Categories: Accessories and GearAwesome Canadian GuysLa Vie VelominatusTechnology

Meet Your Maker

Meet your Maker

The wheel has always fascinated me, and why wouldn’t it? It’s one of the oldest known inventions, with the earliest archeological example believed to be about 5500 years old. They get us from point A to point B every day, one way or another. Without the wheel, we’d be reduced to walking. It’s not natural. So when I got the chance to have a look at the Wheelworks team and their slick operation in action, I was more than a little excited. And the best part? I get to ride them!

I headed over to the salubrious Wellington beachside suburb of Lyall Bay to meet up with Wheelworks’ owner Tristan Thomas, a transplanted Canadian and former engineer who started the company in 2008 and has been churning out wheelsets in increasingly large numbers ever since. Recently Wheelworks have launched discipline-specific branding for their wheels, with the mountain bike side dubbed Flite and the road builds under the Maker moniker.

Tristan and his right hand man Gavin McCarthy ran me through the build process, and if you think it’s just a matter of chucking some spokes in and giving them a few turns, well you’d be very far from the mark: the process Tristan has developed over the years is one of precision, order and involves more than a few tools and tricks that most other builders wouldn’t even know of. I’ll do my best to run you through the steps as I watched my Maker/White Industries/DT x Velominati wheelset come to life.

I’ll be putting some time on these wheels over the next month or so and will bring a full ride report after that.

Brett

Don't blame me

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View Comments

wilburrox says:

Jun 13 2015 at 6:06 pm

@Barracuda

@wilburrox

talk to me sir about the HED Ardennes V’s the DA C24’s. Im not happy with my DA C24’s constant need for the clear to delaminate. Comparison easy to comment on or two different horses?

Two different horses. Very. Maybe think of it kinda like a mtn bike. If were riding an XS or S frame go with the 650b's and if M or L go with the 29er. After riding the Ardennes +s the C24's feel, and this isn't exactly correct, but dainty. Probably quick/nimble'd be better descriptor. But, its a different thing than the HEDs with wide rim bed and large volume low pressure tires. I think the C24's are perfect on my daughter's 49 cm frame and she weighs maybe 80 lbs. I like 'em but really, of all my wheel sets, it's the HED Jet 4s, that I kinda keep going back to. The delaminate issue I haven't experienced.
Matt says:

Jun 13 2015 at 9:35 pm

@Barracuda

Mates bike whom I ride with, just completed custom Canyon build himself complete with wheels from Tristan ( I’m still chasing commission on this referral ). To say I am ENVEous is an understatement.

Needs to be anchored down at nights so it doesn’t float away !

Best looking rig Ive seen in these parts.

None, none more black.
tristan says:

Jun 15 2015 at 10:06 pm

Thanks for the kind words guys! We work really hard at offering great customer service and it's nice to know that it gets noticed.
Steve G says:

Jun 16 2015 at 6:54 pm

@Gianni

They certainly are the real deal. They're just all about wheels that are fit for purpose... the flattery is, indeed, icing on the cake

@Barracuda

Yep, sell them and sell whatever else you need. I'm trying to sort some cash to get another set of wheels from Tristan myself... Carbon perhaps, if they don't fold under my weight!