Originally Posted by
well biked
I like this practice, it at least give some credibility to the term "handbuilt." Granted, these wheels are at a different pricepoint than what the OP is referring to, but it's another example of getting what you pay for. I've seen some wheels advertised as "handbuilt" and when I went through them I realized that if they were indeed "handbuilt" they were either built by someone who didn't know how to build a good wheel, or they were built by someone who's quota was so high there was no way they were able to build quality wheels and meet it. Or both.
This raises a good point. There's a tendency to characterize
machine built as bad, and
handbuilt as good, but it doesn't follow.
First of all there's no clear line between so-called hand built wheels and machine built wheels. We all agree that if a human laces, tensions and trues a wheel that's a hand built wheel. But these are 3 operations, and what if one or more involves a machine. The slowest and most tedious process is threading the spokes into the hub and lacing up the wheels.
Is it still hand built if the builder has someone else do this for him, and if a machine is used to attach the nipples? After all this wouldn't in any affect the quality of the wheel. How about if a machine is used to pretension the wheel, duplicating the rote steps of turning all the nipples to a set length and adding tension by counting turns? Can a machine or fixture be used to set the elbows?
So, lastly how about final tension, alignment and dish. Is it hand built if a human does all these? Or machine built if it's only checked & touched up after the machine finishes?
What should matter to the buyer is the final quality, not how it was achieved. Machines can build good or bad wheels, just the same as humans. The reduction of some of the more rote and steps in building wheels to improve efficiency cannot be a bad thing, as it improves productivity and keeps costs down.