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Wheel
Build: A Dodgy Idea Meets a Master
Mechanic
Tuesday, January 27,
2009  4:48:31 AM PT

by Corey Sar Fox

We all know that Cycling Élan
means understanding the subtle balance between
tradition and technology. Sometimes the hazy
boundaries need to be explored and one has to ask:
"can 25 year old rims be better than new ones?"
PezGambler, Corey Sar Fox, wagers that they can
be, and enlists an Italian master mechanic, Marco
Balduzzi, to prove it. Along the way, Marco shares
some of his special wheel building tips.

Hatching
a Dumb Idea
This summer I was given a high end
bicycle that came with Very Pretty Wheels. However,
these pretty things kept making unsettling ting-ting
noises. Worse still, they made the bike ride harshly,
akin to riding on top the road. Although not entirely
the wheel’s fault, switching to 32 spoked wheels
dampered most of this handling issue. The Very Pretty
Wheels feature aluminum everywhere, from their highly
tensioned spokes (16 front, 21 rear) to their rims and
nipples. The manufacturer claims that they weigh 1425
grams (though I measured closer to 1500) and retails
them for a hardy 1100 euros.

Considering that
these wheels are skittishly stiff, not incredibly light
and premiumly pricey, I thought... “ya know, I bet I
could build a set of wheels that would be better
performing, lighter, safer and cheaper.” So far, so
good... but, never one to completely follow something to
its rational conclusion, my next thought was... “hey,
those 25 year old Campagnolo Sigma rims have been
waiting for just such a project.”

This
top of the line rim once sold for an extravagant 100,000
lire, "and most of them weren't even straight," adds
Marco. Back then, he charged 20,000 lire per wheel (and
nowadays only slightly more).

The
Shop
A couple months ago, I wrote about searching
for veri ciclisti on the Passo
Mendola. The obvious follow up was finding
out where these “real cyclists” bought and serviced
their bikes. Answer: Cicli Balduzzi [pronounced
ball-DOO-zee]. The business card says it all
specialissime per veri intenditori or (more or
less) specialists for real connoisseurs. If one were to
romantically imagine what an Italian bike store would
look like – where the owner in his youth raced against a
local rival named Dario Pegoretti, or where rows of
gorgeous frames from De Rosa or the aforementioned
Sprinter would hang from the walls and ceiling, or where
the Cipollini-esque looking clientele would hang out and
talk about the Stelvio or the Giro or
more often their personal life – it is easy to picture
Cicli Balduzzi, except for the part about the customers
looking like the Lion King.

Cicli
Balduzzi in Bolzano, Italy - dodgy projects are best
done at night.

Marco Balduzzi and his
wife, Ornella, have been in business for almost 30
years. The shop consists of a tiny showroom packed
tightly with bikes and Marco’s closet-like workshop in
the back. It is amazing how much gets accomplished in
such little space.

Marco
Balduzzi

The Zitella
Marco has
the noble quality of humoring my Dumb Ideas, while he is
slightly more pragmatic, he also harbors nostalgic
proclivities. He looks at the pristine, new old stock
Sigma’s and can’t help but mention Saronni. Another
quality of Balduzzi is his stereotypical work ethic,
which merely confirms our romantic image of the Italian
bike shop. He is a compulsive talker, a wistful
storyteller, monologue-ist, sermon giver, touchy
political analyst and a mildly-interested gossiper. A
simple, seemingly harmless question often requires a 10
minute answer. At times, Ornella poignantly refers to
her husband as the vecchia zitella which means
spinster or old maid.

That,
my friends, is a work bench that has labored 30
years.

Combining his loquaciousness,
which in Italy requires using one’s hands, together with
the craftsmanship of a perfectionist equals slowness.
Patience is a necessary trait in Cicli Balduzzi’s
customers. His most productive work happens after hours,
when the store is closed. Despite it being Sunday
evening, many of his fans/customers stop in to wish
Balduzzi a Merry Christmas. Marco’s son, Davide is a
talented photographer and has volunteered his services
for this report. We’ll thank him right now: Thanks
Davide.

A
peek under the bench reveals how one manages in a tight
space: inventive clamping
possibilities.

