Custom wheel building purchase advice

ashleymp777

Morning all,

After looking at all manner of new and 2nd hand wheel sets I'm now considering get a pair custom built. I've done the usual google search for custom wheel building, but probably because it's too early in the morning and my brain isn't fully functioning just yet I can't seem to find a decent shop to approach.

So the question is, who would you recommend I contact? I have approx £6-700 to spend. So not an inconsiderable amount by any means.

Thanks

Ashley

ugo.santalucia

Maybe you are looking at the wrong shops.
In south London West to East there are myself, a guy called Jonathan who runs Noble wheels and Arup Sen who build wheels. Pearson in Sheen also build wheels if you prefer to deal with a shop.
North of the river, Condor build wheels and Brick Lane Bikes do build wheels, although both are quite niche in their own ways and limited in what they can or want to do.
If you are happy to deal with deliveries, then the country is your oyster: The Cycle Clinic, Strada, Just Riding Along they are all excellent, some others less so (I didn't say ALL others).

cycleclinic

Arup Sen is a familar name I am sure I have sold him some spokes!

veronese68

Still very happy with my wheels built by Ugo, as are others I've sent recommended him to. If you're anywhere near give him a go. I can't comment on others as I haven't used them.

drlodge

I've used Ugo and Harry Rowland. Wheel builders will differ in what they will build and the advice they will give.

Harry will build only reliable wheels that aren't sexy, but he gives excellent advice. Ugo will (I think) build you anything (within reason) using hubs/rims provided by you or himself, whereas Harry is less "flexible" on components.

Choice of builder will depend on the advice you need to select the right components, and whether you want "reliable/sensible" wheels or something flash that won't last.

I've hardly used the wheels Ugo has built me, but they look well built...Harry's wheels are strong and as round as the day I got them.

ugo.santalucia

drlodge wrote:

Harry will build only reliable wheels that aren't sexy, but he gives excellent advice. Ugo will (I think) build you anything (within reason) using hubs/rims provided by you or himself, whereas Harry is less "flexible" on components.

Or to put it in another way, Harry is a stubborn man who doesn't want to deal with a certain distributor as they had disagreements in the past and therefore refuses to build what are extremely popular rims.
Ugo enjoys a farily good relationship with the same distributor and therefore he is happy to use and supply those excellent rims...

DiscoBoy

These are some sexy wheels for in your budget:
viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12964664

drlodge

ugo.santalucia wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Harry will build only reliable wheels that aren't sexy, but he gives excellent advice. Ugo will (I think) build you anything (within reason) using hubs/rims provided by you or himself, whereas Harry is less "flexible" on components.

Or to put it in another way, Harry is a stubborn man who doesn't want to deal with a certain distributor as they had disagreements in the past and therefore refuses to build what are extremely popular rims.
Ugo enjoys a farily good relationship with the same distributor and therefore he is happy to use and supply those excellent rims...

If you noticed Ugo, I got my first 2 pairs of wheels from Harry, but my more recent wheels from you

Nothing wrong with Open Pro rims, but the Archetypes are just a little nicer...

chanjy

DiscoBoy wrote:

These are some sexy wheels for in your budget:
viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12964664

But a month later I am still waiting for delivery

Turns out HED aren't very good at keeping up a supply of rims

ugo.santalucia

chanjy wrote:

DiscoBoy wrote:

These are some sexy wheels for in your budget:
viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12964664

But a month later I am still waiting for delivery

Turns out HED aren't very good at keeping up a supply of rims

HED are a nightmare. I waited two months for some rims, then it turns out they were out of production due to a fault... they weren't going to call me or anything... you just have to keep chasing them until you find the person in the know at the phone. Very frustrating

lostboysaint

I've spoken to Cycleclinic on the phone, Ugo via PM and email and Spokesman via email (following recommendation). I'd have been happy to place an order with any of them because:

1. They've all got excellent client referrals on here.
2. I had an open mind about what I needed and got excellent (and similar) advice from all three, which made choosing what I went with easy.
3. They were very happy to talk through their recommendations and explain, in full "idiots guide" mode, exactly why they'd recommended what they had, what the alternatives were, how the wheel is a sum of it's components and why to get the right combination, their experience of the products etc.
4. They were happy to break the price down for me so I understood exactly it built up as I went through the spec.

I'll apologise now to Cycleclinic and Ugo for going elsewhere but that was down to delivery times!