What makes a good wheelset?

A bicycle wheel is a pretty simple concept. Spokes attached to a round rim makes the bike roll. While it's not hard to make a wheel that will roll, making a high performance, lightweight wheel that you can rely on is a form of art.

One of the most important things to building a good wheel is to have an experienced professional wheelbuilder. You can have all the best components in the world but if the quality of the build is lacking then your wheelset will not ride well. At Boyd Cycling, we have an in-house wheelbuilder who meticulously trues and tensions every wheelset. After the set is finished another wheelbuilder goes over and double checks to ensure every wheel is built to spec. With this system in place you can be sure every wheel has been inspected by at least three people before being shipped out.

While the build is important, you need good components in the wheels to hold everything together. Our hubs are made for Boyd Cycling in Taiwan by a company that has over 20 years experience in the hub making industry. They are lightweight, roll extremely well, and are very easily serviceable. We are using Enduro sealed bearings (4 bearings in both the front and rear hubs), and the rear hub had 6 independently operating pawls. The flanges on the rear wheel are very tall (61.8mm diameter) so this allows for a shorter spoke length and a much stiffer feel to the wheels. You will appreciate the feel of this as soon as you stand and put pressure on the wheels.

With the spokes we are using Sapim CX Ray spokes. Considered almost unanimously to be the best spoke in the industry it's a no-brainer to use these spokes. They are stronger, lighter, and more aero than any other spoke on the market. This means we can tension them to higher tensions for a more balanced and stronger wheelset. We are using brass nipples on all of our builds. The brass nipples, although a little heavier than alloy, are much stronger and durable. It can make for a long ride home if an alloy nipple cracks on you during a ride and we find the extra 18-20 grams of weight is well worth the durability. We also use external nipples. Having the nipple hidden in the rim looks cool, but can be a huge pain if you ever have to true a wheel (especially a tubular wheel!). All of this is done to make a durable wheel that is extremely easy to work on should you ever need a quick tune up.

Our rims are also top of the line. Obviously a lot of attention has been made to our new and improved carbon clincher rims. So far every customer has been extremely satisfied with the ride quality and performance. The braking surface has been beefed up for smooth braking feel on a surface that will dissipate heat evenly throughout the whole rim. Our carbon tubulars are very lightweight yet extremely strong. Now that fall is fastly approaching many people are using the carbon tubulars for cyclocross racing. . .they are that durable!

As you can see, we have spent a lot of time making sure that we are building up some of the nicest quality wheels on the market. With the emergence of so many wheel companies we are striving to make sure our quality sets us apart from the rest. We believe that you should be able to put the tires on the wheels and have them ready to ride.

Purchasing a set of nice carbon wheels is a big investment, one that should last you a long time. At Boyd Cycling, we are passionate about making sure the quality of our builds is amongst the best out there. We will use the best materials and have the highest build quality. You should expect the best from a wheelset! And if you are buying a nice set of wheels, make sure you know they are handbuilt by a professional wheelbuilder.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully it will show you how much I value quality.