nick_the_wheelbuilder

I only know of one Wheelbuilder, William’s Bike Shop in Somerset West. If you don’t come right you can courier the stuff to me.

Just finished a nice carbon gravel wheelset with Hope Pro5 hubs and South Industries GX rims. Hope you like 'em.

To the OP... WhatsApp me the details and as many pics as possible and I can give you a sensible way forward. I wouldn't recommend rebuilding the Mk3 wheels as they WILL crack at the spoke holes. Most cost effective solution is riding the front wheel as-is if it's ok, and building a new rear wheel. I have some budget-friendly options. Get me on 0.8.3.4.5.2.8.7.1.6

My friends at Spank gave me a set of rims and hubs to build up, and this was the result: Spank 359 Vibrocore rims on their Hex Drive hubs with double butted Pillar spokes and green anodised nipples. There's no freehub installed because the buyer of these wheels will specify which type they need. Let me know what you think!

Yup. Prices and costs have escalated substantially, unfortunately. Shipping a pair of rims from Nextie to me costs $140 via FedEX. I can’t rely on the post office.

Those are great value for money. For me to build something equivalent you’re looking at around R20k-ish. Best is for me to send you a few options with itemized quotes so you can pick the best possible hub and rim combination for your money.

At 97kg I would opt for a set with more than 20/24 spokes front and rear. I would suggest 24/28 at least. A custom-built set is easily available in that configuration.

If I had to make a recommendation for R17k I would say use your existing hubs and get new carbon rims and light bladed spokes. Add R5-8k for a good set of hubs. The much lower weight of carbon rims makes a huge difference in ride feel. I’ll comment on the Lyne set once I have seen the specs.

I'd love to sell someone a new 27'5" rear wheel, but if you're looking for more agility, install a dropper seatpost and use it often!

Very cool engineering in that design but... do current and traditional hub designs cause such a nightmare headache that we need to re-invent the wheel? Not for 99% of us. And GBP825 / R17 000 for a set of hubs? That's in DT Swiss 180 territory. Or Chris King. A niche product for a niche target customer. Once you bring a proprietary design into the cycling industry you either need a bottomless bank account or a logo like SRAM to make it work in the long term.

Is there a route map available? The one on the website only shows 2 shorter segments.

Just finished up some disc-brake road wheels. 1375g set with 40mm deep rims. Tubeless-ready. Almost makes me want to buy a road bike!

Yes it's a pity Stan's don't have any carbon rims at the moment. That said, their alloy options in the Mk4 range are superb. Their Crest Mk4 has a 25mm inner width and weighs only 399g per rim, placing them squarely in carbon territory, for far less money. Pair the crests with a light set of straightpull hubs and bladed spokes and you have a 1450g XC wheelset for under R15k.

