Although I'm not all that old, I am really proud to say that I have been around bikes long enough, and have had enough real bike shop experience, to remember a time when new wheels didn't come prebuilt out of a box.
Not that long ago, if you were a serious cyclist and wanted a good set of wheels, you went to a mechanic whom you trusted and worked with him/her to design a set of wheels that fit your needs, physique, riding style, and budget. Spoke count and lacing were given tremendous consideration; hubs, rims, and nipples were sourced; spokes were chosen and cut in-shop to precisely complete the link between rim and hub; and the wheel was built and brought up to tension with a spoke wrench in the hands of an expert builder who could feel from experience when everything was just right.
Then the Mavic Ksyrium came along...and the Campagnolo Shamal...the Zipp 404...etc.; you get the idea. A great racing wheelset went from something of a piece of handcrafted functional art to just another item that you'd buy from your local bike shop or on the internet. The evolution of the prebuilt wheelset to its place of dominance is complicated. Some shop owners loved prebuilts because they didn't have to "waste time" or have the expertise to design and build wheels. Other shops dreaded them because they saw it as another of many ways that the industry made their skills somewhat superfluous. As we look at it now, in this tough retail environment where service is the local bike shop's principle means of survival, having a mechanic around who could do this sort of work would be another way to stay afloat.
Unfortunately, too many cyclists have come into the sport not knowing any other way than buying prebuilt wheels. They are the same who likely have never considered that a bicycle doesn't have to come pre-assembled, limited to the specs on a brand's website. Building a bicycle from the frame up, choosing the group and the parts from a selection of companies with exquisite Italian names steeped in the rich history of the sport, and entrusting the expert mechanic to complete it with handbuilt wheels is all too foreign. It's not the customer's fault, it's just where the industry has gone...for better or for worse.
Luckily, there are enough cyclists in the know to keep a few wheelbuilders busy. They are often customers like me who want to spread the word.
To be honest, I forgot what it was like to ride a set of handbuilt wheels. When I started road cycling as a kid, I rode a vintage Alan, custom built in Italy of course. The bike was completed with Campagnolo components and a set of custom 20" wheels with Campy Record hubs. I loved that bike but was too young to really appreciate it. I've ridden other sets of handbuilt wheels since then, but most of my serious cycling life has been spent on prebuilt wheels...up until a month ago.
These prebuilts were not bad wheels. First a set of Campagnolo Zondas and then an upgrade to Campagnolo Shamal Ultras. Both are very capable wheels, light, stiff, and durable. When I hung up the Shamals, relegated to spare usage, they had over 32,000 miles on them! Maintenance was minimal for many of those miles. It was only towards the end that I had to quite expensively re-spoke the rear and overhaul the bearings and freehub. That's pretty damn good! At 1450g, outfitted with Campagnolo's CULT ceramic bearings encased in carbon hubshells, the Shamals are considered to be a pretty high-zoot alloy wheelset. They served me very well.
When it was time to finally hang them up, I did so with purpose. As they wore, beyond the normal brake track cupping, the alloy spokes and nipples were getting increasing fragile and difficult to work with. Everything was breaking down quickly. Riding a difficult to service, unreliable, and increasingly fragile wheelset was pushing my luck, especially with a cycling trip to Italy coming up. I've always wanted a set of Michael Johnson's wheels and I felt it better to get them now than risk being stranded in the Italian mountains and forced to buy another prebuilt set in Italy or risk ruining my expensive and much anticipated trip.
This is where the Wheelfine Imports exclusive DT SwissAir Climbing wheelset comes in. Handbuilt by master wheelsmith Michael Johnson, owner of Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop in Lambertville, NJ, these wheels have been his most successful design. In an age of prebuilt carbon clinchers, the alloy clincher design might seem dated, but anyone who makes that assumption is missing out on something great.
First, a word about Michael Johnson. Michael is a renowned DT Swiss Certified wheel builder. He has built wheels of all types for every breed of cyclist imaginable. Uniquely, most of the bikes on his sales floor feature his beautiful wheels. Beyond your average weekend warrior, Michael also built wheels for the US Olympic and Worlds track cycling teams, as well as several other US professional teams. In 1980, Australian Danny Clark won gold in the Keirin at track Worlds on a pair of Michael's wheels, earning Michael the rainbow bands that adorn the outside of his European-style bike shop.
