Wheelworks Handcrafted Wheels

Rim brakes are forgotten about by most of the wheelbuilding industry but we know how many nice rim-brake bikes are out there and how their ride can be improved with a nice new pair of wheels.

This is one of the great things about being independent and about being focused solely on wheels. As long as we continue to get requests for rim-brake wheels we'll continue to manufacture rims and build wheels.

These 60mm Maker SLs are off to Michelle. They're tubeless-ready and use a hooked bead: the best of both worlds.

Our customers are (rightly) demanding longer-lasting wheels with more durable and more serviceable components. This pair of Dial hubs laced with Alpina spokes to DT Swiss FR-541 rims is e-bike ready and well supported with spares meaning Carl's going to be using these for a very, very long time.

for Carl
Front Hub, Dial, 110x15 thru-axle, 32 hole, Black, 6-bolt
Rear Hub, Dial, 148x12 thru-axle, 32 hole, Black, 6-bolt
Spoke, Extralite Round, Black
Rim, DT Swiss FR541, 29", 32 hole, includes PHR washers and silver aluminium PHR ni***es

Colours used:
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Looking to lighten your bike? Want to reduce arm pump? Improve traction? Or maybe you just want to chop your mates like Tom Pidcock? Either way Berd spokes will help.

We laced Craig's pair of Trail Carbon rims onto Talon hubs with Berd's unique UHMWPE spokes for the ultimate all-around mountain bike wheelset

for Craig
Front Hub, Berd, Talon, 28 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, Berd, Talon, 28 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, Center Lock, Sram XD, 54t ratchet ring
Spoke, Berd PolyLight, White. These spokes feature a hooked fl**ge at the hub end and a 14g thread at the rim end. They are made from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 29" 30mm, black, 28 hole TrailLite Rear
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 29" 30mm, black, 28 hole TrailLite Front

Colours used:
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These photos give some insight as to how we build Berd spoke wheels. Andrew's been experimenting with partially coluring the spokes before inserting them into the hubs, especially with straight-pull hubs. The masking tape it to keep the white spokes at the valve clean while building.

Our custom lacing jig makes holding all of the components a sinch.

This is a very light weight pair of road wheels using DT Swiss 180 EXP hubs and Berd UHMWPE spokes laced to Maker SL rims. No only will be they very light but the Berd spokes make for an incredibly smooth ride.

for Stuart
Front Hub, DT Swiss, 180, 24 hole, Black, 100x12 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, DT Swiss, 180, 24 hole, Black, 142x12 thru-axle, Center Lock,HG 36.8mm
Spoke, Berd PolyLight, White. These spokes feature a hooked fl**ge at the hub end and a 14g thread at the rim end. They are made from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
Rim, Wheelworks Maker SL Version 3 50mm, black, 24 hole, tubeless-ready clincher, Disc-brake Super Light

Colours used:
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Two White spokes at the valve

When we say *custom* wheels we really mean it. We often don't post the full range of builds and repairs we do but having a deep knowledge of wheels means we're able to build and repair a vast range of less-than-normal options like this e-bike penny farthing.

There are 64 spokes laced in a 5-cross pattern with 575mm spokes on that front wheel 🤯

It’s incredibly sad to hear the NZ Cycle Classic couldn’t attract a naming sponsor and won’t go ahead this season. The Cycle Classic has provided a springboard for our best cyclists to break into the international scene, and conversely has brought international stars to the roads of Wellington.

Personally, I find this really sad. I’ve been involved in the Cycle Classic in some capacity for nearly every year I’ve lived in NZ. I’ve sponsored and managed teams, I’ve wrenched for both international and ragtag domestic teams, and most importantly I’ve made countless friends through my experiences. Every one of the blokes in this photo from the 2012 tour still plays a part in my life 12 years later. and I likely wouldn't have met them without this race

I hope a naming sponsor can be found for next year's event and this is only a one-year hiatus rather than the curtains permanently coming down.

This is a good reminder to get out there and support your local events whether as a rider, volunteer, or sponsor. You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

We build a lot of dynamo wheels this time of year. Modern dynamos are amazing and can not only run your lights but also charge phones, GPS and batter banks.

The SON dynamos are the best out there with a 5 year bearing guarantee

The beauty of *custom* wheels is you get what you want.: Allan wanted a slightly narrower rear rim because his frame doesn't have huge tyre clearance but wanted to run a big fat front tyre for mega grip. He also wanted a mullet wheelset with a 29" front and 27.5" rear

This is exactly why we love building every wheelset to order rather than pulling something out of a box.

