Custom wheels are an excellent addition to any bike, providing a significant improvement to your riding experience. Whether you're in the market for building your dream bike, bomb proof commuter wheelset, or looking to refresh the appearance of your current ride, custom wheels offer an exceptional solution.
Opting for a custom-built wheelset leads to the creation of a far more dependable product. Far easier to maintain and less likely to have issues when compared to pre-built wheels that use proprietary components which are usually challenging to procure as spares.
With a plethora of premium brands and customizable options available, it's best to get in touch with us to ensure the perfect wheel selection for your bike and riding style. Contact us or visit us to get the wheels in motion...
contact usWe like to build wheels the traditional way, no marketing waffle, just classic wheels built for the modern bike.
Here's how we do things:
Flanged Hubs and J Bend Spokes
Using J bend over straight pull spokes results in a much stronger and stiffer wheel. The right J bend hubs and spokes are able to take higher loads and don't suffer from poor approach angle when using different depth rims. And, in the event of an issue, they are also far more easy to obtain as spares.
Symmetric spoke layout
Although grouped spokes and 2:1 spoke ratio can look great, there can be a big price to pay when it comes to truing and there are no spokes in the area you need straightening. We build in traditional cross patterns with the same amount of spokes on both sides for maximum strength, stiffness and reliability.
Interlacing
While some off the shelf wheels may look like they have a traditional 2 or 3 cross pattern, they are often not interlaced. Interlacing means spokes come into contact with each other on their way from the hub to the rim, spreading the load and resulting in a stronger wheel
Hooked Rims
Its always nice to have tyres stay on your wheel and to be able to choose from a full range of tyres. We only stock and build with hooked rims.
Brass Nipples
Brass nipples are far less prone to corrosion and are much stronger than their alloy counterparts found on a lot of stock and complete wheels. Preloaded with thread lock, the nipples we use keep spoke tension in check far better than anything else.
Trusted Brands
You may notice that there are some big hitters missing from our brand list. We only sell and build using products we firmly believe in.
Alloy Wheelsets
from £595
Carbon Wheelsets
from £885
My name is Michael, I have been building wheels since 2008 for the worlds oldest bike shop. I Joined MDV in July 2023 and there's nothing better than spending my afternoon building a fresh set of wheels.
I build wheels the traditional way with nothing but my spoke key, a dishing stick and a wheel jig. All custom wheels purchased are assembled by myself, completely by hand. I don't use a tension meter, everything is done with feel and experience. I don't even use a drill to do the nipple up quickly, all gently wound by hand, nothing rushed.
I have always built wheels for my own bikes and am very confident in the strength of every set I build. As such you can expect our spoke guarantee with every new set, more information below.
We believe in our wheels as a long term investment for you and your bike, and as such, if your wheel of choice meets the following criteria we will replace any broken spokes on the house.
To qualify your wheelset must:
OTH spoke replacement will be void if:
Tel | +44 (0) 1737 241 188
The Old School House
4 Effingham Road | Reigate | Surrey | RH2 7JN