I am new, to this whole riding my racing bike through the city as fast as possible. But after one month of just going maybe 40 ks in a day, my wheels already start to not be good anymore. i will need a new pair and i was wondering wether any of you professional guys would recommend a type or brand of wheels, that withstand the whole racing through the city thing, braking whilst sliding, occasional cobblestone pavement etc.
thnx a bunch for any helping reply
paul
p.s: since i am still training and trying to find out wether i have the guts for this job (ye know the whole deliver or die madness), the weight of the wheels is not that important. also i do not yet ride a fixie.
What Bill said... A month sounds about right, that's how long it took me to break both of my wheels. I'm getting mine built over at Velorution. They have the old school freewheels and hubs in stock if you're into that sorta thing.
If you haven't already, get a cheap ass second hand bike before your wheels actually do break.
If you can find Harry Rowland, he really does build the best wheels....builds wheels for other manufacturers / shops for their pro / sponsored riders...but that's a secret....he built me up a pair of 36 hole dura ace small flange track hubs....make for courier work I said, the front stayed dead true until the brake blocks wore through the rim! the back wheel's still going strong 5 years later and 3 1/2 of those were on circuit.
I've had shit condor wheels, maybe Monty didn't make 'em.
thnx a bunch so much info - great!!! i ll dig into that handbuild thing once i am not dead broke anymore. until then i ll probably just get a set of new ebay racin bike wheels for 50 quid.
what s the difference when you get handbuild wheels, except for the performance? (i mean technically) how much practice is needed before i can tighten the spokes myself? i was told its nearly impossible to learn if you dont have endless practice time and wheels on your hand..., true?
if you say that your wheels last several thousand ks does that mean without touching and readjusting (tightening the spokes)? good wheels just stay true?
Truing a wheel isn't hard. you just need patience. But a well-built wheel shouldn't need that much attention. At most, maybe a re-tension after the first 1000k
" i was told its nearly impossible to learn if you dont have endless practice time and wheels on your hand..., true?"
whoever told you that is either a liar or a clueless fool
I learnt from this G-sport BMX guide to wheelbuilding its a piece of piss once you've read it, keep referring back to it until you know the technique off by heart
Some people can, some people can't. I did it once. The wheel collapsed (totally collapsed, banana shaped and floppy spokes) in an alleycat, and dumped me on the tarmac.
just rock up to your local bikeshop and ask for a shagged rear wheel, take it home and make love to it all night long! (opps sorry wrong forum!!) , get home get a cuppa, and a spoke key (flathead screwdriver helps too) and take it apart. log into sheldon brown website and he will tell you how to rebuild the wheel:
save some money and build your own, seriously. in the course of working you will go through shit loads of rims spokes and the occasional hub. its not too tricky, i used to use texas ambrosio rims but fuck knows if you can still get them, they were great. halo rims are tuff as nails, but they are a bit heavy...
um...yeah, i wouldnt really recommend carbon wheels for work, hand built, 36 spoke, well built 3 cross should last you longer then a 4 spoke carbon that can never be trued. But it dont look as nice.
32 hole Mavic open pro ceramics, spokes of wheelbuilders choice, Dura-Ace hubs + a good wheelbuilder.
There was a guy in Cycle Surgery in West Hampstead who built good wheels - but he went off to build boats instead. There is also a brilliant mechanic in Whiskers in Goffs Oak who can build wheels to the standard Winston describes above - e.g. 18 months courier work on a wheel and then the hub goes cock while the rim is still going strong.
Fuck me, hasn't anyone fire-bombed Whiskers yet? I remember being refused service when they were still in Willesden cos I mentioned the words 'mountain' and 'bike' in the same sentence.
What I like is the way they open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday only - and close for an hour on these days for lunch. And you have to send an SAE for a catalogue. That is proper retailing you can't knock, that is.
ceramics.. now they are good. not that you need them if your being cool and left the brake at home n all that. still, adds about 4x more longivity & x2 braking depth
had two lots of wheels from condor, one rear died in 100miles, but it was built as a rush job.
one rear from brixtons was kind of egg shaped in its circle for some reason, which was weird when you know that the builting rig has a pan for checking movement this way too. who knows, maybe i pissed them off there or something...
best set of wheels ever was hope xc on 217 ceramics, by alf jones up in north wales. perfect wheel built..
i reckon the best bet is to not rush a builder for the wheels, so that way they won't cut corners..
32H or 36H (if you're heavy/rough) Ultegra hubs (not DA), stainless DT spokes of builders suggested gauge - based on wheel's purpose, mavic or velocity mid-depth rims. Not optimum for climbing, nor TT's but durability-wise.. sweet. 90% of the strength lies with the builder's skill anyway.