For such a simple concept, wheels are incredibly complex. There is an almost infinite combination of hubs, spokes and rims, each with their own pros and cons – we’d need a whole other website to do them justice.  Have a look at Sheldon Brown’s article on wheel building to get started.

We have good stock of cheap pre-built wheels for getting you back on the road ’same day’, but if the budget will allow, hand built wheels offer great value in the long term.

We build primarily with Mavic or Velocity rims, DT Swiss spokes and Shimano hubs.

Favourite 700c rims include Mavic Open Pros or Sports for road and Mavic 719s or Velocity Dyads for touring/loaded commuting.  For 26″ rims Mavic 317s are amazing value and 717s or EX729s are the business for lightweight or bullet proof applications respectively.

Unless you’re really strapped for cash, we always build with double butted spokes as they are lighter, stronger and more durable. But like all good things in life, they cost a little more.  DT Competions are the default choice, but triple butted Alpine IIIs (2.3, 1.8, 2.0) or Super Competitions (2.0, 1.7, 1.8) are better still for bullet proof or lightweight applications respectively.

When it comes to spoke lacing patterns i.e. 3 cross vs 2 cross vs radial vs ‘whatevercrazypatternyoucanthinkof’  it’s best to have that conversation in person!  If you’re really interested, ask us about symetrical vs asymetrical lacing……

Hubs wise, you can’t go past Shimano for their combination of performance, durability and value. They also have a huge range so there is a perfect hub for every application.  We are also big fans of internal gear and dynamo hubs so can help you spec and build non-standard wheelsets.  Finally, if you want to build wheels that you can pass on to your grand children, they really need to be Phil Wood hubs….