Technical Stuff — Carbon

Invest in hubs, and here's why.

• 27.5" • 29er • Aero • Alex Rims • All Mountain • Bontrager • Carbon • Classic • Cyclocross • DT Swiss • Easton • Enduro • Gravel • HED • Hope • Hplusson • Hybrid • Kinlin • Lefty • Nextie • Novatec • Pacenti • Project321 • Sapim • Shimano • Spank • Stan's No Tubes • Syntace • Track and Fixed • TT and Triathlon • Tubeless • Tune • Velocity • Wheel Builds • Wheel Repairs • White Industries • XLR8 Hubs • XLR8 Rims • Zelvy • Zipp

Invest in hubs, and here's why.

We've been doing this bike wheels thing for a while now, and there's one constant .... hubs are an investment. Buy wisely, and buy once. A good set of hubs will last several sets of rims. We recommend spending at least as much on hubs as the rest of the wheelset. Why? Aren't the rims the core of a wheelset? As we see it, rims are somewhat consumable. Certainly in the case of rim brake rims, as wear on the brake tracks will one day compromise rim integrity, and they'll need to be replaced. With the emergence of disc brakes...

Read more →


Cannondale Ai Asymmetric System - a detailed explanation of an elegant solution to a complex problem.

• 29er • All Mountain • Carbon • Cyclocross • Enduro • Gravel • Lefty • Nextie • Project321 • Wheel Builds • Wheel Repairs

Cannondale Ai Asymmetric System - a detailed explanation of an elegant solution to a complex problem.

Our sponsored World Champs XC racer switched over to Cannondale recently, and she quickly needed some new wheels for her Cannondale "Ai" Scalpel. Ai stands for Asymmetric Integration and means the rear wheel has a specific 6mm dish (to the non drive side). More on that in a moment. She rides Project 321 hubs, and the beauty of the system is that standard hubs can be used, along with standard rims. From the wheel perspective, we have to build to a specific offset.  Cannondale says the offset shifts the rear hub and drivetrain 6mm to the right, enabling super short chainstays without any of...

Read more →


ENVE and the nipple corrosion issue

• Aero • Carbon • TT and Triathlon • Wheel Repairs

ENVE and the nipple corrosion issue

We’re seen a few ENVEs in the workshop lately, all with a similar problem, and all needing rebuilds. It seems that the first ENVE factory built wheelsets (or at least with factory supplied build kits) used an internal alloy nipple

Read more →


DT Swiss – finest quality and engineering available now at XLR8

• Aero • Carbon • Classic • Cyclocross • DT Swiss • Lefty • Shimano • Wheel Builds

DT Swiss – finest quality and engineering available now at XLR8

DT Swiss traces a lineage back to drawing wire at a facility in Biel, Switzerland in the mid 1600s. in the early 1900s the first bicycle components were produced. By 1934 products ranged from spokes and rims to dust shields

Read more →


Loctite + Alloy Nipples = trouble

• Bontrager • Carbon • DT Swiss • HED • Wheel Repairs

Loctite + Alloy Nipples = trouble

A personal friend called me up to discuss his Bontrager Aeolus wheels. These were specced with Bontrager sealed bearing hubs (with a DT Swiss freehub), DT Aerolite spokes (in glaring pianted white) and glorious HED Carbon clinchers. Sounds good so

Read more →