I love building wheels. If it weren’t for wheelbuilding, I may have never seen bicycle maintenance and construction as the art that it truly is.

I started wheelbuilding as a beginning mechanic in 2002. After some starting pointers from the senior mechanics at the shop I was working at, I continued to scour all the literature and science I could find. Later, I honed my skills as head wheelbuilder at the Bike Co-op, pushing the shop to adopt a policy of excellence in the component from which bicycles draw their name.

Hundreds of wheels later, I still see wheelbuilding as both an exercise and a joy, and strive for the most accuracy and precision available with current design and tooling. I use only the highest-quality ingredients, including DT Swiss or Wheelsmith butted spokes and DT Swiss brass nipples and spoke washers (when appropriate). I am a connoisseur of high-quality rims and hubs, and try to choose from products made by Paul Components, DT Swiss, Mavic, Phil Wood, White Industries, and other top-end manufacturers.

I always build with a tensiometer and do everything in my power to ensure even tension and prevent spoke twist; each wheel goes through successive cycles of tensioning and twist-relieving. I build to tolerances of .25-.5mm in round, flat, and center, and strive for nice taught wheels whenever allowable.