Ask 10 different cyclists what wheels you should get and you’re likely to get two dozen different answers.  And for good reason.  There are options for virtually every circumstance and even then there are different preferences.

My quest for great wheels lead me to skip the carbon (working with only $1,000 budget) and go with an aluminum rim.  From there I was looking for a strong rim with decent aerodynamics that I could run tubeless on.  I settled on HED’s Belgium C2 rims, proven yet innovative.

My buddy Ben pointed me towards Clive de Souza at Glory Cycles who hand builds a lot of wheels with C2 rims.  I was able to catch up with Clive and describe what I was looking for and he helped me settle in on my hubs and some finishing touches.  Chatting with Clive and bouncing ideas around was a great opportunity and left me feeling comfortable that I had made the right choice and was in good hands.

Wheel Bench at Glory Cycles

For the hubs I debated between the DT Swiss 240S and Campy Record.  I run Campy on my bike so compatibility was a major issue (read hassle).  SRAM andShimano freehubs are on wheels in every local bike shop.  With Campy you really have to dig around.  With input from Clive, I decided to go with the Record.

My wheel parts ready to go

Campy Record has 32 holes on each hub.  Not the lightest set-up in terms of spokes, but for my purposes and given my size (6’3″, 195lbs.) they should be very solid.  We decided to run black DT Swiss spokes with red DT Swiss nipples, taking a style cue from the sweet wheels my wife picked up at Mellow Velo in Santa Fe.

Spokes and spoke rule

All that was left was for Clive to build them.

Clives trusty French VAR spoke tool - used since 1989

Hand building the wheels

Rear Wheel Build

With the wheels complete, the cassette and the Hutchinson tubeless will come next.  Then I’ll be ready to roll!

I’m looking forward to using them over the holidays.