Richard is building up a beautiful Eddy Merckx MX Leader re-issue in Motorola livery. This is the same frame that Lance won the World Championships, and is regarded (rightfully) as one of the greatest steel road frames of all time*. Such a beautiful ride required some hoops that would be sensitive to the retro aesthetic, but still a high performance ride.
A “New Old Stock” Mavic Reflex Ceramic tubular rimset was sourced from the US – a sensible 28 hole on the front, and bombproof 36 hole for the rear. Rich selected the ever reliable (and beautiful) White Industries T11 hubset, polished to perfection. The Ti freehub means that these hubs will provide long service, and last well beyond wearing out the brake tracks of the rims. White Industry hubs are designed to be re-used again and again, as rims wear out through use. We specified Sapim Race stainless spokes for the front and rear non-drive side. Slightly heavier gauge DT Competition spokes on the drive side help to equalise rear wheel stiffness.
The usual attention was placed on getting the spoke tensions as equal as possible (for long wheel life), without being too tight. The Reflex Ceramic rim extrusion is quite light, and the wrong tension often leads to shortened life. Get in contact if you have a specific build requirement – retro, aero, climbing, XC, enduro, touring …. we build wheels for your specific needs.
* we know, there is an original Motorola MX Leader team bike in the XLR8 stable.