Bay Area Wheelbuilder

[KWalker]

My teammate doesn't use forums much and does not want to have to mail wheels back and forth. He's looking for someone with a bit more than basic knowledge to build him up a set of light alloy training wheels and perhaps some generic carbon "race wheels".

[ginsued]

Tim Parker from Cycle Sports in Oakland.

Originally Posted by KWalker

My teammate doesn't use forums much and does not want to have to mail wheels back and forth. He's looking for someone with a bit more than basic knowledge to build him up a set of light alloy training wheels and perhaps some generic carbon "race wheels".

[bloody sunday]

Jason from Montano Velo in Oakland

[Shadwhand]

If you're in South Bay, Tahn at Silva Cycles is a very good wheel builder.

[Duende]

Brad's wheel builder at American Cyclery. Can't remember his name, but he built me a set of H plus son campy wheels that are spot on. Highly reccomend.

[rePhil]

http://www.gravywheels.com/95.html

[John H.]

Rob Spear- Spearhead bikes in San Rafael. http://www.ride888.com
You may be underwhelmed by his location and presentation but he is one of the few people whom I trust to build low spoke count wheels.
I have had him build at least 10 wheels for me- some were complex. All have lasted.

[bloody sunday]

Originally Posted by ginsued

Tim Parker from Cycle Sports in Oakland.

that's a good shop - they've never built any wheels of mine, but they're friendly guys.

[jtakeda]

Jason at montano Velo. Hands down

[alexstar]

Box Dog Bikes built my first handbuilt road wheels back in 2007, and they served me well. Gravy built me an excellent set of wheels several years ago. So did Travis at Fresh Air Bicycles, back when he was at Freewheel on Hayes. These days John at Stone's Cyclery here in Alameda builds my wheels and he does a great job; highly recommended if you're in the east bay.

[crankles]

As a former wheelbuilder with ZERO time to build even my own wheels anymore, I'm pretty freaking picky.

Since you are in Oakland, I'd Put Chris Robinson at Robinson Wheelworks at the top of my list, especially for carbon.

I'd also 2nd Jason and Tim at Montano and CycleSports respectively. Jason can rebuild anything Mavic related in his sleep and Tim is a mechanic to the stars.

You can't go wrong with any of them really, but Chris is my "go to" guy for personal wheels.

Cheers

[moose8]

Originally Posted by rePhil

http://www.gravywheels.com/95.html

I have no experience with any of these folks, but I figured I would point out there is a great chapter in the book "It's All About the Bike" about this wheelbuilder.

[toytech]

I will second Chris Robinson. He has built tdf wheels for the 7-11 team I believe. The ones he built for me were virtually perfect, never even had to be in the same room with a spoke wrench!

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by toytech

I will second Chris Robinson. He has built tdf wheels for the 7-11 team I believe. The ones he built for me were virtually perfect, never even had to be in the same room with a spoke wrench!

Third, although I have no wheels form Chris, a few years ago he was the only person of those I contacted (about ten highly recommended shops in the greater Bay Area) who was willing to track down a discontinued Mavic hub part for me and he did so happily. A true pleasure to work with.

[CiclistiCliff]

CycleMonkey in Albany.