:: SERVICES ::
:: Wheelbuilding :: Courses ::Tours :: Club Talks :: Race Support ::
|
I have been building bicycle wheels since the 1980s. My wheelbuilding business was born out of sheer frustration with the first set of wheels I asked a bicycle shop to build. After just two or three rides, this particular wheel built from Wolber TX Profile Rims, a Suntour Superbepro hub (both extinct today) and straight gauge spokes, went out of true – enough to touch even those wide-open single-pivot brakes of those days. I took it back to the bike shop and asked the builder to please re-true them – while I go for a cup of coffee.
That didn’t please him one bit but I was adamant. I’ve come from far and I wanted it done while I wait. Half an hour later I returned to find him in the process of meticulously dripping Genkem contact glue onto each and every nipple, as if gluing the nipples to the inside of the rim. On questioning his actions, he replied that he did not want the spokes to come loose again. It occurred to me that he’s wasting his time – the rear end of the nipple is the wrong place to smear glue on in an attempt to secure the nipple. If you want to secure a bolt, the area of thread inside the nut is where you should apply chemicals. As it turned in my later research, putting thread locking compound on your spokes is the last thing you should do. I there and then resolved to maintain my own wheels and studied the subject, starting with the bible of wheelbuilding, The Bicycle Wheel, by Jobst Brandt. You’ll find this book on Amazon, and I also sell copies, if you’re interested.
My motto is, if it ain’t broke, fix it – a philosophy that taught me many, many mechanical lessons. After working on my own wheels, I soon progressed to fixing wheels for fellow club members. Building wheels right means that you never have to work on them and you have to start looking around for other wheels that need attention. Soon I had to go professional in order to find enough wheels to work on. My wheels differ from shop-built wheels in that I guarantee my work for the life of the wheel. Should your wheel go out of true or even break a spoke from fatigue (blunt trauma and brute force doesn’t count), I’ll fix it while you wait, period. Read more about this fantastic guarantee. My students and I build better wheels because we understand how wheels work, what stresses they encounter and what causes spokes to break. It is as simple as that. In this business, tenure carries no weight. The quality of your wheels is not a function of how long you’ve been building or how many you’ve built, but all about understanding the dynamics of a spoked wheel. I don't obsessively weigh wheels. A good wheel built with the best components, weighs exactly what the engineers intended it to weigh. Any less and you’re risking premature failure, fragile wheels and frequent component replacements. If you want better wheels which you can ride forever, in all conditions and just forget about them, talk to me. If you want fancy wheels that will score you points at the coffee shop, also speak to us. We build them all, we repair them all.
Johan Bornman
|
:: Newsletter ::
:: Unsubscribe ::
:: Administation ::