Wheel builder recommendations

dirtymonkey1985

I've just taken the plunge and opted to get myself a set of wheels built up instead of the generic fulcrum/mavic offerings. I've ordered some h plus son rims and some hubs from bikehubstore. These http://www.bikehubstore.com/product-p/sl210f125.htm
I'm now in need of a decent builder who can recommend spokes, nipples and hopefully build them. I'm based in the southwest so would be nice if it's local but I'm more interested in the quality than distance from me.

imposter2.0

From generic factory wheels, to generic handbuilts...

A decent builder might recommend a different rim/hub combo entirely...

djhermer

Matt Gibbons, Spire Cycles. North Dorset so. It far from you. Good man, very good wheel builder.

dirtymonkey1985

That would be perfect as I only work down the road from him. Cheers

ugo.santalucia

The rear hub is a Bitex RAR 13... it's got a freehub with 6 pawls kept together by a spring... the funny thing is the spring turns out to be an elastic band... :?



As someone above pointed out, you could have had similar components for a similar price but with the backup of a UK warranty... something along the line of Novatec 291/482. Bitex hubs have no UK distribution. As for the rims,you can buy H plus Son rims at discounted price in the UK. Your money, your choice of course, but it always baffles me why people buy stuff from outside the EU when they are available in the UK at very similar price, give or take a few quid

cycleclinic

The shipping cost of the rims is high and the VAT/handling fee you will have to pay will make the rims more expensive than they are in the U.K I think. There are so many hubs available in the U.K that why buy from abroad unless it is some special like Tune which are cheaper in Germany. Bitex hubs are not special. You best take them to you local LBS at ask them to do it at least then you will not be faced with more shipping costs.

dirtymonkey1985

The rims are from here http://hubjub.co.uk/index.php/store/rim ... ype-detail which is uk and they were under £40 which is the cheapest I could find. I may cancel the hubs and source them from the uk I just couldn't find many recommendations for places to pick any up from unless I had the cash to splash out on some hope/dt swiss jobs, which I don't. They'll be used as my training wheels so any decent recommendations would be lovely.

ugo.santalucia

dirtymonkey1985 wrote:

The rims are from here http://hubjub.co.uk/index.php/store/rim ... ype-detail which is uk and they were under £40 which is the cheapest I could find. I may cancel the hubs and source them from the uk I just couldn't find many recommendations for places to pick any up from unless I had the cash to splash out on some hope/dt swiss jobs, which I don't. They'll be used as my training wheels so any decent recommendations would be lovely.

Miche are a steal at 75 quid a pair... TCC even sell them in un-matched combos

dirtymonkey1985

I need 20/24 hole hubs now as that's what I've ordered the rims in. I did see the miche ones on wiggle but they only had 28 at the lowest. Pardon my ignorance but what is tcc?

frazered

Thecycleclinic

cycleclinic

Miche make the Primato hub in 20H to 36H drilling for the front and 24H to 36H drilling for the rear. Why the U.K distributor does not import them I cannot fathom, I mean they sell the fixed gear hubs as front and rear seperatley.

The closest U.K available hub to the bitex is the novatec A291/f482 but like the bitex these are crap 4 seasons training hubs. Training is done in all weather and don't bother trying to use either hubset over the winter months as the bearings will not last too long. Fine racing hubs though and that what they are made for and they work well as cheapish dry day weight weenie hubs. The Miche hubs are over 100g heavier for the pair (440g on my scales) but use a more durable 6001 bearings. 20F/24R drillings are available. Very little else available in these drilling at this price point.

gaddster

How about building them yourself? There's a great ebook by Roger Musson (about a fiver) which explains how to do it plus it also contains plans to build your own wheel truing stand. I did it, built my own wheels and they have been solid. It's really not that difficult if you take your time and you'll be well equiped for any future builds.

cycleclinic

That book is a very good guide. Just get a good nipple key and have a good wheel as a reference for tension. There are some apps which try to determine tension by ptich but you need a reasoanble ear, I am half deaf and tone deaf so these methods do not work with me. The best way is with a tension gauge though but the park undercreads so is not that helpful. I am sure gaddster your first wheelset was a 32H build these are far more forgiving and robust. A 20F/24R is a bit more sensitive to tension inbalance but it is all doable. If the OP has all the parts he cannot loose anything but time giving it go himself. If it does not work out he can turn the parts over to a tame wheelbuilder (local LBS) to finish the job.

gaddster

No my first set were 20F/24R, using the Park. Maybe I got lucky!

dirtymonkey1985

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to go for a set of miche hubs as weight isn't really an issue, I'm using an old trek 1.2 frame with 105 groupset. I think I'll get the bits sorted and just give them to the lbs as I really don't have the time to fiddle with it all myself. Maybe if I decide on building my next set of summer wheels I'll give it a go. One last thing is what spokes are recommended as I'm coming up with a lot of answers in google

dirtymonkey1985

Any idea what these hubs could be? I've stripped them down but all I can see is the bearings which are 'ezo japan 6901ru' on the rear hub and 'ezo japan 699rs' on the front which isn't much help

cycleclinic

thats the bearing size. Gaddster no luck involved in wheel building it is a defined process follow it and you get a good wheel deviate and you end up with problems. You followed the process.

ugo.santalucia

dirtymonkey1985 wrote:

Any idea what these hubs could be? I've stripped them down but all I can see is the bearings which are 'ezo japan 6901ru' on the rear hub and 'ezo japan 699rs' on the front which isn't much help

They are Novatec, the front is probably this one

http://novatecusa.net/project/as01sb-fh/

And the rear is probably an older version of this one

http://novatecusa.net/project/f282sb-f382sb-rh/

They are obviously for straight pull spokes, which are expensive, hard to source and limit the choice of patterns to the one defined by the flange drilling

drlodge

Here's a tip: Good wheel builders don't just build wheels, they offer good advice too. Their advice is free and comes from a lot of experience so they know which components are best for you, and importantly, which components work best together.

So first, find yourself a good wheel builder. Then discuss with said builder your needs and agree the component make up. Then source the required components (hubs and/or rims), the builder will almost certainly provide the spokes as part of the build service (typically < £100 for build + standard spokes per pair).

This good advice is offered free, although I am no wheel builder myself

thecycleclinic and Ugo also offer good advice, other good wheel builders are available I'm sure.