Wheels - Handbuilt vs Factory

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Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

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I got forced into this topic . .

For years and years I was happy using stock wheels until the day I decided I must have Silver wheels on my sorta road-bike-thingie with disk brakes.

Of course the cycling industry wouldn't allow me to have silver wheels so I had to have my own built. Now I have had custom wheels I don't think I would ever use off-the-shelf again (unles the price was super) . . .

I like being able to choose the rims, spokes and hubs, its all so tweakable. I'm interested what you think and what your experiences have been?

Anyone build their own wheels here? . . . anyone ever have a godly off-the-shelf wheel that lasted?
 
Chinese deep carbon rims on Novatec hubs here. Handbuilts are good but expensive for what you get (at least when I made my purchase decision - needing disc brakes a little over a year ago).

Whilst I built my bike from scratch any stuff /re wheels I get an LBS to do as truing and building wheels is too time consuming a task to bother doing myself.
 
FrenchTart said:
Handbuilts are good but expensive for what you get (at least when I made my purchase decision - needing disc brakes a little over a year ago).
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I paid about £160 for a pair of custom handbuilt 700c disk-hub wheels, the nearest prebuilt I could find was around £200 odd for some Mavics.

Do you agree that a handbuilt wheel is better quality than a factory wheel? Assuming both versions are crafted by someone who knows what they are doing?
 
I think that question is very hard to answer, as you have many things to consider with a wheel; aero, weight and quality. And how can you really define the quality of something, until you know how long it lasts? It might look decent, sure.
 
randomshenans said:
how can you really define the quality of something
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You define the quality of something by using it, comparing it to other items you have used and forming an opinion! :p

I'm quite new to hand built wheels but I had a set built by Arup and there where amazing, stayed true, and somehow increased my speed.

I think if I could have found a set of prebuilt wheels that fitted my requirements I wouldn't have gone the handbuilt route but having been using some for the past 2 years I think everyone who spends a lot of time in the saddle should own some!

I was watching a video of a dude at the Mavic factory bashing out some wheels, apparently he could build 40 wheels a day.

I suppose what I'm wanting to know is if anyone has a prebuilt wheel that was cost effective and stood the test of time as well as a handbuilt?
 
It wouldn't be fair for me to compare my shiny carbon wheels with the utterly naff stock ones that came with my old bikes. They're worlds apart in terms of cost (£330 for the carbons, probably like £3.30 for the stocks).

If someone is spending a fair bit of cash on wheels then handbuilts are often the right choice. It's not as simple as one is always worth it over the other though.
 
Big.Wayne said:
I got forced into this topic . .

For years and years I was happy using stock wheels until the day I decided I must have Silver wheels on my sorta road-bike-thingie with disk brakes.

Of course the cycling industry wouldn't allow me to have silver wheels so I had to have my own built. Now I have had custom wheels I don't think I would ever use off-the-shelf again (unles the price was super) . . .

I like being able to choose the rims, spokes and hubs, its all so tweakable. I'm interested what you think and what your experiences have been?

Anyone build their own wheels here? . . . anyone ever have a godly off-the-shelf wheel that lasted?
Click to expand...

I always buy Mavics and love them. Like most things, if you look after them they'll last fine :)
 
FrenchTart said:
It wouldn't be fair for me to compare my shiny carbon wheels with the utterly naff stock ones that came with my old bikes. They're worlds apart in terms of cost (£330 for the carbons, probably like £3.30 for the stocks).

If someone is spending a fair bit of cash on wheels then handbuilts are often the right choice. It's not as simple as one is always worth it over the other though.
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Handbuilts are a good option if you want a particular hub with a particular rim, but modern factory built wheels are superb; it really is personal choice.
 
Yeah I understand that but in what situation do you think handbuilt wheels are the obvious choice . . . you seem to imply an association with "spending a fair bit of cash" to handbuilt but I don't agree ;)

£160 pound is a winkle in the world of handbuilt wheels, my mate at the LBS was trying to persuade me to spend £160 on the rear hub only! :eek:

I think one of your carbon rims cost more than both my handbuilt wheels complete so I don't think the reason of going handbuilt only when "spending a fair bit of cash" holds true?

I have seen some 700c Shimano factory wheels on sale from time to time at £100/pair so at this lower end of the spectrum handbuilt doesn't really get a look in but once your around £150-£200 its a contender in my book.

As a side note, why do you use carbon wheels? . . . is it a weight-weeny thing or are they the shiznit? . . . I've heard carbon has a power to absorb a little road chatter? whats your experience?
 
The Mad Rapper said:
Handbuilts are a good option if you want a particular hub with a particular rim, but modern factory built wheels are superb; it really is personal choice.
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Which "enthusiast" buys a wheel without wanting a particular hub with a particular rim? (and spokes) :confused:

Your saying if all the specs were right and the price was the same you would take a factory wheel over a handbuilt? i.e apart from the specs there is no difference?

