Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Getting down to business

OK, I have been pretty lax about posting so far, but coming in the new year, I will be working a lot harder to build my business, Earle Wheels. There will be three components of the business: New wheels, primarily using rims from Velo Orange; custom builds with parts supplied by customers; and wheelbuilding classes.

The new wheels will be built on hubs specified or ordered by the customer, using rims and spokes that I will provide. For the rollout of the business through 2013, I will be offering Velo Orange rims in 700c and 650b, 32- and 36- hole drilling. Check out their products here: http://velo-orange.com

The rims are well thought out, well made, and most of all, shiny! For classic bicycles and modern bicycles with a classic ethos, these are the rims of choice, with a variety of widths to be everything from fast and light to touring on rough stuff.

My custom work started five years ago with recommendation from one of the good guys in the business, John Barron, http://www.velostuf.com/. Collectors who have located classic rims and hubs send them to me for careful building of their wheels. My long experience, much of it the era of these classic parts, allows my customers to have wheels for their collectible bicycles that they can actually ride.

New for 2012 was my wheelbuilding class. I offered a one-day class at Cirque du Cyclisme, and learned that the classes need to have two or three sessions with some time for homework in between. I will be teaching that class on the weekend of the Brazen Dropouts Bike Swap on January 19, 2013, and at other weekend events throughout the year.

I also have a new Website coming, and it will have more details about all of this. Thank you for reading


1 comment:

Gunnar Berg said...

I'm reading. Good luck. I'll try to give you a little nudge.
http://oakwoodlife.blogspot.com/2012/12/wheel-building.html