COSMIC BIKES SERVICE DEPARTMENT

SPECIALTY HAND-BUILD WHEELS

Summary

We specialize in hand-laced wheels, built with carefully chosen components, and tailored to your specific cycling needs.
We can build wheels to cover a broad range of needs, including commuters, recumbents, folding bikes, integrated dynamo hubs and electric motors.
The labor for non-electric wheel builds starts at $75 per wheel, plus components.
Commuters, heavier riders or cargo needs, long distance riders, plus anyone wishing to upgrade a stock wheelset.
1-2 weeks depending on component availability and delivery times.

Why Hand Built Wheels?

CUSTOMIZATION • LONGEVITY • FUNCTIONALITY • BEAUTY

If you place a high value on your bicycle and your cycling experience, and-built wheels are a beautiful, functional and durable solution that will serve your needs for many years, whatever type of rider you are.

Bike commuters and touring cyclists looking for an optimal combination of weight and durability
Heavy riders, and tandem or cargo bike owners tired of broken spokes and bent rims
Recumbent riders looking for aerodynamics and longevity
Brompton riders wishing to upgrade the performance of their folding bike
Adventure, gravel and fat bike owners who want bombproof wheels for any terrain
Riders who want specialty generator hubs or internally geared hubs built into the wheel
E-Bike riders whose bikes require heavy-duty spokes to stand up to the forces a motor can generate

The vast majority of bicycle wheels are machine-built with stock components, with no consideration for how and by whom the wheel will be used. In contrast, specialty hand built wheels are tailor-made for the specific rider and his or her individual cycling needs.

We specialize in bicycle wheel servicing, wheel repairs and custom hand-built wheels. Such wheels are certainly not just for racers. Almost any rider who must have a dependable bike can benefit from the advantages hand built wheels offer.

Building the perfect wheel is a process that requires a combination of technical skill, focus, patience and a refined touch, as well as thorough understanding of components, in order to find the right solution for each rider. We put extreme care and precision into every wheel we build.

Our process begins with a personal consultation with you so that we can determine the best choice of options, including hubs, rims and spokes for your riding needs and budget, as well as the best lacing pattern for your intended use.

Visit our scheduling page to start your wheel build process:

REQUEST WHEEL BUILD

OUR PROCESS

Measurements

Cutting & threading

Spoke pre-treatment

Wheel Lacing

Pre-stressing

Final Truing

Once we decide on the wheel components, we carefully calculate spoke length, and cut them to specifications using our precision spoke cutting and threading machine. We prepare the spokes by cleaning them and coating with anti-corrosive lubricant and thread lock. This ensures the wheels stays true, resists corrosion and can still be touched up seasons later.

We hand lace the wheel on our lacing jig according to the lacing pattern chosen based on your riding needs and component selection. The laced wheel is then pre-tensioned, dished and trued in the truing stand.

The wheel now looks complete, but we carefully and thoroughly pre-stress it with our custom stress box. This relieves any kinks and tension stored in the spokes from the previous step, and allows the spokes to settle into the hub and rim. We repeat this process a number of times, which ensures that the wheel doesn’t de-tension under your weight and real-world riding conditions.

We now bring the wheel to the final desired tension and true it to make sure it is perfectly straight, round and that the tension is consistent through all the spokes. The measurements are double-checked with a carefully calibrated tension meter. We also recheck the dish of the wheel to make certain it is centered around the hub (a few rare exceptions call for off-center dish).

Building a single wheel requires many hundreds of tiny, precise adjustments. Our seasoned staff have years of experience, yet constantly seek new training to stay abreast of new trends and technology, and use a solid process and quality tools to deliver a truly superior finished product.