Latest Custom Builds — 29er

Adam needed some new XC wheels for his Scott Spark. He had been checking out the Asian carbon wheel "trading houses", but was pleasantly surprised when we discussed our consultative process and pricing. We don't cost much more, for a wheelset that is specced for the rider, 100% Australian handbuilt, by people who love what they do! He could not resist the Project 321 Boost hubs in candy red (who can?) and seeing he prefers XC speed a 25mm internal width asymmetric carbon rim from Nextie was the light and tough choice. The Asymmetric drilling of the rim enables left...

Ian phoned with a requirement to replace an ageing and unreliable front 29er wheel. He's a rider from the nearby Gold Coast, so we knew well the tracks he rode. Initially we discussed an alloy replacement for his wheel, very similar to what he had. However, Nextie carbon offerings are so well priced, the cost to upgrade to wider, stiffer and lighter carbon is not great. Together we decided that a 30mm internal width rim would be a great choice for the XC/Trail style usage he needed. Coming in at just over 500g, these rims are light for their sturdiness,...

The brief was simple, could this once ridden pair MTB hubs be reused in a pair of Gravel/Grandfondo wheels for a road bike? At XLR8 we relish these challenges. These hubs had been ridden once on a test ride, and then the wheels parked. They were a 10s hub, but we had the freehub and the hub body machined to ensure that an 11s cassette would clear (note this is not possible on all hubs*), and adapted the front 15mm thru axle front hub to 9mm quick release (using White Industries adaptors). The Hplusson THE HYDRA is an excellent choice for lightweight disc...

Alasdair wanted a stealth wheelset that would be perfect for all round off road train riding. He was specifically after reliability, with a good dose of stiffness and light weight. Wanting to migrate in the direction of wider tyres as well, we chose Nextie's Asymmetrical 38mm carbon rim. It's 32mm wide internally, dramatically increasing the air volume of tyres on the 2.3-2.5" range so that tyre pressures can be confidently dropped - for great traction, grip and taking the edge of small trail imperfections. White Industries XMR+ Boost hubs are the logical choice for simple reliability. They are an old...

Matt is an old friend from way back. He's an avid singlespeeder and very very handy down hill. He was keen to build some new XC wheels for his old singlespeed and came to us for this, his fourth set of XLR8 wheels. Matt likes the Light Bicycle product and selected their 27mm wide 29er rim, that comes in at a scant 360g! On his supplied Hope hubs we used plain gauge Sapim Leader spokes on the rear wheel (to ensure optimum stiffness - he rides hard) and double butted Sapim Race spokes on the front - both in no frills...