Downsides to custom wheels over factory?
 

I'm considering ordering a set of custom wheels, but since these will be my only wheels (outside the crappy stock wheels) I'm a bit leery of buying online and from someone not local. I know the benefits of getting wheels that are set up for me and are more what I'm looking for than factory wheels, but I'm wondering if there are any downsides. Lack of a local shop there to address issues, for example. Maybe custom wheels are less likely have have issues, but since I'm not financially able to buy wheels every year or so, I'm trying to make the best decision.

Has anyone regretted buying custom online or found that factory are the way to go for the average recreational cyclist? Thanks.

Why would it make a difference to a shop mechanic?

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of service. If I buy locally and have issue I can reasonably expect them to resolve the issue at no cost. If I bring them a custom wheel I'm sure they can fix it but will also charge me. Depending on the issue, like a faulty part, it could get costly.

This. Rims, spokes, hubs.

You really should do the research, buy a jig, and build your own set of wheels. It's straightforward and lot's of people do it.

you spec your custom wheels with easily replaceable parts. problem solved. It's actually the factory wheels with their proprietary components (i.e. mavic spokes) that make it harder to service something

And I could tie my own flies for fishing, build my own speakers and grow my own vegetables. Can isn't the issue. I'm not interested in that and it will cost more unless I go through lots of wheels.

True, but if they are under warranty it's not my problem - except the wait time.

As I said, I'm planning to go custom. I'm just trying to see if there is any benefit to factory that I'm overlooking - especially a decent factory wheel like an Easton EA70 or 90.

I have a set of custom wheels on my MTB. If it ever goes out of true, they will take care of it, no charge. That's the benefit of local, although it's never gone out of true and I'm no lightweight. They will also throw it on the stand and check it. They want to see it every so often, make sure it's good to go.

It will cost less to build your own for equal quality, and no, there is no benefit to buying factory wheels, and they'll cost more. Factory wheels typically have fewer spokes, which could lead to more failures, and replacing proprietary components could mean that you'll have to wait for parts.

what you get out of your wheelset depends on what you put in. at best there are going to be some compromises. durability, weight, aero, bling, etc. so you can pay your money and take your chances on a factory set, or do the same with a custom set of wheels, that might be closer to what you need.

???

I find this opinion from Roues Artisanales regarding custom vs. factory built wheels to be pretty much spot-on:

"Because (OEM) manufacturers sell to a large population, sometimes light users, sometimes heavy users, their wheels have to offer extreme stiffness which also comes with durability. Indeed, a heavy rider stresses more the wheels than a light rider. If this heavy rider uses a too flexy wheel, it will easily go out of shape while sprinting and its spokes (most of the time the rear wheel non drive side spokes) will often lose their tension. This has three consequences: the wheel will go out of true if the spokes are not locked, the rider will feel the lack of stiffness which is poor for the performance and the spokes will have a shorter working life (and break).

Shimano, Mavic and Campagnolo, the three main players, always have very stiff wheels in their catalog (at least the top end wheels). These wheels are made as a complete system and not as separated components, which comes with advantages and disadvantages. First, the advantages concern, as mentioned above, the lateral stiffness, but also the durability and the functionning of the components together. On the downside, some concessions are made: the product is not always adapted to the rider, the components of these wheels are specific and generally can’t be replaced as easily, spoke tensions are always very high which means the components are reinforced and thus heavier. These wheelsets often weight far more than offerings from the more exotic manufacturers.

Indeed, the more exotic manufacturers can use conventional construction with standard components. The weight savings are more important here than extreme stiffness."

Not to mention machine built rims tend to have inconsistant spoke tension, and low spoke count rims are often heavier to make them stiff enough.

^^^That's a nice summary^^^ (edit: oops too slow to post - #11)

Thanks.

