Tech tips, Wheel Building, Workshop
Wheel Builds
Apr
High-quality wheelsets are easily one of the best upgrades you can make on your bike. That is why we’re pleased to you custom wheel builds in-house at Action Bicycle Club.
Whether its light, aerodynamic wheels you need to get an edge in a race or a tough as nails build to withstand the rigours of your remote adventure, we build wheels that match your exacting needs.
From spoke length calculation, cutting, spoke and nipple thread prep to the wheel building and truing. We use the finest parts and tools at every stage of the process. All bespoke wheel-builds are guaranteed for two years with free truing, spoke replacements and hub servicing.
So come by and have a conversation with use. Our mechanics can advise you every step of the way to create a beautiful set of wheels. You’ll be stoked to get on and ride, every time.
Road
Built to go fast and gain every possible edge. Road wheel builds often feature advanced modern bike technologies, aerodynamic and energy-efficient designs. All in conjunction to let the rider’s effort shine through.
Whether carbon fibre or aluminium alloy, road rims often have reduced spoke counts and aerodynamic profiles. Coupled with aero bladed spokes and small flanged hubs, these factors together to reduce weight and drag.
We’re proud to include H+ Plus, Whisky and DT Swiss rims in our selection for road rims. Choose from Novatec, Chris King, Phil Wood or DT Swiss hubs. Choose from a whole range of DT Swiss or Phil Wood 2.0 spokes.
All Road / CX / Gravel
This increasingly popular discipline of all-road / gravel shares a lot in common with Cyclocross riding. Riders need to navigate away from the smooth bitumen and tarmac to off-road terrain that is often muddy, sandy and gravelly, yet ridden with the same exertion as one would on a road bike.
This endeavour requires a different set-up to the road, meaning frames with bigger clearance for wider tyre and rims. An option to go tubeless presents itself, allowing for lower tyre pressures to smooth over uneven ground and prevent unwanted flats often presented with inner tubes.
Riders have greater flexibility between Road and MTB hubs and drivetrains. Often opting for larger rear gears in exchange for riding 1X in the front.
For more wheel products in the All-road / gravel range, check out our Whisky and DT-Swiss gravel rims. Also a special emphasis on Sim-Works The Homage tyres. Interested in bike-packing? Check out our handy guide to Bike packing and Bike Touring.
MTB
A huge category comprising many styles, they all rely on a fine balance between weight and durability to achieve fast descents and technical superiority.
Most MTB wheel builds are with creating with wide rims in carbon fibre or aluminium alloy and these days with Thru-Axle (T/A) hubs or BOOST hubs for a stiffer ride allowing better handling. Tubeless set-up is also increasingly popular to allow for lower tyre pressures.
We’re pleased to offer DT-Swiss and Alex Rims for our MTB builds. Laced to Novatec, DT-Swiss and Chris King hubs.
Bike-packing? Check out our Shutter Precision dynamo hubs for reliable lighting and electricity in the adventure strewn wilderness.
Ask us about our Maxxis and Continental tyres recommendation.
Fixed / Track
Fast, fastidious, track wheel builds for the velodrome or for the urban jungle is all about keeping it simple at the highest quality.
A selection of rims for increased aerodynamics on the track or for extra durability as you throw your weight off a curb and around asphalt. A track bike is what you make of it.
Select from our H+ Plus son rims, need some bombproof hubs? Check out Phil Woods, or our All-City / Dia-Compe or Soma options for both single, fixed-fixed, track-freewheel (flip-flop) combinations.
Sometimes you just need a working wheel. Whether it’s for your beat around, or your new front-loading electric bike/e-bike conversion. We’re here to help you put a wheel in your bike that’s perfectly suited for the job at the right budget.
Using both DT-Swiss Champion and Phil Woods 2.0 spokes, even the most basic wheels coming out of the shop is built with the best spokes that the cycle industry offers. We’re able to source a whole range of rims and hubs to accommodate your requests, so just give us a call!
A handy calculator that helps you figure out the correct spoke length needed for different hubs, rims and spokes. Especially great when you go with the full DT Swiss spectrum to build the wheel.
Another good calculator that actually works with a slightly different formula compared to DT Swiss. Occasionally getting better results with the Sapim calculator compared to the DT Swiss. It’s often good to check with two different calculators to avoid potential pitfalls.
The Sheldon Brown website is a comprehensive online resource for knowledge on anything about bikes. The wheel build section is a good starting point to learn the glossary such as “spokes” “truing” “lacing patterns” etc… It also features a handy hack for those who don’t want to own a wheel truing stand.
