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Been stupid cold here in WV, frostbitten finger, 35 and raining today. Good day to build the wheel for my new to me titanium bike ( I've spent about 1 1/2 years in Switzerland years ago so it's sorta a thing)

Done

Gosh, I didn't know wheelbuilding was a "Swiss thing".
Now done = you are officially a wheelaholic.


My Swiss therapy:

I have that book on my phone and frequently turn to it when out and about and need something to read rather than doom scrolling. Gerd is such an interesting person and while it is an older book it is fantastic.

This is my Swiss therapy though.

I went to Switzerland about 18 times 3 or 4 weeks each to ice/snow climb. I was living in a tent but the day before I came home I would go to the grocery store and buy ( 50) 100 gram 70% lindt bars to bring home. Not that I have a chocolate problem or anything..

My wheel therapy from Dec
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRwzW...NtbWJydjNxcTRy

I built my first wheelset way back in 2010. I used Sheldon Browns website for general information on how to go about it and get started. I built two more wheel sets after that, took my time and never had problems. I am still riding them today, my wheels are true and no broken spokes.

I've never built a wheel, but the hand built ones on my 30+ YO bike only need an occasional tweak to stay true despite many miles of loaded touring.

What’s the best thing about Switzerland?

I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.

I built a pair of wheels this week, using Shimano hubs and Araya wheels, which I guess is "Japanese Therapy." But as I live in Japan, it is simply more of the same.

My "Swiss"

And I built the wheels on it too

DT spokes, right? RIGHT?!!! Oh but why skip building with DT/Swiss hubs? Oh the humanity!

Lots of Swiss goodness in this post. Can't fault y'all. That Ritchey SwissCross is so sweet! As is the Mondia.

In 2017, the family and I were driving south through Germany. Started in the north, worked our way south to visit Porsche... I mean FAMILY, and then, due to the pleadings of my daughter, continued south instead of east into Bavaria. We had been listening to German radio the whole time. Wife's bi-lingual English/German and I'm 1/4 lingual in German. Kids? Nope. But nonetheless we had been listening to German radio the whole time. Aka "high" German on the radio. Once we were south of Stuttgart, we started getting Swiss radio stations. And boy was it OBVIOUS! Swiss German is so different that it hits me upside the head like a brick! (And I've struggled with the Swabian dialect, so I'm familiar with Germany's varieties too.) Despite the kids not speaking it, I was curious if they could hear the OBVIOUS (to me and the wife) difference in the language. Nope. Not at all. Not that I didn't expect their answer, but it still amazed me.

Then during these Olympics, I got such a kick out of hearing one of the Swiss skiers' moms speaking Schweizerdeutsch. Still can't quite believe it's really their language and they aren't just putting a huge joke on the world!

PS My Swiss German HS girlfriend's mom spoke all five of Switzerland's languages. I wish I had taken more time to listen to her speak Romansh.