Components, Track/Fixed

Track Wheels – No BS

Only the strong survive. Or the unridden.


We build some tough wheels. We won’t build crappy ones. No, we mean it very literally, we will tell you “no” if you want us to build something that will not last. We flat out refuse to sell junk. That being said…

THE BUILD

This is the biggest factor to whether a wheel comes out strong, stays strong and performs as you want it to.
We build our wheels in a very exact way. It is 5 parts an art form and 10 parts science. The lacing and preparation are the art. The tensioning and preconditioning are the science. We have built a tool that systematically lets us know which spokes need attention and which ones are ready to go. After we have made sure that your wheel will not want to go anywhere, we take out an insurance policy: we have a special adhesive that holds the spokes in place, but allows for movement under truing stand conditions. So, we can replace a spoke if we need to, but not because it jiggled loose.



HUBS

- There are a few shops that are selling some really crappy, inexpensive fixed gear hubs, laced poorly to crappy heavy rims (that look neat to the untrained eye). It is sort of a bait and switch. The issue with a not so great hub is that it will strip out. This leaves you with a bunch of parts to recycle, and nothing to be ridden ever again. We only sell hubs we know will last.

1. Phil Wood – Not a single problem with these hubs for going on 5 years. They make them right. If you can afford this, you should absolutely go with Phil Wood. Phil makes some crazy custom hubs, too. If you can dream it… more.

2. White Industries – With their introduction of the splined fixed gear set up, no more cogs ever have to slip again. Their track series the ENO (one backwards) hubs are the lightest hubs we have come across that are also super trustworthy. And who wouldn’t be excited about their ENO eccentric hub that allows us to convert virtually any style road bike to a ss/fixed gear?

3. Profile – Known worldwide for the toughest bmx cranks (pretty much ever), Profile jumped into the track hub market. We have set up several bikes with these without hearing so much as a whimper. Please be ready for some extra attention for these.

4. Formula – Within the Formula lineup, there is garbage to be had. And we flat out will not carry those hubs (though, we have been begged to carry them). They break. The good Formula Track Hubs do not have problems. As far as miles per dollar, these guys are hard to beat. They are reminiscent of the old Sheriff Badge Campagnolo Track hubs, but without the pain of shelling out tons of money (for nothing but style points). We sell many of these hubs and have only seen a very small number of them with problems. Those problems were caught before a single spoke was introduced to them, so we haven’t really had any problems with them.

RIMS

– Rims are what holds the tension of the spokes and has to spring back in place when you slam into a pothole or go up a curb. Getting a great rim is your best chance to not have to spend extra money when you didn’t want to. We build and ride a lot of wheels here, so we know which rims last the longest.

1. Mavic Open Pro – The rim that all others are compared to. Super light, super strong and great to build with. The eyelets are extra strong and the spoke tension can be taken nice and high using these rims. They are a great value, though they do cost about $40 more per wheel than our second choice.

2. Mavic Open Sport (MA-3) – Easily our most popular 700c track rim. Why? Because when you are on a budget, but you are following the “buy it nice, or buy it twice” theme, these are the only way to go. Still classic in style and tough, but without the extra weight loss of a racing rim. We have seen virtually no problems with these rims, other than the occasional run in with a car or fellow cyclist. Which, of course, isn’t really the rim’s fault.

3. Velocity Deep-V – These catch everyone’s eye. They can’t help it. And they come in a variety of colors and patterns that will match about any bike. Often imitated, but never quite matched in style and especially quality. These build up nicely and run fast. Sometimes, too fast.

SPOKES

You get one choice. The best. Sapim (or Phil Wood) spokes are what we build with. No reason to get anything less.