not “no” will be the answer) this rim appeared to be in good shape, and given the intended purpose and combination of light weight and reasonable 30mm depth the rim fit the bill.

David in Auckland wanted a stiff, durable pair of wheels to replace his Askiums. David is a big, tall rider so I suggested the excellent White Ind H3 hubset – with it’s steel axle, titanium freehub body and 5 bearing design the rear hub works really well for bigger riders.

Hed C2 rims will allow lower tyre pressures for a more comfortable ride with more traction in the corners. DT Swiss Competition spokes and a combination of brass and aluminium nipples will keep this wheelset rotating for many kms to come.

We settled on yellow decals to match his Scott CR.

Cameron had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted when he approached me, right down to the style of decals he wanted.

A 24 hole Alchmey ELF front hub and 32h ORC rear hub are laced with DT Swiss Aerolite bladed spokes to a pair of Hed C2 rims.

The decals are fully custom – I took the original Hed decal and scanned the logo, changed the colours around, and matched them up to some custom red and white spokes. I don’t normally do this style of decal but I really like the way it turned out.

A wheelset weight of 1483 is incredibly light for such a stiff, durable wheelset.

Enve’s awesome new 6.7 rims are starting to ship. This pair is laced to an Alchemy ELF front hub and a DT Swiss 240s rear hub with DT Swiss bladed Aerolite spokes.

Decals are custom bogan-black to match the stealth look of the rims.

If you haven’t read about Enve’s 6.7 rims then check out this Velonews and this BikeRadar article. Rims are in stock and I can build them to whatever hubs are going to be the best match for your weight and riding style.

Right from the get-go this was a cool project: take a pair of old Campag Record hubs with Colnago patographing, convert them to fit a 126mm-spaced Colnago Master, and build some wheels around them.

In the box: two hubs, an axle, a bunch of bearings, a 7 speed freewheel, and an 8 speed freewheel. Yep – freewheel. Pre-cassette.

First I fitted the new, longer axle, and mocked-up the spacing. I left a 1.5mm overhang on the driveside.

Then the fun starts. After a few notes, a couple of measurements, and bit of math it’s time to make chips.

With the new spacer made I can adjust the hub bearings. When correctly adjust an open-bearing hub will have a slight amount of play before the quick release is clamped – the force of the QR actually compresses the axle and removes this play. Wheelbuilding with a loose hub is a pain and makes it very hard to hit the tenth of a millimter targets I build to so at this point the hub is adjusted to be too tight.

With the hub in one piece I can measure the flange offsets and calculate the spoke lengths are per normal.