The farewell of Chris King matte punch hubs!

Believe it or not, Chris King decided to discontinue their beautiful version of the "pink" hubs, called matte punch. From now on, these are becoming a true unicorn hubs. Here is my build using those and a new types of Duke Baccara SLS2 rims introduction...

In this project, the configuration of the wheels was pretty simple. Michel knew exactly what he wants. I only adjusted a number of spokes and spoke's type to the rider's weight and power. Because of the lightweight rider, the choice went to 24 spokes front and rear. 

In terms of the spokes, the front was laced using Pillar Wing 21 on the disc side and Wing 20 on the non-disc side. The rear got Wing 22 on the DR side and Wing 21 on the NDR side. In such combination, I've got the lightest & safe/durable wheels possible. Wing 21 spokes will handle the disc brake torque very well. Wing 22 will cope with the torque from the cassette without any problem.

As you can see in the pictures, the leading spokes were laced heads in and trailing heads out. This is the key if you're building disc wheels. Small detail but especially in low - 24h spoked disc wheels matters a lot.

In terms of the rims, the latest Duke Baccara SLS2 version was used. These are new types of road wheels from Duke. Wider, 21mm inner and 28mm outer and lighter. 42mm weights only 420g on the scale. This incredible result was achieved by using a new type of carbon layup and mold technique. The look is different too. The carbon fibers look like brushed steel, which is pretty nice!

Rims got a small hole to help evaporate the water after rainy rides - very useful detail!

On this build, I used my new type of tubeless tape - the lightest I ever had. Weighs nothing and it's super strong and sticky at the same time. Looks very promising!

The overall results - gorgeous wheels. Wide, stiff, aero and light - below 1450g. These are pure dream and luxury wheels. Unique, handmade with Swiss precision at the same time. You won't buy such off the shelf!

More luxury builds will come out this year from Blackcat wheels. You'll see a couple of Zipp, Enve rebuilds, latest Tune prince/princess hubs, and Berd spokes. If you're thinking about top quality wheelset, give it to the hands of someone with experience who already done it. Precision, calibrated tools and wisdom are the keys for the finest wheels build you can get. 

Stay tuned for more - this is going to be very interesting year!

Regards

Tomasz

blog-wheelbuilding