The First Steps and
Some History
Once upon a time, hubs were included
in a gruppo and the bike shop assembled the wheels along
with the bike. Back then, every young mechanic cut his
teeth building wheels. For example, in the 50's a young
racer crashed and broke his leg. Bedridden, he assembled
wheels for a local officina. His skill and talent
convinced him to abandon racing and the rest is history.
His name: Ernesto Colnago. In Marco's case, at the age
of 14 he apprenticed at the legendary Cicli
Turci.

About 10 years ago,
factory-made wheels from the likes of Mavic were offered
and their amazing success changed everything. Nowadays,
almost all wheels are industrially made, either by
machine or anonymous Asian elves. Marco only makes a
handful every year.

One
of the first steps in wheel building involves getting
the right spoke lengths - we consult the Da Vinci-esque
archives.

Since
this is Italy, the next step is confirming that the
distributor sent the right spokes (3 weeks later).
Inside the correctly labeled box was a mix of various
lengths. The mark of a master mechanic is the ingenuity
of his homemade tools like this spoke
ruler...

or
this one for adjusting the saddle
position.

The Hubs
Seeing as
the rims have waited over 20 years to be assembled into
a wheel, the union of hubs and spokes could not be
decided haphazardly. Since the most sensible choice for
hubs would be from Campagnolo, obviously I had to look
elsewhere. In 1989, a chemist and mountain biker named
Uli Fahl realized that the only way to get a bike under
13 kilos would be to make his own parts. So he founded
Tune and offered as their
first products a 140 gram quick release skewer (the pair
tested here weigh about 50) and a bunch of aluminum
screws. Around 1994 as business started to take off,
Fahl concentrated on hubs and wheels stating that
“wheels are the best way to save weight. Because of the
rotating mass every gram counts that much more.” Tune is
widely recognized as the purveyor of lusciously light,
German engineered goodies. Perfect!

Sweet
hubs add some Technology to our
Tradition.

Due to budgetary and
appropriate-ness constraints, this project is using the
Mig70 front hub and the Mag180 rear, both anodized blue.
Aluminum is used for the body and axle with steel
appearing in the bearings and pawls and titanium in the
ratchet engagement. This 32 hole duo represents the most
affordable (and bang for the buck) side of the Tune hub
family. Lightness is expensive, for example, shaving 30
grams from our rear hub by choosing the Mag150 would
shave an additional 177 euros from one’s wallet.
Although the packaging and documentation is a bit
sparse; a Ziploc bag containing the hub and one sheet of
photocopied instructions, the Tune hubs seem very well
constructed.

Bonus
Old School photo: this was on Balduzzi's bike when he
raced (Marco's older than he
looks).

The Spokes
Usually
first step is deciding between DT Swiss or Sapim brands.
Since Balduzzi carries Sapim, that dilemma is quickly
resolved. Now, which ones? While CX-Ray’s are the Cat’s
Pajamas (or Bee’s Knees) of spokes because they are
amazingly aero, light and strong, they are also
unbelievably expensive – over 3 euros per spoke.
Ouch.

Sapim's
Laser spokes get pretty thin in the
middle.

One of the advantages of getting
something custom made is tailoring it to the rider and
their favored riding. Since I am slim and prefer
climbing, a more appropriate (and cheaper) alternative
for these wheels is Sapim’s super light Laser spokes
(butted 2mm/1.5mm/2mm) for the front and rear, non-drive
side wheels. The rear drive side features Sapim’s Race
spokes (2mm/1.8mm/2mm) for added strength. Although we
sacrifice a bit in aerodynamics, the weight is similar
and the cash savings are plenty.

The
Nipples
[Any student caught snickering
inappropriately will be sent to the principal, including
you there in the back row, Mr. Pez]

The brass
vs. aluminum debate goes something like this: aluminum
nipples weigh a third less and come in fancy colors, yet
are less durable, harder to true and have a risk of
freezing up… did I mention the fancy colors? Hoping to
get some hot-headed sermon out of Balduzzi, I ask him in
a benign way about nipples (feigning lackadaisicalness
is one of the best ways to provoke him). Marco calmly
says, "I only make wheels with brass nipples." So, brass
nipples it is!

Another
amazing Balduzzi tool crimps the nipples just enough so
that they have a tighter tolerance while still being
easily true-able. Also, another good reason for choosing
brass.

