Why custom handbuilt wheels?

Custom tailored to your unique needs and specifications. Faster, lighter, more durable, easier to service, and less expensive than prebuilt factory wheels... so what is the downside?

For about 100 years nearly all bicycle wheels were built using individual components. Hubs, spokes, and rims could be purchased from various manufacturers and custom built into whatever configuration the customer desired... there was no mass marketing of pre-built wheels with a specific name and look. This began to change in 1996 when Mavic successfully built and marketed the Helium. The Helium was not particularly light or strong or even unusual in it's design or materials, but it had red rims and hubs which made it stand out. Mavic marketed it heavily as a "climbing" wheelset, charged a premium price... and made a lot of money. Mavic understood that they were onto something, and other companies did as well. Now, over 10 years later the custom built wheel is relatively rare... and the perception of most riders is that pre-built wheels are "better"; lighter, faster, stronger, better designed, etc.

But are pre-built wheels really better? Theoretically, it should be possible to design and build a better wheel from scratch using specially designed parts... that's just engineering. In reality though, the design and materials of the bicycle wheel have already been refined and improved for over 100 years, and the basic design does not suffer from any significant flaws. In other words, there is very little *real* improvement possible. That doesn't stop companies from "reinventing the wheel" though; and often when they do this, they end up making it worse rather than better. This happens because they are in the business of making money, and differentiating their product from others is more important than optimal design. They need to have special features that they can label with interesting names and attribute outstanding properties to. See Design vs Marketing for a few obvious examples of this.

Let's compare a popular high-performance custom hand-built wheel to similar offerings from the major wheel manufacturers. The custom wheel uses White Industries H1 hubs, 30mm deep Kinlin Niobium alloy rims, 18h front and 24h rear, with CX-Ray spokes and aluminum nipples. This configuration is about as aerodynamic as you can get for an aluminum rimmed wheel... and for most conditions I think the extra weight of the rim is worth it. If you prefer a lighter wheel though, substituting Velocity Aerohead or Alex Crostini rims, 24f and 28r, and Sapim Lazers spokes would get the weight down to 1365g and the cost would be a little lower.

	Price*	Weight*	Price delta	Weight delta	Aero
Custom Aero	$594	1425g			Good
American Classic CR-420	$745	1400g	+$151	- 25g	Good
Mavic Ksyrium SL	$769	1624g	+$175	+199g	Poor
Easton Tempest II	$795	1566g	+$201	+141g	Fair
Rolf Vigor	$899	1497g	+$305	+ 72g	Good
Mavic Ksyrium ES	$939	1529g	+$345	+104g	Poor
Campagnolo Shamal Ultra	$999	1417g	+$405	- 8g	Poor

*Weights are actual, not advertised values. Manufacturers routinely advertise weights that are 50-100g lower than actual. See weight listings.

*Prices are not retail, but rather the lowest prices found in a quick online search.

The Custom wheelset comes out well ahead on a performance/ cost ratio. The American Classic wheels look good for low weight, reasonable price, and good aerodynamics, but they've had a lot of reliability problems with the hubs and poor builds. The other wheels are not even close. When you consider that the Custom set uses top quality and beautiful American made hubs, rims that are made by the same company using the same alloy as the Rolf and American Classic rims, Sapim CX-Ray spokes which are recognized as the best in the world, and are meticulously built by hand by a skilled craftsman who takes pride in his work... they look even better. Also consider that all the components are standard parts which are easy and economical to replace if necessary.

So why doesn't everybody buy custom handbuilt wheels? I understand that there are reasons why many people would prefer to buy factory wheels anyway. The marketers spend a lot money to get people to desire their products, with things like full page color magazine and internet ads, and paying pro teams to use their wheels. Such advertising works quite well which is why it is economical for them to do it. Many people are also more comfortable buying a product that will be immediately recognizable (and coveted) by their peers. Local shops tend to shy away from custom builds, because they can make more on the factory wheels, and they also don't need to find and keep a skilled builder on hand. Also, if you are interested in wheels in the low-budget range, it is difficult for me or any domestic builder to do a high quality build and compete with Chinese labor.

But... if you are someone who is looking for a medium to high-end wheelset, and want the best performance and the best build at a reasonable cost, then you can't go wrong with White Mountain Wheels.