I'm thinking that handbuilt wheels are superior but I've had limited experience with "modern factory built wheels"

Some of my wrench buddies at Evans have told me several stories of factory built wheels turning up out of true etc.

Did you know Evans cycles charge £40 for building a wheel? . . . this price includes the spokes so you just add your rim & hub . . . seems like the way to go but I personally reservce judgement until I've used a "modern factory built wheel"
 
Only on here on and off so will just comment on the carbon thing. They were the cheapest highest spec wheels I could get at the time - partially due to weight and partially due to the minimum level of what I wanted from a UK seller would have been a fair bit more.

I ran them for a month on my old PX bike before I finished building up my new bike and they definitely felt like they were absorbing some of the judder from the terrible Manchester roads I ride on.
 
It seems like a bit of emperors new clothes. If I want a pair of Enve hoops with saphim spokes and Chris King hubs, I can buy that off the shelf. What makes a wheel from a wheel builder any better if I want them to build the same wheel?

Wheel manufacturers spend money developing better aero shaped rims, improved carbon braking surfaces etc. are we to believe a shop wheel builder does the same?

Hand built is great if you have a specific need that you may not be able to find on the mass market but it seems on the whole just another layer of cycling snobbery of which cycling is already heavily immersed in.

Edit: I've re-read that to myself and it came off a bit aggressive which was not my intention. Apologies if it comes across that way.
 
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Bear said:
It seems like a bit of emperors new clothes
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What does? having a wheel built vs factory?

Bear said:
If I want a pair of Enve hoops with saphim spokes and Chris King hubs, I can buy that off the shelf
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That's great, I almost envy you that you can be happy with exactly what the cycle industry offers you, I honestly never see anything that's exactly right, I suppose if I did I wouldn't have made this thread . . .

Bear said:
What makes a wheel from a wheel builder any better if I want them to build the same wheel?
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That's right bear, you're asking the question to the person who first asked the question, the confusion is strong hehe! :D If you are asking me my own question I would say a hand built wheel would likely get a little more workmanship time, assuming both ho-lee-sheet in the mavic factory is the same skill level as bob-the-wheel-builder

If Ho-Lee-Sheet spends 15mins bashing out wheel #7of40 and bob spends an hour building the same wheel I believe the hand-built will be superior . . . what do you think?

Bear said:
Wheel manufacturers spend money developing better aero shaped rims, improved carbon braking surfaces etc. are we to believe a shop wheel builder does the same?
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Sorry I don't follow? :confused:. . . are you saying that the factory wheels use special technology not available to bob-the-wheel-builder? I thought all the components were available to all? I never heard that some of the Wheel manufacturers keep the best tech for wheels only they build?

Bear said:
Hand built is great if you have a specific need that you may not be able to find on the mass market but it seems on the whole just another layer of cycling snobbery of which cycling is already heavily immersed in
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Well as already mention I myself can't find an off-the-shelf wheel that is "just so" . . . either I am a picky git or your just easily pleased but either way I'm pleased for you.

This is absolutely nothing to-do with cycle snobbery? this is a spectacular misunderstanding of the topic? . . . hand built wheels are not expensive unless you think £160 for a set of custom 700c disk hub wheels are expensive? (you might I don't know?).

I think the amount of possible customisation to a wheel makes it hard to buy a factory wheel, who knows I may actually see an off-the-shelf wheel I fancy and can make the comparison myself but based on the reasoning that a hand-built wheel likely gets more workmanship time and has an almost infinite amount of customisations possible I don't see a good case for buying a stock wheel . . . except on price point!
 
Big.Wayne said:
This is absolutely nothing to-do with cycle snobbery? this is a spectacular misunderstanding of the topic? . . . hand built wheels are not expensive unless you think £160 for a set of custom 700c disk hub wheels are expensive? (you might I don't know?).

I think the amount of possible customisation to a wheel makes it hard to buy a factory wheel, who knows I may actually see an off-the-shelf wheel I fancy and can make the comparison myself but based on the reasoning that a hand-built wheel likely gets more workmanship time and has an almost infinite amount of customisations possible I don't see a good case for buying a stock wheel . . . except on price point!
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Am I reading your posts wrong? You seem to be getting yourself in a right old tizz?!

I wouldn't buy hand built wheels because I have no need for them. As mentioned, I always ride Mavic. I like the brand and that's all there is to it. I don't think snobbery comes into it; buy the best you can afford and enjoy it.

On the hand built side I have friends who have Zipps and don't like the hubs they came with so had them rebuilt. One of the same friends is a weight weenie and chose particular rims (can't recall the brand and model now) and had them laced to Tune hubs for his climbing bike.

As I said - it's personal preference.
 
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