Sometimes the customisations are big, sometimes they're just little tweaks, but regardless we'll get you what you want and what you need.

for Allan
Front Hub, DT Swiss, 350 2022, 28 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear Hub, DT Swiss, 350 2022, 28 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, Sram XD
Spoke, DT Swiss Aerolite, Black
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 29" 35mm, black, 28 hole
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 27.5" 30mm, black, 28 hole

Colours used:
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Two White spokes at the valve

It's dreary outside but this OG Race wheelset with Fluro Red decals looks 🔥

Have a great weekend and get out there and ride your bike!

8th at her first Olympics - what an amazing result for Sammie.

She's not only an incredible athlete but also such an inspirational person. By being so public about her eating disorder she’s been a role model to any athlete with body-issues but was punished by Cycling NZ and dragged through hell in their Olympic selection process.

To put all of that aside and pull off an incredible result against a stacked field shows not only her physical but also her mental prowess. Watch this young lady closely. Even though she’s no longer riding our wheels we’re still cheering for you Sammie.
maxwell.mtb

New bike day for Simon 😍

In this day and age of sponsor-supplied equipment deals it's incredibly rare for riders to break sponsorship agreements. The fact that so many top XCO riders are choosing Berd spokes shows how much of an improvement they make to wheels of nearly every brand or model due to a reduction in weight and a reduction in fatigue from their vibration-dampening Dyneema material.

Berd spokes are used by some of the worlds best athletes and have already proven themselves at World Cups. Will they win Olympic medals?

We can build almost any of our wheels with Berd spokes. We also stock the Berd Sparrow gravel wheels, Hawk 30 XC/Trail wheels, and Hawk30X enduro wheels.

NZ and Australian bikeshops - drop us a note for B2B access and dealer pricing on spokes and wheels.





mitterwallner

Our lease program is a really popular way of keeping up with the latest spec wheels. Daniel is an existing lease customer who renewed his lease for a new pair of 50mm AR wheels. He's a bigfella so we used a stiffer rear rim with a higher spoke count to give him the lateral stiffness he needs.

I love this silver-on-silver colour combo ❤

You can lease most of our most-popular wheelsets from $115 per month
wheelworks.co.nz/18-month-wheelset-leasing/

for Daniel
Front Hub, Dial, 24 hole, Black, 100x12 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, Dial, 28 hole, Black, 142x12 thru-axle, Center Lock, Sram XDR
Spoke, DT Swiss Aerolite, Black
Rim, Wheelworks Maker AR Version 3 50mm, black, 24 hole, tubeless-ready clincher, Disc-brake
Rim, Wheelworks Maker AR Version 3 50mm, black, 28 hole, tubeless-ready clincher, Disc-brake

Colours used:
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Two Silver spokes at the valve

Mid-winter upgrade for Marcus: We built this Rohloff 14 speed gearbox hub into an aluminium RaceFace rim back in 2017. The wheel has been around the world a few times since then and showing it's age so Marcus took the opportunity to upgrade to a Flite carbon rim and have the Rohloff rebuilt.

The new rim and spokes have saved a chunk of weight, and the carbon rim is infinitely more durable than the aluminium rim it's replaced so it might be later than 2031 before we see this one back again.

Colours used:
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Two White spokes at the valve

The DT Swiss 240 Ratchet DEG, the Industry 9 Solix, and the OneUp all have all been added to our range and are in stock now.
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The 240 Ratchet DEG takes the well-known DT Swiss design and supersizes it to increase the number of engagement points from 54 to 90. I’m working on a full deepdive video of this new design which will be ready next week .
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OneUp is a company known for their it-just-works approach to designing dropper posts and tools, and their new hubs are their first entry into the wheel category. They’ve copied the proven DT Swiss classic design but removed the weak-link by integrating the ‘threaded ring’ into the hub shell to enable much easier bearing replacement. This is a great looking hubset with a no-frills approach and is one I’m really excited about. Stay tuned for more info on these.
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The Solix is the latest hub from Industry 9. It’s not a replacement for the Hydra but rather a lighter version to sit alongside it for XC, Trail, and gravel bikes. It has similarly fast engagement (605 vs 690) with a new 5 pawl design. It also uses a different axle design - something I’m excited to see after initial problems we faced with the Hydra axles but which have been fixed with their ‘stress riser kit’ axle. The Solix is a great looking hub and a great option for saving weight while adding clicks.
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These three new options now sit alongside hubs from Hope, White Industries, Dial, Onyx, Chris King and Berd - all brands we believe in and which have demonstrated both great performance but also great longevity and serviceability - to cover everything from lightweight road through to emtb abuse.

I love pulling these apart and understanding how they work and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Being an independent wheelbuilder means we can do this and then pick and choose from the best options on the market in order to build the best possible wheels for you.

