tedd said:I'm going to have a set of touring wheels built and want to get them built right and at a fair price. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Ted I've lost count of the number of people who's first wheel included a King hub and Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Plus I don't remember anyone saying they messed it up or that they wished they hadn't taken my advice. Oh yeah a one or two TOOK my advice, they just didn't follow it.tedd said:Mike, I'd love to build my own wheels someday, but, I'd like to do it with inexpensive parts the first time. I'm wanting a high quality set of wheels and don't want to chance it.
Seriously, 3X 32hole wheels are pretty easy to do. Don't be worried about it. I did mine from the Jobst Brandt book and they came out really nice. Every time I ride, I look down and think, "I built those, aren't they nice!". What's really nice is that, from now on, you can easily mix and match hubs and rims whenever you want w/o a MAJOR outlay of cash. Yes, you'll need spokes / nipples every build and likely you're swapping rims, but that's peanuts compared whole wheel prices. Plus there's that personal pride factor.Mike T. said:May I suggest that you build them yourself? Lots of people have done it with the help of Sheldon and myself. I'll throw in Park Tool too -
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/howfix_truing.shtml http://www.execulink.com/~dtierney/wmc/faq.htm#WTQ1
Another vote for Joe Young. Another option is Peter Chisholm at Vecchio's. You won't go wrong with either of these guys.tedd said:I'm going to have a set of touring wheels built and want to get them built right and at a fair price. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
These are what I built up for the cross bike. Man, they're tanks! 3X laced to 105 hubs with 14ga straights. They're not light-duty by any stretch of the imagination. For winter, I put WTB All-terrainasaurus tires 700x40 on them. This bike is the intimidator for sure!tedd said:I'm going to have a set of touring wheels built and want to get them built right and at a fair price. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Colorado Cyclist does good work and their prices are reasonable. Call them at 800/688-8600 and discuss it with them. Turnaround time is good, too, I had mine in less than a week.tedd said:I'm going to have a set of touring wheels built and want to get them built right and at a fair price. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
I must respectfully disagree that if one spoke breaks with 32 total that it doesn't matter. A couple of years ago I pinch flatted on a rough gravel road (more like a trail actually) and popped one spoke. The wheel immediately pulled out of true far enough to lock the rim against the brake pads and give me one hell of a thrill ride down the gravel strewn hill. This was on a cross three 32 spoke wheel on my Lemond. Nothing quite like looking for a landing spot in gravel when all you are wearing is lycra.Pierre said:was looking for components to build myself a set of Hugi 240 / revolution / open pros. Looking for the cheapest prices, sales and so on. And I didn't find anything better than the set I finally got, $275 already built on ebay from an unknown builder. They're holding well so far (way better than I expected), and if there's a problem I'll rebuild myself. With 32 spokes, if one breaks it's not a big deal anyways.
Building yourself will bring you the best wheels, but not the best price.
Pierre
1. I'd still say build them yourself. You're not going to screw anything up past fixing except maybe a few stripped nipples.tedd said:I'm going to have a set of touring wheels built and want to get them built right and at a fair price. Any recommendations would be appreciated.