Our build process
Our build process is unique and what sets us apart from our competitors, we don’t simply sell wheels from our website and ship them to you. You should of course go ahead and order a pair of wheels from the website, but it will quickly be followed up by a phone call from Tom our master wheel builder to discuss your wheel build.
From the point of contact with our clients we phone and look to gain as much information as possible, this assists us in getting you the best wheelset possible for your needs. We ask for information including rider speed, rider weight, the normal terrain you ride in (flat or hilly), time of year the wheels will be ridden and the intended use (racing or pleasure). These factors allow us to recommend certain wheel depths or specification changes to best suit your needs.
Selecting rim depth
When we are looking at rim depth there are a few deciding factors that come into play, the primary deciding factor for this is rider speed. Simply put, the faster you ride the deeper the rim you could benefit from, we try to break this down this but 20-21mph tends to be the turning point where rim depth becomes more important. At lower speeds the deeper rim adds additional weight and the speed being travelled isn’t being justified. HOWEVER this is only part of the story, undoubtedly equally as important is aesthetics! Let’s be honest, the deeper the rim the more bad ass your bike looks, so don’t worry regardless of speed we will build you whatever depth of wheel you would like.
Rider Weight
Rider weight is also an important variable when it comes to selecting some of the components of the wheel. Why? Well firstly the spoke tension needs to vary marginally depending on your weight, the heavier the rider the higher the spoke tension, this is because a heavier rider demands a stiffer and stronger wheel. There is a tipping point with regards weight where we recommend some component changes – at 90kgs+ we tend to recommend a slightly thicker and stronger spoke to cope with the additional strain. Then upwards of 110kgs we begin to suggest an increase from 24 up to 28 spokes per wheel this allows the distribution of load to be spread across the spokes better.
Lets talk Nipples!
Nipples! We very very rarely build with alloy nipples, we believe that brass nipples build an infinitely better wheel that is going to allow us to tension your wheels better and which will extend the life of your wheels. Alloy nipples, although a touch lighter, will corrode irrespective of the time of year you ride but if you ride in the winter months this will be sped up drastically, so brass nipples are an absolute must if riding at that time of year. If you don’t request alloy nipples we will always build your wheels with brass nipples!
Once you have spoken to master wheel builder Tom, and we have a good idea of your riding demands, we will decide together on the correct wheel for you and process the order. From this point we will crack on with ordering the relevant components if we don’t already have them in stock. We do endeavour to carry a large amount of stock of our rims and hubs, however we do offer a wide spread of options of depths and finishes so we will quickly notify you if we have to special order anything. All our wheels are hand-built to order so regardless of stock we ensure that your wheels will be tailored to your needs.
When your wheels are ready to ship they will be posted via a tracked service and included in the box will be a selection of bespoke accessories as well as being set up with tubeless tape and valves ready to go. We can even ship your wheels with tyres, cassette and rotors already fitted so you can just drop the wheels straight into your bike.
So all that remains to be said is go and place your order and await your call!