If you, or someone you know, needs better wheels please reach out to myself and Andrew

-Tristan

Gary's building a new e-road Specialized Creo and wanted to upgrade the stock wheels. No problem - this pair of Maker AR 50mm rims laced to DT Swiss 180 EXP hubs will do it.

We installed a pair of our favorite tyres plus a Sram cassette and rotors

for Gary
Front Hub, DT Swiss, 180, 24 hole, Black, 100x12 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, DT Swiss, 180, 24 hole, Black, 142x12 thru-axle, Center Lock,HG 36.8mm
Spoke, DT Swiss Aerolite Straight-pull, Black
Rim, Wheelworks Maker AR Version 3 50mm, black, 24 hole, tubeless-ready clincher, Disc-brake

Colours used:
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Stephen loved the wheels we built for his gravel bike so much he checked us out again when looking for new mountain bike wheels. His suggestion of using a XM481 / EX511 rim combo was spot-on so we laced them up to some fantastic Hope Pro5 hubs with DT Swiss Competition spokes

for Stephen
Front hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, Shimano Microspline 108 POE
Spoke, DT Swiss Competition, Black, J-Bend
Rim, DT Swiss EX511, 27.5", 32 hole, includes PHR washers and silver aluminium PHR ni***es
Rim, DT Swiss XM481, 27.5" black, 32 hole, includes PHR washers and silver aluminium PHR ni***es

Colours used:

This TrailLite with Berd spokes is flying out the door today and ready to be fitted onto a beautiful new titanium Moots




for Simon
Front Hub, Berd, Talon, 28 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, Berd, Talon, 28 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, Center Lock, Sram XD, 36t ratchet ring
Spoke, Berd PolyLight, White. These spokes feature a hooked fl**ge at the hub end and a 14g thread at the rim end. They are made from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 29" 30mm, black, 28 hole TrailLite Rear

Colours used:
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Glenn chose the ever-reliable DT Swiss 350 hubs laced to the burly FR-541 rims for his new wheelsets. Hard to go wrong with that combo.

Checkout our youtube for a full deepdive on the 350 hubs, how they compare to the other hubs in the DT Swiss range, and what features have evolved over the years.

for Glenn
Front Hub, DT Swiss, 350 2022, 32 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear Hub, DT Swiss, 350 2022, 32 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, Sram XD
Spoke, DT Swiss Competition, Black, J-Bend
Rim, DT Swiss FR541, 29", 32 hole, includes PHR washers and silver aluminium PHR ni***es

The Hope Pro5 is a really popular hub at the moment. I've proven to be reliable and durable, the range of colours is great, and the ebike freehub body is bulletproof.

Checkout our youtube for a full deepdive on the Pro5, and checkout Nicholas' new wheels

for Nicholas
Front hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, HG 36.8mm eBike 54 POE
Spoke, DT Swiss Competition, Black, J-Bend
Rim, DT Swiss FR541, 29", 32 hole, includes PHR washers and silver aluminium PHR ni***es

Colours used:

We've loving these new silver Pro5 hubs...they're darker than the Pro4 and more reminiscent of the old gunmetal Pro2. Hot. We laced this pair of 110x20mm front / 142x12mm rear singlespeed hubs into some 26" FR560 rims.

for Adam
Front hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Silver, 100x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Silver, 142x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, Singlespeed 108 POE
Spoke, DT Swiss Competition, Black, J-Bend
Rim, DT Swiss FR560 26", black, 32 hole

Colours used:

Two Silver spokes at the valve

This colour combo brightened a gloomy winters day in Te Aro this morning 😎

for Connor
Front hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 110x15 thru-axle, 6-bolt
Rear hub, Hope Pro5, 32 hole, Black, 148x12 thru-axle, 6-bolt, Sram XD eBike 54 POE
Spoke, DT Swiss Aerolite, Black
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 29" 35mm, black, 32 hole
Rim, Wheelworks Flite Version 3 27.5" 35mm, black, 32 hole

Colours used:
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Two White spokes at the valve

Andy dropped by to show off his new singlespeed

frame
suspension
BB and cranks
brakes

Our ex-demo wheels offer exceptional value.

You get the full Wheelworks lifetime warranty, fresh decals, serviced hubs with new bearings, and your choice of freehub body.

These wheelsets are from our ambassadors, dealers, magazine reviews, or sometimes brand-new which were used for a photo shoot.

See what wheels are currently available by scanning the QR code or hitting this link

https://www.wheelworks.co.nz/product-category/demo-wheelset/

Unbound 2024 - Jack and Pete traded Wellington's hills for 320 kilometres of Kansas heat.