The factory wheels I'm considering are Easton EA90sl. They are 24/28 spoke wheels, "acoustically tuned" so should have even tension, 1530g, and handbuilt so I don't see these particular drawbacks. I do see the mass market drawback and don't particularly like the look. The straight pull hubs look boring and the spokes are the wrong color for me. I also don't care for the pricing model. They list for $700 but you can get them for $600 or less so that implies overpriced plus everyone from maker to distributor to lbs is taking a cut. I suppose that's true of custom too but feels like there is more value.

Wrong color spokes? Oh, I see.

I recently went the custom route and built them myself. As long as you get trustworthy advice on spec's you'll likely never regret your choice. Looking back, the only thing I would have done differently is my choice of rims. Many here have had excellent success with the Kinlin rims, which is what I built mine with (xr-270 front/xr-300 rear), but mine are annoyingly REALLY pulsey while braking. I don't know if this is typical for them since I hadn't heard any reports of it during my research, but when I rebuild these wheels (if I ever do) I'll go with a different brand.

One VERY important thing to think about that hasn't yet been mentioned is that there are far fewer true wheel builders than there are local bike shops. Just because most of the mech's in the shop know how to build wheels, doesn't mean that they'll have the skill/interest/experience to build you a truly solid wheel in the amount of time that they're given at the shop to knock out a wheelset. This is one of the reasons I decided to learn and build my own. With care, lots of time and patience, many people can build a high quality wheelset on par or better than what most local bike shops could do for you. It's even possible that most shop mech's could build a 'perfect' wheelset given enough time, but they're limited by how much time they actually have to spend "detailing" the job. Good wheelsets can be built over days by amateur shmo's, or quickly an consistently by true wheelbuilders. What you don't want is your average joe mech trying to do a pro job on your wheelset in less time than his skills allow. True wheel builders have done hundreds or thousands of wheelsets, could probably build them in their sleep, and can achieve the desired finish product in enough time to make it profitable for them. This, after-all, is why they're still building wheelsets, and their reputations have bolstered, not diminished, their demand.

We've got a couple of local bikes shops here that I use, and I've not been impressed with any of the wheels that I've seen come out of them. Recently, a trusted mechanic tuned up a friend's (recently rebuilt by the company) rear wheel. The wheel had been making pinging noises after just two rides and was out of true already. Before I had a chance to look at it, he dropped by the shop where they happily trued it up for him. Halfway through the very next ride it was doing the same and back out of true. When he brought it to me, the overall spoke tension was WAY down across the board. I literally gave every spoke a 1/4 turn in order to bring up the tension to where it should be. One spoke was completely loose, and many others were close. This wheel had JUST come off of a very experienced mechanic's TS-2 at the shop, and the actual problem hadn't been addressed at all. Moral of the story, not all mech's are wheel builders, even when they claim to be.

Buy custom locally ONLY if you know for sure that the person building your wheel is a true and experienced wheel builder. That's my $.02.

-Jeremy

Never had any issues with my Williams 19's. My front only needed a minor truing once in the last 18mo, and my LBS had no problems doing so. I know that his customer service is top drawer. In the instances that folks have had issues, Keith Williams has been known to ship out handfuls of replacement spokes and even entire new wheels.

^ I believe that Williams are hand built, right? That means you get the quality that comes with attention to detail and careful tensioning, just not the freedom to choose any component you want. Many people don't realize which mass produced wheels are hand built and which are machine built.

That's what Keith told me via email.

To the OP:
Are you a big guy or a small guy? Do you need something specific that an off the shelf wheel can't give you? I'm just curious; I would think that the only real big difference would be the cost of the custom wheels (ie less money) since they don't have the middle men to pay.
Good luck

Good info. Thanks. I was planning to buy for a respected builder who is not local. I was just wondering about the downsides to not having a local builder or, with factory, a local shop standing behind them.

Well, big-ish. I can get a custom set for about the same price as the Easton EA90sl that I think is probably as good if not better. However, I don't have much experience with the various parts so am going largely on recommendation and what I can find doing research.

The note above about the Kinlin rims "pulsing" when braking is the kind of info I don't have. Is that typical of those rims or a bad batch? If I bought a factory set and had an issue like that I could probably exchange them at the lbs. With custom probably not.

