TECH
WORDS AND PHOTOS: JOHN ZAMORA
SKILL LEVEL // ADVANCED
1
We started with a new wheel hoop from HarleyDavidson, a stock hub, and new spokes. SOURCE: WHEEL WORKS wheel-works.com
WHEEL BUILDING 101 W
hen it comes to anything to do with wheels, there’s no better experts than Wheel Werks in Garden Grove, California. They have been our go-to guys for years and are the ideal people to show us how a wire wheel gets made. In some cases, it might be cheaper to have a new wheel built and laced up than going out and purchasing a new one, especially if you have a good working hub. While lacing a wheel isn’t the most complex type of work, it does require some very specialized pieces of machinery. The truing of a wheel is also a bit of an art form to know how to tighten just the right amount on each spoke to make the wheel as balanced as possible. HB
2 p First the stock hub was polished with steel wool to clean up nice and shiny.
64 64 // HOTBIKE.COM HOTBIKE.COM
3 p Using a specialized classic (read: old) piece of machinery, the spokes were cut to the proper length.