Here’s Pete’s story starting with the front Full Course 200 Mile group:

“Moderate start, fairly well paced, and I luckily bridged an important gap prior to the carnage at km 50 with bikes and people flying everywhere.

A huge effort after a very chunky section to bridge to leaders again. As soon as I got there it was hamer down again and the leaders split into two groups with me in the second. I rolled with this group of insanely strong riders for a while.

After the aid station I crashed on the slipperiest corner known to man along with 3 others. I landed hard on my hand (no gloves like an idiot). Took all the skin off my hand and wrecked my wrist. I couldn’t hold the hoods and could barely hold the drops. The only comfortable position was on the tops. I managed to catch back to my group and we absolutely smashed it to aid station two. We bridged up to within 1 min of the leaders but that’s when the temperature hit 30 degrees C and I cracked big time. I crawled to aid station 2 at 240km. After a 10 minutes liedown and strapping my wrist I was off again for 2 hours of misery clinging on to a legend who towed me and 3 other riders. Gastroparesis was killing me with constant burping and near vomiting and absolutely hollow legs. FINALLY my stomach started playing ball and my legs came back online and I smashed it home for the last 40ks solo. Finished and in an absolute state, completely heat-stroked and couldn’t get above vertical for an hour afterward and my wrist was miserable. Most uncomfortable 200km of my life and all in all pretty happy to get round.

Huge kudos to Jack for finishing despite a shredded tire and 4 punctured tubes, what an absolute warrior.

Gotta run, Jack and I are on the hunt for bacon and eggs. At least a kilogram of each.”

Unbound 2024 - Jack and Pete traded Wellington's hills for 320 kilometres of Kansas heat.

Here’s Jack’s story, starting with the Professional category:

“I rolled into the Elite start pen at dawn and found my spot in the crowd. Daylight slowly illuminated lots of faces I recognised from World Tour Pros, Life Time Grand Prix Athletes and just legit hitters. I was buzzing to get into it! The race started off full gas, it was an awesome feeling rubbing shoulders with all the pros with the sun coming up and a helicopter alongside. I managed to avoide a couple of nervous crashes even before we hit the dirt. The first 30 minutes of gravel was 38kph average then it chilled out before ramping up again for the first and probably roughest section of the course at mile 25. People were crashing and flatting everywhere, most doing both at the same time. I managed to hang in there but was completely on my limit: trying my best to pick a line in “the chunk” which had plenty of fist sized rocks lying about until bang and I flatted myself. I had a thumb sized hole in my sidewall which I patched with a bank note. Over the next 100km I still went through 3 tubes. I was pretty disheartened at this stage until I saw the front amateur group approaching so I jumped in but after an hour with them I flatted again! Another tube change and by now all I wanted to do was make it to the finishline. I helped out a few other riders that had run out of CO2 canisters with my pump - Who doesn’t take a pump to unbound?!? I had similar gut issues to Pete after 200km and battled to the end unable to eat but just stoked to make it to the finish!

Unbound is an awesome event. It really is impressive how many people descend on the small town of Emporia for this race: 5000 competitors plus support crew, organisers and sponsors has the town buzzing the whole week!

I’d recommend Unbound for any keen graveler - plus the Kansas BBQ food!”

Another stunning Berd wheelset rolling out the door to end the week. These Hawk30 wheels are a pleasure to build with their hooked-fl**ge Talon hubs and ultra-light weight. With world champions like Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot now racing (and winning!) XCO races on Berd-spoked wheels, we're delighted that our early confidence in these game-changing spokes is now being realised at the highest level of cycling.
We have just one set of Hawk30's now left in stock, and we're taking orders for the next shipment (which will include the new enduro-focussed Hawk30X). Get in touch to claim your place in the queue.

Berd spokes continue to shine internationally, with world champions Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot the latest to take them to the top of the XCO podiums.

Our OG (Offroad Gravel) is a 35mm deep, 25mm internal-width carbon rim. With this mold platform we are able to produce rims with different carbon layups, different resins, and different spoke drillings.

We've got a total of 5 steps between the light weight OG Race rims and the super-durable OG Bike Packing.

This pair is right in the middle with a combination of Race front and Overnight rear rim to provide an all-around balance of light weight and loaded capability

Front Hub, Dial, 28 hole, Black, 100x12 thru-axle, Center Lock
Rear Hub, Dial, 28 hole, Black, 142x12 thru-axle, Center Lock,HG 36.8mm
Spoke, DT Swiss Aerolite, Black
Rim, OG Carbon Overnight, 35mm, black, 28h
Rim, OG Carbon Race, 35mm, black, 28h

Colours used:
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Two Red spokes at the valve