Photography

I got a photographer to help me out with this blog but due to computer problems on her end (none of it her fault) the pictures are still on her camera.

Also, I have been sick recently so I have been staying in bed a lot and only have managed to build one wheel. But it is a good one so I hope to have a picture of it up soon.

Evolution of an idea

Sometime in the summer of 2008 I decided to build a 650c front wheel so I could try doing bar spins. The bike I built up is a thing of legend now and I will post it once I find the pictures but the front wheel has its own history.
The original setup of the wheel was a 650c pink Deep-V to a Paul hub. I radial laced the wheel with black spokes and added purple nipples to match the frame. That original design laced for about a year.
Then one day I got a rear HED3 off of my friend Chris. I decided I wanted to paint the HED3 pink so I asked Chris if he would also paint the Deep-V. A few days later I picked up my rim and wheel and rebuilt the new sparkling pink Deep-V to the Paul hub with new purple nipples:




SPECS
Rim: Velocity Deep-V, custom pink
Hub: Paul FHUB, black
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, black
Nipple: DT-Swiss, alloy, purple


Not too long after that was complete H+Son rims were finally available on QBP so I, of course, ordered a 650c. Again I had Chris paint it sparkling pink but this time I decided to build the rim up to a silver Level hub I had laying around. Because of the short spoke length I was faced with cutting and threading the spokes myself, paying someone to cut and thread my spokes, or lace it up 3x. I decided to save myself time, energy, and money and just lace it up 3x:



SPECS
Rim: H+Son Formation Face, custom pink
Hub: Level, silver
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, silver
Nipple: DT-Swiss, brass, silver


For now I am happy with the two 650c wheels I have but I'm sure once someone makes a 50mm aluminum rim or if I get a carbon one online I'll be posting up another pointless wheel.

H+Son Formation Face x All-City

Nothing too special about this one. Simple and clean. Built for Smart Bike Parts.





SPECS
Rim: H+Son Formation Face, white
Hub: All-City fix/free, white
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, silver
Nipple: DT-Swiss, brass, silver

DT-Swiss RR 1.1 x SRAM Torpedo

A while ago I visited a couple people I know at SRAM, based here in Chicago, and took a tour of their facility. One of the things I got to play with was a prototype Torpedo, which switches from freewheel to fixed gear all while staying on the bike.
About a month ago the Torpedo was released on QBP so I ordered one to play with. One of the interesting things about it is the over locknut width is 130mm. I thought this was a nice idea for people who wanted to convert an old road frame. It can also be used for those people who want to try riding fixed gear but would like the comfort of a freewheel.
I wanted to do the hub justice so I chose a DT-Swiss RR 1.1 rim but kept the price down a bit by using silver spokes. Built for Smart Bike Parts.





SPECS
Rim: DT-Swiss RR 1.1, black
Hub: SRAM Torpedo, black
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, silver
Nipple: DT-Swiss, brass, silver

H+Son Formation Face x All-City

Built for Smart Bike Parts.



SPECS
Rim: H+Son Formation Face, gold
Hub: All-City fix/fix, gold
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, silver
Nipple: DT-Swiss, brass, silver

Velocity B43 x All-City

My friend, and fellow wheel builder, Joe gave me the idea. Built this one for Smart Bike Parts.






SPECS
Rim: Velocity B43, white
Hub: All-City fix/free, gold
Spoke: Soma, white
Nipple: DT-Swiss, alloy, gold

Salsa Delgado Cross x Chris King

This one was fun because it took a few months to do. Trips first asked me about building up his Chris King hub that came from the single speed MTB set. We tried looking up the specs but we not able to find them and the project was put on the back burner. About a week or so ago he brought idea up again and I told him I would measure the hub so I could figure out the spoke length. Here is the result:





SPECS
Rim: Salsa Delgado Cross, black
Hub: Chris King single speed, lavender?
Spoke: DT-Swiss Champion, black
Nipple: DT-Swiss, brass, black