Hand building a wheel that works

Feb 8th, 11. Every wheel is a compromise, but knowing what you are compromising is important, as I learnt when I had a coffee with Tristan Thomas from Wheelworks.

At the recent Trust House Cycle Tour, Sarah from RoadCycling.co.nz took time to talk to a few of the team managers.

The Wheelworks workroom ©Wheelworks

Two in particular interested me - one team manager was a carbon repairer and another a maker of hand built wheels.

Tristan of Wheelworks was in my home town of Wellington, so I popped over to his Lyall Bay studio to learn more about wheels - it helped he promised he had a great coffee machine.

Handbuilt wheels, I learnt, are wheels created for one particular rider, to fit that person's budget, what that person wants the wheel to ride like, and look like.  

There is no manufacturing involved, it is all about selecting components and putting them together in such a way that will suit the individual rider and their goals - not a manufacturers idea of a "standard rider".

From hub selection, rim selection, number of spokes, what type of spoke and how many times they cross over - there is far more to creating a wheel than meets the eye.

"A wheel is all about compromise, you can't have everything, it's absolutely impossibly," Tristan explained. "You have to look at someone's weight, riding style, work out what they need and what they are compromising to get that."

Compromises are between weight, lateral stiffness and price, plus added complexities for carbon such as aerodynamics etc.

With Kiwi riders traditionally being bigger guys, and with our rough road conditions, a lot of business comes from riders who have problems breaking spokes.

Why do riders break spokes? Either they are riding a wheel without enough spokes, or the spokes are poorly put together, said Tristan.

His solution to the 100kg guy with a history of breaking spokes is to trade off a little bit of weight, and probably a little bit of cost, to make a wheel that is stiff enough so when the rider gets out of the saddle in sprints the wheel doesn't feel like a wet noodle.

"Having an awareness of why a wheel performs the way it does and selecting bits and putting them together in such a way that is going to make sure that doesn't happen," is Tristan's specialty - his passion.  

"Then a clever choice of components to ensure it stays together for five years by using a huge amount of care to ensure all the spokes are at the same tension, all pulling equally.  It's a precise job."

Tristan is happy to admit he has a fetish for tools - his precision instruments.  He invests heavily in the tools of his trade, and what he can't source he makes himself. He estimates he spends far more on tools than a store with many times his turnover.

His studio walls are not adorned with the latest tools though; his cutting tools are packed away, hidden from their number one enemy -  dust.

"You won't see the $1,000 cutting tools out on display, they may make the place look cool - but they are precision instruments to be treated with respect," he said.  

Tristan's customers are typically putting Wheelworks wheels on high end bikes, but they aren't necessarily high end riders.   They are riders who demand top quality products to feed their cycling passion.

20% of his customers come from the Wellington region, the rest from all around New Zealand.  

He has provided wheel solutions to a few international riders, one female Canadian rider placed 17th at the Olympics on a Wheelworks wheel, but generally the cost of international postage is prohibitive.

There is no such thing as a typical customer, which suits Tristan perfectly.  While he has his favourite combinations, turning out wheel after wheel to a standard formula would drive him crazy - he is a master craftsman, proudly boxing up each of his one off creations to send to their new owner.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the amount of time Tristan takes to build each wheel,  the cost of a mid to top range hand built wheel is on a par with what you can buy off the shelf, carbon or aluminium.  

Although relatively new to road cycling, the 30ish Canadian has been involved with bikes for a long time.  He grew up in Vancouver on mountain bikes, he has ridden BMX, jump bikes and spent the last 12 years in the cycling industry.  

He has worked for New Zealand's big retailers and five years ago made the move to start out on his own.  His motivation isn't profit, it is about producing quality crafted custom wheels his clients will relish.  

RoadCycling.co.nz's readers have said new wheels are their most desired purchase, not including a frame, so the future looks bright for Wheelworks.

Wheelworks, which also gives back to the cycling community by sponsoring local riders and team Wheelworks Racing, turned five yesterday.

One RoadCycling.co.nz reader even nominated Wheelworks as a top bike shop, saying, "All his workmanship is done to the highest standard and he stands by it. It's not uncommon to turn up and find Tristan slaving away over the lathe to create some tool or adapter only to be offered a coffee or hot drink. Tristan has been kind enough to support me and my cycling over the past couple of years."

Given his mountain bike background Tristan said he never imagined shaving his legs, "not in a million years."  But he has definitely got the road cycling bug now. After one year in the road racing scene, he has bigger goals for next year - perhaps a start in the Trust House Cycle Classic himself - and of course he will be riding a custom Wheelworks hand built wheel.

And the coffee? It was great, but you do have to take your own milk.

All photos ©Wheelworks