My take on Triathlon wheels

Freedom of components selection is the best thing in the wheelbuilding profession. If you're not forced to a specific brand and you understand how the good wheel works, then you are able to create and build the best wheels possible. 

In today's entry, probably the best triathlon wheels I've ever made. Truly aerodynamic, quiet, without any drag, and constantly engaged. I'm very excited to introduce to you the Onyx hubs!

Duke Fury Jack - hard enduro wheels in Super Boost Plus standard

Although I'm 100% roadie / gravel rider I also enjoy building mountain bike wheels, and on this project, I had a unique opportunity to build a wheelset for very experienced and demanding rider. Moreover, the wheels were built in the latest axle's standards - Super Boost Plus.

Triplet hubs & wheels from BlackCat

The more wheels you build, the more you learn. Experience is something that comes with time and amount of wheels going through your workshop. Rims, hubs, spokes, wheels - you see them all... those good and those really bad... but well marketed.
On top, if you ride them all, you get something which others don't - you confront theory vs practice. You test them not only on the paper but primarily in real-time conditions, in my case: the Swiss Alps. 

Dear reader, today I'd like to introduce you to BlackCat triplet wheels.

Schmolke carbon rims - how much premium is in the premium?

Schmolke carbon wheels, a dream for most of us, the road cyclists. Top premium brand, known for lightweight, and beautiful carbon components.

I remember, when I was starting my wheel building business, I was dreaming about such top projects. Today, a few years later, such builds became reality and thus I wanted to share with you some wheel building insights about Schmolke rims. 

Industry 9 hubs

Using the opportunity of the latest build for Matthias, I wanted to share with you why Industry 9 hubs are my favorites and how do they step above any other hubs on the market. 

Wheels for Szymonbike!

Szymonbike? Who's that? Well, if you don't know him yet, know that:

1. He rides the bike

2. He makes magic using his camera

3. He's one of those few people I know, who resisted from all that cycling's bullsh!t marketing, which took over the beauty of cycling a long time ago...

Due to the above and not only, it was my pure pleasure to build a set of wheels for Szymon, so he can continue doing what he does the best - cycling & pictures.

Ladies & Gentlemen, wheels for Szymonbike!

Tune silver road hubs with carbon Duke rims - ideal match!

Silver hubs with carbon rims was always my ideal combination. Such mix looks lovely, but the colors only won't make the good wheels. As always, at BlackCat wheels workshop, wheels are custom made for the individual needs of each rider. High stiffness, low weight and within the budget - these are my main priorities. 

In this particular, nice build, Tune Mig 70 / Mag 170 silver hubs with 40mm tubular Duke carbon and pillar Wing spokes gave 1309g on the scale.

"Do it all" wheels - DT Swiss 350 with Gigantex carbon rims

Wheels for Lucas, who was looking for "do it all" wheels - daily work commute with 50/50 tarmac/gravel and weekend's escapades. Wheels supposed to be strong, reliable, reasonably light and price attractive. It looked like "Mission impossible" but we made it and we made it very well.

Zipp firecrest 303 marriage with Chris King

Zipp's rims are the best in class (period). They are light, braking well, made with quality and, honestly, I've never seen them overheating. Whole wheels are a different story. Build quality varies and hubs are not that great and long-lasting as adverts are saying. 

In this build, my job was to replace the Zipp hubs with something more decent and robust. See what came up from that project!

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...