A
close up of the dimple-like crimp that will be hidden
inside the rim. The rear drive side nipples are not
crimped because the loose-ness is necessary for higher
tensioning, and then the tension itself prevents
unscrewing.

Every
nipple gets a touch of grease.

The
Lacing
Although all wheel builders begin lacing
by the valve hole, the following images illustrate the
difference between a well conceived wheel and an average
(lazy) one: the placement of the valve.

The
red circle indicates the ideal valve location - plenty
of room for the pump head and an aesthetically pleasing
distance between the spokes. Marco's finger indicates
the typical position and the inset shows an even worse
one. Also, note the correct tire label
placement.

This
series of photos shows how to get the valve in the ideal
location: turn the hub/spokes before continuing with the
cross lacing.

Another Balduzzi lacing
tip, "I try to make the wheel as round and centered as
possible, so it makes truing even easier." He
accomplishes this by screwing each nipple into its spoke
the exact same number of turns.

Marco
always leaves the same amount of exposed threads before
truing.

The Truing
A real
craftsman makes their work seem effortless. Like a
master glass blower, their movements are agile and
fluid, honed from years of experience. Anyone who's
tried it, knows the difficulty and can truly appreciate
their skill. It is a joy to watch Balduzzi true the
wheel in a matter of minutes.

A
truing stand? Marco uses an old fork clamped in a vice.
The front brake gauges the centered-ness of the wheel,
while a red tire lever screwed on the back checks for
roundness.

The Score
The goal
of this project was to build a set of wheels that would
be better performing, lighter, safer and cheaper than
flashy, industrially made ones. Since there are no
aerodynamics nor inertia tests, these assessments are
more Betty Crocker than Albert Einstein. I also realize
that we are comparing clinchers to tubulars, but I think
that's one of my (Old School) points. So then, Betty,
how do these wheels measure up?

A
perfect wheel?

Performance: our
wheels are perfectly round and perfectly centered. The
Very Pretty's are extremely close, but not perfect. In
any case, their glued nipples make truing them a pain.
While initial impressions of our Balduzzi Specials
indicate a sweet suppleness and no "ting-ting" noise,
in-depth rides will be
forthcoming.

Weight: the
Sigma-Sapim-Tune’s weigh in at 1368 grams (764 rear, 604
front) or a 130 gram difference. Yet, if we factor in
the lighter Tune skewers and tubulars (Veloflex Carbon +
glue vs. Vittoria Evo-CX + tubes + rim strip), the
savings are almost 300 grams. Not too
shabby!

Safety and Cost: the safety
advantages of 32 readily obtainable, steel spokes vs. 16
uniquely shaped, aluminum ones are self-evident. As for
the final criteria, the total cost comes to 635 euros,
including labor. Despite 80% of the budget going to Tune
hubs and skewers (cheaper, heavier alternatives are
available), we still save more than 450 euros over the
mass produced wheels.

Therefore, I think we
can safely proclaim a modicum of success for this
project.

So,
how did we balance out? Our wheel vs. a new Dura Ace
(however attractive, they are not the Very Pretty Wheels
in question).

The
Confessions
This would not be considered a very
"objective" report if I did not concede that the Pretty
Wheels did something better than our featured ones. In
my 10 year old son's outsider opinion, the Pretty's
"look cooler and faster." His point is valid and should
not be taken lightly. Enzo Ferrari said that being fast
wasn't enough, his race cars also had to look
it.

Lastly, I must confess that I am
committed to re-claiming for the handmade, tubular wheel
its former glory. Every Cyclist should have one in their
arsenal – if only for their versatility. While our
featured wheels will excel in the mountains, switching
to 24mm or 27mm pave-ish tires will ready them for the
Northern Classics. Nowadays, with the aid of sealants
and foams, tubulars can even be used for training. The
only thing our Sigma-Sapim-Tune’s don’t do well is
flats/time-trialing, wait a second. I’m getting an
idea...

I’d like to offer a very special
Grazie to Marco Balduzzi at Cicli Balduzzi in
Bolzano.

Corey Sar Fox lives in Bolzano, Italy. When not
teaching or consulting or writing, he finds time to
actually ride bikes. Alarming Fact no.4: Fox is tired of
red, black and white bikes.

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