Building Bicycle Wheels
I became interested in building bicycle wheels when I build my first fixed gear conversion in March 2004. Fixed gear means that your bicycle has only one gear and no freewheel. It was the way bicycles were made just before the turn of the 20th century. Prior to building my first fixed geared conversion I had spent a couple of years or so reading about them online and seeing them around London, mainly ridden by couriers. I found them fascinating and wanted to try it. The cheapest way to try one was to convert an existing geared bike by adding a new rear wheel specially fitted with a fixed rear hub. I asked for a few quotes, but didn't want to spend that much money in case I didn't like it. I pondered the idea for a very long time and during that time discovered the fixed gear gallery. This was a gallery of such bikes with short blurbs about how they came into being. Seeing that there was such a cult following, I simply had to have one. So I did it. I built my first wheel and created my first fixed gear conversion. It lived up to its expectations in every way and was the best bike I had ever owned or ridden. But now I have a better one which I built in July 2006.
I won't bore you with any more details of wheelbuilding here, but if you want to know more then I have created a mini site entirely devoted to building wheels and you can check it out by clicking here.
Well, if I build wheels, then you've guessed it, I cycle a lot too. I generally cycle to all my classes, rain or shine. I have a goal of riding a 100 miles a week. I manage to get up to 80 or 90 on most weeks and go over the 100 mark on others. As well as riding to and from my classes I try and go for a longish pleasure ride once a week down into Kent. Riding fixed gear gives a sense of enjoyment that is truly indescribable and I would recommend any cyclist to give it a go. You'll be hooked in a day and will never go back to gears. One less car, as they say.