As much as I love frames, I’m much more fascinated by wheels. From hub internals to rim shape to aesthetics, I geek out when it comes to wheels.
Wheels often intimidate many riders – perhaps it’s that whole spinning weight concept, or maybe it’s the idea of gluing something. I’ve had a very large number of clients opt away from tubulars simply because they’re scared of changing a flat.
I’m here to tell you that wheels are only as complicated as you make them (which admittedly, can be ‘quite’ or even ‘very’) and that if you want to try something way more fun and useful than angry birds, try building a wheelset. I’ve yet to meet anyone who builds wheels and doesn’t enjoy it – it’s very ritualistic and oddly calming. This book is a brilliant resource, as is this site. And if you’re a gear monger, you can drool over this. Nothing like a printed map of spoke tension – that’s just badass.