Reviving this thread a little, since there are plenty of options and many people may want some info. I'll leave some links to 29" carbon MTB rims available through dealers/wheel builders and / or direct. This info is RIMS ONLY and doesn't apply to complete wheelsets. Pricing is accurate at time of writing this - Jan 2024. Pricing may change at any time. South African brands: South Industries. (via dealer or wheel builder) Lifetime warranty & crash replacement, manufactured in SA. XCR29 - 310g per rim / 28mm inner width / R10 995 per rim XC29 - 370g per rim / 29mm inner width / R8995 per rim END29 - 515g / 31mm inner width / R8995 per rim DH29 - 575g / 31mm inner width / R8995 per rim Lyne Components. (direct or via a dealer / wheel builder) South African brand, rims made abroad. 5 year warranty, 2 year crash replacement. AMP Carbon - 450g per rim / 30.5mm inner width / R6100 per rim cSixx. (direct or via dealer or wheel builder) South African brand, rims manufactured abroad. Lifetime warranty, 2-year crash replacement. XCO 9-series - 325 g / 27mm inner width / R9650 per rim XCM 9-series - 355g / 30mm inner / R9650 XCM 6-series - 480g / 30mm inner / R7995 END 9-series - 445g / 30mm inner / R9650 DHE e-series - 495g / 30mm / R9650 Concept Speed. (Available direct or via a dealer or wheel builder) SA brand, made abroad 30mm inner / 450g / R7599 / no warranty info on their website. Dark Horse Wheels. SA brand, rims made abroad. Available direct. 30mm inner / 400g / R5995 per rim. 2-year warranty. International brands: Pricing listed here is either directly from their website excl shipping and any shipping taxes or when buying from me, which includes shipping / import tax etc. Nextie. Made in China, on special order only. Available direct or via myself as an officially listed distributor. Pricing listed is when purchased via me. 3-year warranty and crash replacement on all models. Vista Alpha - (XC) 280g / 30mm inner / R7850 per rim (asym spoke bed) Vista Omega - (XC / trail) 285g / 29mm inner / R7850 per rim (asym spoke bed) UM32 - XC / Trail / 27mm inner / 320g / R7100 per rim (symmetrical) UM35 - XC / Trail / 30mm inner / 325g / 355g (AM) option. / R7100 per rim (symmetrical) XM36 - AM/Enduro / 30mm inner / 420g / R7100 per rim UML34 - XC / Trail / 28mm inner / 310g / Asym / R7100 per rim XMA35 - XC / Trail / 30mm inner / 325g / Asym / R7100 per rim XML35 - AM/Enduro / 29mm inner / 360g (AM) / 430g (END) / R7100 per rim XML38 - AM/Enduro / 32mm inner / 415g (AM) / 445g (END) / R7100 per rim XD39 - DH / 30mm inner / 550g / R7100 per rim AM35 - Trail / Enduro / 29mm inner / 450g / 480g / R6250 per rim Light Bicycle (available direct) Recon Pro XC930 - 30mm inner / 270g +/-15g / 5 year warranty / $289 per rim excl shipping + taxes (Approx R7800-8000 once shipping and taxes added) Recon Pro EN932 - 32mm inner / 500g / pricing same as the rim above. Recon RM29C07 - 30mm inner / 420g per rim / $180 per rim Approx R6000 once shipped and imported. Bontrager / Roval etc don't sell rims separately as far as I can ascertain. The only ENVE rim available in SA via the agents is the M525 (25mm inner) and is approx R20k for a single rim. Reserve also doesn't sell rims in the aftermarket. Disclaimer: I may have left out some brands or options, so please feel free to ask or mention some, and I'll add the info to this post.

Awesome! My shipment left Nextie yesterday - all pre-sold though.

Sounds like your rim has a flat spot, which is practically impossible to remedy. Unfortunately the AMC rims of that era are very soft, and ding and dent very easily. The long term solution is new rims. Arch Mk4 rims are 28mm inner width and 491g per rim - a super combination of width, durability and light-enough weight. For reference, the lightest 29er rims available now are Crest Mk4, which are 25mm inner and 399g per rim.

Not yet - not many gravel bikes have that much tyre clearance. Most guys don't run wider than 45's, which work fine on 22-25mm inner width rims.

If you're looking at a new set oof wheels, I'd suggest 2 options from my side: Carbon Nextie 35 / 45mm rims on their own Rollingstar hubs. Approx R24k, sub-1400g. Alloy DT Swiss R500db rims on either DT Swiss 350 hubs or similar. Approx R13-15k Pics for reference

So awesome! Looks to be twitchy AF with such a short stem though....

It depends. where will you ride most? Whats the spoke count of your hubs? Dlo you need rims only, or a new wheel set? Carbon or alloy? What’s your budget?

I have see that if there are too many BB spacers installed, the end cap doesn't thread in far enough, and the crank arm falls off within 20km. Ask my riding partner on my first Sani2C - 15km into stage 1 and we had to go full McGyver-mode when his left crank arm came off and the end cap went missing. Incidentally, a QR skewer works well holding things together. Better than cable ties.

The left arm will only fall off if part #5 (look at the diagram above) isn't snug. Install the crank arm (without stupid stopper plate) in this order: 1. Slide crank arm onto spindle. 2. Snug down part #5 (I forget what it's called - I'll call it the spindle end cap, for lack of the correct name) 3. Tighten pinch bolts. The pinch bolts squeeze the crank arm onto the spindle, preventing the spindle end cap from unscrewing. If that end cap stays put, so does your crank arm.

I concur - not worth fixing the rim unless you can mask everything else off and whip out a can of matt black spray paint.... Rims are R1500 - R2500. Zero MT30 is cheapest, followed by WTB HTZ i30, followed by Stan's Flow MK4 or EX3. Ping me if you'd like a proper quote.

I work from my garage... I live in Wilderness, near George - been here for 3 years now, moved from JHB. 99% of the wheels I build go somewhere else by courier 😆

Such a cool bike! Definitely more of an allroad bike than a gravel bike. These would look HOT on that bike: South Industries on Aivee Classic hubs that I built last year.