The downside would indeed be that you have to pay a local guy to fix a problem or pay to ship it back to the builder. Most factory wheels are supported by any shop that sells them, but I've heard horror stories about how long it takes to get 1 stinking spoke shipped from the manufacturer, and how much 1 stinking spoke costs because it is proprietary.


My XR-200 rims have no pulsing, although I expect any super light rim to develop uneven wear (more wear by the spokes) over time as the sidewalls wear down. I have also not heard any compaints from the various people I have built XR-270 and XR-300 rims up for, including a tandem team.

Not normal for Kinlin but I have had 2 customers (out of a few hundred riding kinlins) bring it to my attention. Every time i have run into "real" pulsing it has been caused by over tensioning the rim. you can tell because you will see alternating light and dark patches on the sidewall. They will be "light" right above every spoke all along the outside. if this is the case then take the tension down on your spokes and you'll be fine unless you have already damaged the rim beyond it's elasticity.

One of those customers sent one back for me to investigate and i found the rim was bent in one location from a strike - accounting for the pulsing.

Pulsing is not normal nor indicative of anything other than damage done to the rim by the rider or over tensioning by the builder. Period.

In my garage right now are two sets of handbuilt wheels and four sets of factory built wheels.

Here are my experiences:

Handbuilts:
Ligero Powertap Wheelset: Ligero front hub, PowerTap SL rear hub, Kinlin 27 rims and CX-Ray Spokes. I have about 12,000 miles on these wheels. I have broken one rear spoke and bent one front spoke in a minor crash. Troy mailed me replacement spokes and I had my LBS replace it. I have extras on-hand incase another spoke brakes.

LBS Handbuilts: Chris King R45 hubs, CX-Rayt spokes and Kinlin 27mm rims. I had these built at my LBS for my wife this past summer. LBS had her bring the wheels back in after 30 for spoke retensioning. Within three months, the rear hub broke - freewheel stopped engaging - and had to be sent back in. CK fixed the hub (it is much louder now). BUt since then, no problems.

Factory Builts:
Mavic CrossMax SLs - Rear hub started making a horrible noise. My LBS took it apart, relubed things and it is fine now. It took 15 minutes to repair and cost $20.

Bontrager Superstock MTB wheels - I dented the rear rim. I have not done anything else with these wheels since they are heavy, cheap and I don't ride the hardtail much.

Mavic Aksiums - Bought these cheap on craigslist as a back up wheelset. They see limited use and have had zero problems.

Mavic Ksyrium SLs - I've had these about 5 years. I destroyed a spoke in a crash. LBS keeps Mavic spokes on hand - they are such popular wheels I don't see why every LBS doesn't have a couple lying around. My shop fixed them up on Saturday and I raced on them on Sunday. No other issues.

Mavic CC SLRS - got these off Bonktown for Christmas. Haven't riddent them enough to make a fair evaluation of them.

So there are my experiences. I have been pleased with both handbuilts and factory built wheels. The handbuilts are a little softer riding than the factory builts, but that is aobut it.

I'll definitely look into it, but the pulsing was apparent immediately upon building. They are laced 24h x2 front, 28h x2 rear. Tension on the front is (according to my TM-1) around 110 kgf on the front, +/- maybe 5, and 120 kgf RDS, +/- 5. I had to bring the rear up this high to get tension on the NDS up to around 60 kgf, which was enough for me to trust not to go slack under torque. According to all that I've read, these rims should be just fine at that tension, and I wasn't close to stripping any nipples while building. Nor have I had any sever impacts, falls or crashes. I haven't pinch flatted even once on this set, and I weigh 145-150, running 100 psi in my gatorskins consistently. Unless the tension is too high, I can't imagine any other reason for the pulse. At speed it's less of an issue, but really annoying while coming to a stop. The pulses feel like they are at a single spot in each rim, big slow pulses, not multiple (each spoke) pulses. I'd love there to be a solution, but just assumed that it was normal.

-Jeremy