Sometimes you want to keep them

I love building wheels.  Feeling the tension slowly increase.  Seeing the wheel become round and true.  Checking the tension to confirm it’s ready.  Installing tires and cassette.  Fitting into the frame.  The wheel goes from a collection of loose parts, (roughly 66 individual parts, sometimes more, sometimes less) that are useless by themselves, into a structure that can support you and your bike across terrain that ranges from dead smooth to chunky pavement or rocks without flinching.  The right wheel for the application it’s destined is a thing of beauty.

Sometimes, I’ll build a wheelset that gives me such a good feeling about it that I want to keep it for myself.  It just feels so improbably right that I want it.  However, that means that the customer the wheelset is destined for will simply get this great wheelset.  They are going to get to feel what I can only imagine as they pedal their bike and know that wonderful smooth, singing feeling/sound of a superb wheel on the tarmac.

This is one of those wheels.  After I finished building it and installed the Challenge Strada 25 tires, I spun it in my hands a bit and realized that this wheelset was about as nice and sexy as I can imagine.  I wanted to fit these to my bike and spin out to the Point on one of my favorite rides, maybe ride some dirt too.  

The frame these are intended for is not going to be disappointed in having these babies clamped in its dropouts.  That will be for a future post.  Stay tuned…

(What’s playing:  The Scorpions The Zoo)