Originally Posted by Steve Sawyer

Thanks for all the thoughts, folks - this helps me to ask some intelligent questions and better explore my options.

My current bike (a 2013 Secteur Elite) has what Specialized calls "Axis Classic" wheels that doesn't seem to mean anything, though I believe that they're some variety of DT-Swiss rims (with 700x25 rubber). They're satin-finish black-painted with machined braking surfaces if that tells us anything.

One of this shop's primary activities is to engage inner-city kids in building (and riding) their own bikes, and I think that I saw somewhere on the web page discussing the class that the hubs are salvaged/used (the rims, spokes, nipples are new), so they might be older. Could they be going with 7-speed cassettes to be compatible with MTB use, which might be what most of their students are working on? I'm just guessing here. These guys might even help me find that commuter N+1 frame to put these wheels onto if there's really not anything to be gained by puttin' 'em on the Secteur.

And yeah, I spent a lot of time going through Sheldon's tutorial a few months back!