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Wheels: the great mystery
There is a lot of hype and buzz around bicycle wheels. So allow me to de-mystify the whole topic. First, you should know what makes one wheel better than another. The truth is, it depends on the application. A well made wheel using the hub that matches your group, Usually Shimano or Campagnolo, will give you years of reliable service. The weight will be competitive or lower than comparably priced "Factory Built Wheels" . And should you break a spoke, it can be repaired by any bike shop in the country.
I have never had problems with Shimano, Campagnolo, DT or Velocity hubs. These manufacturers make hubs that will last for years and years with minimal service and no failures on the road. I generally use , Velocity, Mavic or Stans rims and DT Swiss Competition spokes. These components consistently build into great performing and reliable wheels. My hand built wheels are the best you can buy for everyday training and fitness riding. By altering spoke count and lacing pattern, I can customize my wheels to accommodate a heavier rider or to withstand the rigors of touring.
RACING WHEELS
I have also built road racing wheels with alloy clincher rims as light as 1400 grams per set. You could race on a set of these hand built wheels and do just fine. Most of the "factory built race" wheels will cost more and weigh more with no measurable increase in performance. And to further muddy the water, many of the factory wheels can not be repaired at the local bike shop. All of my wheels are built with parts that are readily available.
For MTB cross country racing I use Stans tubeless rims, use sealant and your favorite tire and pinch flats are a thing of the past. The Stan's sealant will also seal many punctures instantantly, Wow flat free riding.
Contact me with your wheel specs and questions and I will give you a quote for my hand laced wheels suitable for your weight and the type of riding that you are doing.
Thoughts on Wheels
There are way too many wheel sets on the market today. It used to be that the only way to get a good set of racing wheels was to have your local bike shop build them for you. A typical racing wheel would have a Campagnolo or Suntour hub, DT double butted spokes and Mavic GL 330 rims. Nobody seriously raced on clinchers, so all good race wheels were tubular only.
As rim and tire manufactures worked to improve the quality of clincher tires and rims, the performance gap between clinchers and tubulars became very narrow. Because it's easier to change a tire or repair a flat with clinchers they began to dominate the high end market, even gaining acceptance with amateur and professional racers.
Fast forward a few years, and now we find a market glutted with high end, high price, clincher "race" wheels. There are literally so many to choose from that most people can't figure out which one is best for them. So most riders wind up buying a set of expensive "race" wheels to train on every day. A large number of these wheels are not well suited for daily riding, nor do they really excel at racing! Here's why.
Most of them weigh between 1500 and 1900 grams per pair. Most use proprietary hubs, spokes and rims, making it hard to get them repaired at most bike shops. Some companies, won't even sell their parts to local bike shops to make the repairs. They require the rider to send the wheel back to the factory for repair, which is both time consuming and costly! Most of these wheels don't perform any better nor are they any lighter than wheels that we were racing on 20 years ago! With todays materials, I can build wheels that are lighter, less expensive and more durable than most factory builds.
Also, keep in mind that factory made wheels are built to sell, afterall they have a factory to support. How do they make wheels to sell? Simple, they use propriatary spokes and lacing paterns, so the marketing guys can convince you that it's better in some way. And, they sacrifice durability for light weight, everyone wants lighter wheels.
I strongly believe that every rider should have a set of my hand laced wheels because I build wheels to ride, not to sell mass volumns and support a factory. These would be the wheels that you ride every day and they never go out of true, spokes rarely break, they are light enough to perform well and durable enough to continue to perform well for many years.
ORDERING
If you live in or near Greenville, SC, you can simply call or email me to make an appointment! Then we can sit down and discuss the best wheels for your application!
If you don't live nearby, please fill out the form below.
IF YOU DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME, EMAIL AND PHONE NUMBER, I WILL NOT RESPOND TO YOUR REQUEST!
PLEASE NOTE: I DO NOT SHIP WHEELS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, SO IF YOU LIVE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, PLEASE FIND A WHEELBUILDER CLOSER TO HOME! |
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