Latest Custom Builds — Enduro

Ted was keen for some new hoops and approached us for advice on wheels to replace the alloy Roval 29er wheels on his 2017 Specialized Enduro. He was specifically after a wider rim and had a weight target in mind. He rides technical and rocky trails, and had smashed up his Rovals, so reliability was paramount. Following some discussions, we suggested a Nextie Carbon rim build with silver Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples. The silver spokes always look classy and help to recover some of the additional cost of going carbon - not that the additional cost over premium alloy...

If you have been paying attention, you will remember Richard. He had us pull some Chris Kings hubs out of a 26" wheelset we built him a few years ago, and rebuild them into some new 27.5" Syntace rims. Generally we don't rebuild onto used rims - but there are some exceptions. In this case, Richard's old rims were originally built by us, and in good shape (apart from a few cosmetic dents). Of course, being disc brake rims, brake track wear is not an issue, so all being well the rims should do another round rather than sit unused...

Riding his new Canyon he smacked a rock and manage to put a pretty nasty fold in the wall of the rear rim. We priced up a replacement DT Swiss rim, and the cost was onerous. The Spank Oozy Trail 295 was suggested as an alternative - we know they can take the hits, and they are available in the 28h drilling we required for the replacement. And they are very reasonably priced.

Richard gave us a call after buying a new frame. He described the wheels we built him a couple of years ago as "flawless" and wanted more of the same for his new bike. So similar in fact, that he asked if we would transfer his used Chris King hubs onto new 27.5" W35 rims (from his original W35 26" hoops we had built previously).  Of course we could! He sent us up the old wheelset, and we were happy to see that the wheels had beautiful even tensions despite having been ridden really hard across Sydney's Northern Beaches rock gardens - a punishing place...