It is with this level of expertise and experience that Michael Johnson designed and builds these remarkable wheels. When Michael sold me the wheels, he told me all of the specs you see listed below. In addition he boldly stated that this wheelset is more than the sum of its parts. Could that be true?
First, a little bit more about those parts: The rims are the lightest in DT Swiss' catalog. Light, but nothing so crazy that you have to worry about them failing. The rear is asymmetrical, a second generation update that allows for less dish and thus a stronger, more stable wheel. The rear wheel also features DT Swiss' Ratchet System Technology which replaces the typical three pawl freehub with a 36 tooth ratchet for the best transfer of torque at the lowest weight. With its tools-free maintenance and rapid engagement, the DT Swiss 240s Classic hub is considered to feature some of the best tech in the industry. DT Swiss Aerolite spokes keep the weight very low and add a little aero advantage without things getting precarious in the crosswinds. Finally, the custom made 7075 alloy dual stage anodized nipples put every other alloy nipple to shame. Constructed with the same alloy used on fighter jets, these nipples allow the same tension as a brass nipple at a fraction of the weight yet with much greater durability that any other alloy nipple.
At 1450g, you'd think that the weight is the big story here, and in part it is. Despite the trend towards carbon clinchers, these wheels come in lighter than almost all carbon clinchers on the market without the braking fears and delaminization issues of a carbon brake track. Only the most shallow carbon clinchers come close in weight, and then you don't have the aero advantage anyway, so what do you gain? You don’t; you lose.
When it comes to alloy wheels, you can't deny that my old Shamals, and a few others, weigh exactly the same. Yet there is a lot more to this set of wheels than solely the weight. Remember, these wheels are more than the sum of their parts... but not in weight.
For the purpose of this article I will use the Campagnolo Shamal Ultras as a grounds for comparison for several reasons: most simply, because I have a lot of experience with them. More importantly, they are similar in weight, purpose, and price.
As mentioned, the Shamal Ultras weigh just the same. So what's the difference? Well, for one, the Shamals achieve their weight target with what I'd call some gimmicks. Big oversized alloy nipples that can only be replaced with proprietary nipples from Campagnolo. These nipples will round out under a spoke wrench even in the most careful of hands. The Campagnolo spokes are alloy and proprietary as well. If you break one, you have buy the whole set for well over $100. There are so few spokes and they are under such tension that if you break one, there is no riding it home. That's not to mention that the spokes are wider and it is known that with fewer wider spokes there becomes a point at which they are an aero disadvantage, especially in crosswinds. As well, the Shamal hubshell is carbon. It looks cool and saves weight, but it doesn't save it where you really need to. The further out you save rotational weight the bigger difference it makes.
So, let's remember that the DT SwissAir wheelset achieves the same weight without the gimmicks. That means a more reliable and serviceable wheel that is actually faster and feels lighter. Furthermore, the weight of the DT SwissAir wheelset is more balanced as compared to the Shamal. The weight is more evenly distributed between the two wheels on the DT SwissAirs whereas the Shamals achieve a lot of that weight loss in the front wheel alone. When you're accelerating hard or climbing a steep climb, the lighter weight of the rear wheel with less outboard rotational mass is definitely noticeable.
Pair all of that with a really well thought-out lacing pattern, and you have a wheelset that climbs like a dream. It's like you're floating on air. Taking into account the crossed J-bend spokes which add stiffness not possible on a wheel with straight pull spokes, and the ratchet freehub, the wheels engage and transfer your power forward like no other wheel I've ridden.
None of this would be worth much if the wheels rode so stiffly that they beat the rider up over rough roads, which we have a lot of in this area. I tested the wheels over some local gravel roads and they were excellent at smoothing out the bumps, which were many. There is some magic to the compliance of handbuilt wheels. A prebuilt wheel with its gimmicks, low spoke count and ultra high tension can make for a rough ride. The DT SwissAir wheelset doesn't just float up the climbs, it zings across the pavement with a smoothness you should expect from a well built custom wheel...even when that pavement is actually dirt washboarded by lots of recent heavy thunderstorms.
