nick_the_wheelbuilder

Those are great-looking wheels!

Anyone have a 26" rigid or suspension v-brake fork lying about? Must have a 1 1/8" straight steerer. I'm looking to get an old TREK3700 back up and running.

That's a beaut!

I know these conversions have been done and I want to see yours. There's an international FB group for these (https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1GKQth26FJ/) I'm toying with converting an old Trek 3700 MTB into a 700c gravel bike, and am looking for inspiration. Some things I'll need to iron out: Longer reach v-brake arms or adaptors for 700c wheels Figure out max tyre clearance Which rigid v-brake fork to use All on the cheap... Let's see your builds!

Just finished up with these. 240g carbon XC rims on very light 230g straightpull hubs. The rider is putting these on a non-boost 29er MTB for gravel duty. 1090g for the wheelset with tape and valves installed. Had the Italian flag colour decals custom-made too. I love how people can just get exactly what they want in a custom wheel set.

30mm deep, 23mm inner width - really in that sweetspot. Notice the small ridges inside the rim cavity - this apparently makes the rim stronger, almost like corrugations in cardboard.

Just sharing a few pics of my most recent build. Alloy Jetset AR-23 gravel rims on the new ED-GE straightpull hubs. I used Pillar PBA1420 bladed spokes to keep the weight down, and black brass DSN nipples for durability. Approx 1690g wheelset and tubeless-ready with 23mm inner width rims. Great for gravel or a robust disc brake road option. All for under R12k, hand-built and delivered.

Maybe it's time for a "Tyre insert buyer's guide" for my website. I've supplied my customers with Panzer, Vittoria, cSixx, Cushcore. Personally I'm torn between using inserts and not. I don't use them myself, and rely on line choice and tyre pressure to save my rims, but I'm not too rowdy of a rider anymore. Let me know if you're interested in a comprehensive comparison article, and I may put one together similar to what I did with gravel tyres a while back (https://wheelbuilder.co.za/buyers-guide-gravel-tyres/)

I get these from H-Works in Xiamen, China. They're awesome quality and well priced.

Nothing wrong with doing it on a hardtail - done it myself. And Sani and J2C. And singlespeed. Ride what you got, but ride.

Certainly the most elegant solution I've seen to try and repair dings in the rim edge. The dings themselves are cosmetic unless they prevent tubeless sealing, or if it's really bad and the rim bed has a dent, also preventing sealing. The other issue is that when you bend alloy "back" it weakens that area. Also if the impact was hard enough, it could flat-spot the rim, making it impossible to fix.

Once an alloy rim has a dent in it, it's very difficult to fix. That's what makes carbon amazing for rims - no dents and never gets "bent". This allows you to straighten wobbly rims with spoke tension adjustments alone. Hit something too hard though, and you will break 'em.

Cost is much less important than competency. I'm expensive because you don't pay me for time but for experience and expertise. To rebuild a wheel I charge R850, excluding parts. Good quality double butted spokes cost around R30 each, including nipples. And I'm in George, so factor in courier costs if you'd like to send me your wheel 🤑

I'd be happy to help. If your nipples are breaking, your spokes are too short. If you've broken more than 2 spokes on the same wheel, your spokes all need replacing because they're fatigued and will all eventually break. What rims do you have? You're welcome to PM me or shoot me a WhatsApp on 083 452 871 six.

I hope not! But this year I’ve struggled to find decent rim brake rims and hubs. It’s a problem for guys who have great rim brake bikes and want to keep them running or upgrade them.