Wheelsmith Wheels?

Eden said:

Anybody have any experience with them? I picked up a pair of NOS (new old stock) Wheelsmith Gold Label built wheels on ebay yesterday. They seemed like a pretty good deal (Velocity deep V rim, Ultegra hubs, Wheelsmith spokes), but I haven't seen much around about them. Lots of info on the spokes, but no one seems to sell the wheels anymore. Their own web site seems a little out of date. Anyone have their wheels - likes/dislikes?

Wheelsmith does a great job in cleaning and shining their spokes. Gold Label build is a rating they provide on what steps and tolerances they take.
I have some experiences with them since Santana tandems used them in the past. My experiences have shown them to be inferior to many home made and some other factory wheels.
I would spoke align them, retension them, tension balance them, and stabilize them. Once that is done, you should have a pretty decent set of wheels. Velocity Deep V rims are nice and stiff. They help spread dynamic cycling loads over lots of spokes. That stiffness helps mask poor builds, but once you have improved the finishing steps, you should have some very reliable wheels.

Good to know - I'll have my LBS check them over before I ride them.

I've got a similar set on my rainbike right now and the rims are getting fairly worn - LBS figures I've got 1/2 year left in them. The set I just got was less expensive than getting my current wheels rebuilt (and they have better hubs), plus I don't have any spares so I figured they were worth it. I'm not heavy so I don't regularly bend wheels - but we've had a pretty nasty weather year here, so the pavements kind of torn up. I've hit some ugly holes and not even a wobble on the rims.

One word. Overrated.

Eden said:

I've got a similar set on my rainbike right now and the rims are getting fairly worn - LBS figures I've got 1/2 year left in them.

When you say the rims are worn, you mean the brake tracks are worn, right? Just trying to get an understanding as to the reference for retiring a rim/wheel.

sogood said:

When you say the rims are worn, you mean the brake tracks are worn, right? Just trying to get an understanding as to the reference for retiring a rim/wheel.

Indeed the brake tracks are wearing down - this is my rain bike and we get a lot of grit out here in the rainy season. In the rain it turns into a lovely slurry that sands down your rims nicely. I, of course, clean and dry my bike each time I've had it out in the rain, but its still pretty wearing on the rims. the hubs are still fine so I may very well have them rebuilt anyway once they are bad enough to need it.

meehs said:

One word. Overrated.

Then I''m glad I didn't pay a lot for them 😉

Considering the standard of your riding, wouldn't you be better off getting some from the local wheel builder

mikesbytes said:

Considering the standard of your riding, wouldn't you be better off getting some from the local wheel builder

Maybe if they were for the race bike, but I wouldn't want anything too costly on the rain bike - they just wear out too quickly.

Eden said:

Indeed the brake tracks are wearing down

Thanks for the confirmation. But think of it this way, that's another 50g weight gone from the brake track, could be your perfect racing wheelset! 😉

Others often have to pay big bucks for that 50g weight reduction!!!