Latest Custom Builds — Tubeless

We’ve known Steve since the turn off the century when both he and XLR8 worked as bike messengers in Sydney. He’s a big unit and got in contact to discuss some new carbon hoops for his road bike, to service him on the rural roads of mid western New South Wales.Those roads are somewhere between awful and terrible, and Steve wanted a shallow depth carbon wheel that would still be stiff to accomodate his considerable power output. Having owned a retail bike store, and currently working as a mobile mechanic, he knows his stuff but appreciated our spec advice.Bigger guys...

David needed a tricky new wheelset for his Pivot 459. It uses a SuperBoost rear axle setup, so Project 321 hubs were the logical choice. They are beautifully machined out of top quality alloys, house excellent bearings, and have 216 points of engagement. And they come in Purple! David was keen on a premium alloy rim, so we recommended the Spank Oozy Trail 350. This is an updated version of their older 345 rim, that is a tiny bit wider, and a bit lighter. Tough and look great as well. David is fairly light and a smooth rider, so in...

We built a pair of Hope hubs on Spank rims for a mate of Nick’s and he was so impressed he came to us for advice. He advised us of a history of smashing wheels on Sydney’s Upper North Shore - trails we at XLR8 know well. Hope Pro4 hubs and Spank Spike rims are logical choices. Both are not the lightest product out there, but they are good value and super tough! Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples are all that is required to keep the front wheel together, laced in an uber reliable 3x pattern. On the rear...

Bec is a former Australian SingleSpeed National Champ who has decided to make the leap across to big travel and (gasp!) gears! She has a custom made steel Starling Murmur that she is putting together as her ultimate build, and asked for our advice on the best wheels.  We've known and ridden with Bec for years, so understand her riding style well. As a result, she asked us to spec "what you would spec - if you were me". Easy then! White Industries XMR Boost hubs laced to Nextie Premium Carbon 36mm wide 29er rims (29mm internal width) for double duty as an...

Kwesi was piecing together his ultimate road bike - a Wilier Cento 10NDR. Another customer recommended he seek our advice. He needed some light and aero disc road wheels, that would be stiff and super reliable (he's a big guy). We chose the White Industries CLD hubs for this build, as they are light, tough and dependable. The finish is awesome and seems to weather far better than other premium offerings. Add to that an indestructible titanium freehub, simple maintenance, and they're a solid bet if you want to still to Centrelock rotors. The Nextie Classic 45mm deep and 25mm wide...