Add to all of this the smoothness of the sealed stainless cartridge bearings. Honestly, I can't feel any advantage to the CULT ceramic bearings as compared to the DT Swiss bearings, surprising considering Campagnolo CULT bearings are considered to be industry leading. Having owned Campagnolo wheels with both steel and ceramic bearings, I can say that the ceramics are definitely smoother and easier to maintain; but the DT Swiss stainless bearings feel every bit as good the CULTs. Maintenance will be a breeze too. If I feel the need to go ceramic, an upgrade kit is available for 240s hubs. Again, cartridges so pop them in and go.
Visually the wheelset is well designed. DT Swiss has always done well with making product that doesn’t clash with any bike. No overly flashy graphics, just black and a very Swiss red. The hubs and rims compliment each other perfectly and black spokes keep things stealthy. Michael choose a dark navy anodized nipple, which is an interesting choice that I never would have thought of myself. It’s just enough to set them off at closer inspection but a detail that most will miss at first glance. I believe other colors are available if you would like to go that route, it might just cost a little extra as they are not stock. Personally I quite like the way they are. It’s quite unique but in no way obtrusive. Attention to aesthetic details is one of Michael’s strong suits, some might even call it slight OCD, but that eye for design and detail is exactly what you hope to find in a good bike mechanic.
Finally, a big part of why I wanted a set of wheels like this is the ease of maintenance and durability without sacrificing weight or ride quality. Traveling with this wheelset will be worry-free. I will take a few spare spokes and nipples just in case and it won't cost me nearly $200. Again, no gimmicks, no proprietary parts.
The more I research it, the more I realize that this set of wheels may be the pinnacle of alloy clinchers. Getting much lighter is very difficult to do, especially if you don't want to worry about fragility or bad ride quality. The third generation of this rim is tubeless ready and has gone even further with the wider trend. I can't see where I'd make any improvements. Michael is absolutely right... this wheelset is more than the sum of its parts. I'm trilled to own them.
If everything you just read leaves you thinking, "wow, that sounds great! I feel like I might be missing something," perhaps it's time for you to ditch your prebuilt wheels and get on a set of DT SwissAir wheels before the master craftsmen who build wheels like this retire their truing stand, hang up their spoke wrenches, and are forced closer to extinction by a very strong-armed bike industry.
The DT SwissAir wheels are a stock item exclusively available at Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop. Luckily if you're not nearby Lambertville, New Jersey, Wheelfine ships worldwide. And if the DT SwissAir maybe isn't the thing for you (say you want something more robust for a heavier rider, or you want tubulars, or track wheels, or you have a different budget, etc) Wheelfine offers several other stock handbuilt wheelset and, of course, does custom wheelwork.
Specs:
-Handbuilt Wheelset designed and built by Michael Johnson of Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop, DT Swiss Certified Wheelbuilder
-DT Swiss 240S Classic Hubs with Stainless Bearings
-DT Swiss RR440 Rims w/ Asymmetrical Rear Rim
-Dt Swiss Aerolite J Bend Spokes
-Custom-made 7075 T6 Alloy Dual-stage Anodized Nipples
-20 Spoke Radial Front/ 24 Spoke 1-Cross Drive, 2-Cross Non-drive Rear
-Alloy Freehub Body featuring DT Swiss's Ratchet System Technology
-Rim Brake, Quick Release
-Campagnolo or Shimano/SRAM available
-1450g actual weight (with lock ring, not including skewers and rimstrips)
-$1450
Full disclosure: I work freelance for Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike managing all things internet related. However, I was not paid, nor even so much as asked, to write this review. I was not given the wheels for free. The opinions stated in this article are solely mine. If I did not feel the wheels were superb, I would not have purchased them and would have bought something else. This article does not serve as advertisement for Wheelfine Imports though it does reflect my recommendation of their products and services solely as a customer of the business.
