Over the last few days, my spokes have been popping out, as the wheels on my bike are not really designed for going over the pot holed terrain for hundreds of miles as I have been doing so over last few weeks. Wheelcraft, was a store I happened upon back in October 2009, but it was only a quick chat. This week I have had the pleasure of getting to know Alistair, who is the only person I know of that can really call themselves a specialist wheel builder.
On replacing my spoke, there was a stern warning of “get a new wheel cause you’ll find another spoke coming out tomorrow!” Thinking to myself, yeah, I’ll do this another day.
Well, 10 miles later, another one did pop out, and so the prophecy was true.
So, while my new custom wheel is being built, my current wheel was re-built with new shiny spokes which now have some lovely crossovers. 6 weeks left to start this bike ride, and I’m finding myself meeting so many wonderful people on my training routes and during unexpected bike maintenance. Anyway, this is lovely lovely shop, which has been running for years, and if anyone is cycling in Glasgow, I recommend you pop in, say hello and try some of Alistair’s vicious coffee and well travelled advice.
Here’s what his advice was for me, on the weight of the new hubs I should get, “It disnae matter if you buy wan that’s a few grams heavier, just go for a dump before ye cycle and you’ll easily lose a few grams”.
