Wheelbuilder?

[Jean]

Hi,

I might be looking at having to rebuild a wheel soon. It's a classic 36-spoke triple cross hand built wheel (Campag hub and rims, Ritchey double butted spokes) - hasn't done a lot of miles but had some bad luck recently.

Can anyone recommend a good wheel builder round Canberra? I suppose any good LBS should be able to do it, but if there's someone good worth finding I'd like to know.

Cheers
Jean

[DavidH]

Ian Downing is a particularly good wheel builder. He operates out of a workshop behind his house which honestly needs to be seen to be believed. His collection of bike tools (and bikes) is the stuff of legend.

Give him a call on 6247 4636.

[Jean]

Ahh, a bloke in a shed with lots of tools. Like the sound of that.

[twizzle]

I've had three wheel builds by local LBS's. In the end, it worked out cheaper and easier just to order new wheelsets from Velocity. That should tell you something about LBS wheels....

I'm going to have a go at wheel building myself next time. But it's nice to know there is a real wheel builder in Canberra.

[DavidH]

Ahh, a bloke in a shed with lots of tools. Like the sound of that.

Ian is also one of the best A grade riders in the ACT Vets. There isn't much he doesn't know about riding and building bikes. He did a superb job building up an old steel frame with new Ultegra components for me. Ah, loved that bike...until I crashed and cracked the frame. The components are in a box in the shed and the frame is being repaired. Sigh.

I'm going to have a go at wheel building myself next time.

I've been seriously contemplating that as well. I'm about to setup a single speed bike using some old training wheels. The rear wheel has the usual cassette style freewheel that I'll adapt to a single cog, but it would be nice to build some custom wheels at some point. Another thing on my bike "to do" list

[Jean]

I've had three wheel builds by local LBS's. In the end, it worked out cheaper and easier just to order new wheelsets from Velocity. That should tell you something about LBS wheels....

I'm going to have a go at wheel building myself next time. But it's nice to know there is a real wheel builder in Canberra.

Yeah I lucked out at my LBS in Brisbane where the mechanic was something of a wheel magician, but whilst I've found a decent LBS here in Canberra I've been wary of their wheelsmithery.

I'll give this bloke a whirl I think.

[Jean]

Gave Ian a try this morning - he certainly seems to know his stuff. Wheel much better for the visit.

[thomas_cho]

Give wheel building a go. Its not as hard as you think. Plus the confidence you gain will put you in good stead for future wheel repairs.

You need to do your homework, and having the proper tools will make things easier to get right.

[Jean]

Mmmm. I'm increasingly into doing my own work and thought about having a go at whatever wheel building I might be up for, but I've decided against it for now.
A few reasons:

1. I've been lucky enough to find over the years a couple of bike mechanics who really knew their way around a wheel (as opposed to the over confident teen grease monkeys that work in most bike workshops) and they have been able to tweak and cajole my sometimes banged up wheels back to life. I've been impressed with their skill and not convinced I could emulate it.

2. Related to this is my impression that to do wheels well takes practice, and quite a lot of it. If I was into MTBs I might get the opportunity to work on smashed wheels alot, but as a roadie the most I generally have to worry about is getting the true back (and I should work on my skills here). For those few occassions when something more is needed I'm happy to pay a few bucks to someone who can do it better.

Cheers

[psike]

Just wanted to check if anyone has any updated info on decent wheel builders in Canberra? Ideally I want to talk to them about some touring wheel with SON hub. This thread is a few years old now, is Ian still the best?

Thanks,
Russ

[twizzle]

Londsdale Street built my last two wheels, first one one excellent, second one went out of true within 80km after which they tensioned it up a fair bit. Six months later I had to use that one in a race, and it popped a spoke 13 minutes in. First spoke I'd broken in ~5 years. They had assured me the rim (32 spoke Mavic Open Pro) would handle the workload... I'm pretty sure they were wrong, I've got two Deep-V rims in a box in the shed for the next time I get one rebuilt. That being said... best two wheels builds so far, heaps better than the junk I'd encountered previously.

[seddo]

Give Henry (AT) Kambah Leisure Cycles a bell, he has built a couple of sets for me one set needed re-tensioning after 50km but has been fine since - recently had to have a factory built Deep V - re-tensioned after 300km

[Ross]

Just had Ian build a Zipp 404 for me, superb job.

Twizzle - what colour is your OP rim? If it's black and in good cond I might be interested in buying it. The braking surface on my OP rims are worn out.

[twizzle]

Just had Ian build a Zipp 404 for me, superb job.

Twizzle - what colour is your OP rim? If it's black and in good cond I might be interested in buying it. The braking surface on my OP rims are worn out.

Nah, it's silver and the valve stem hole wasn't drilled straight so it's looked dodgy since day one. I think Ian might be getting my money... when I have some.