Engineering talk – not for the faint hearted..

Found this section of the Mavic site when I was registering for a chance to win a ride in the lead Mavic car on the Paris-Roubaix.  How utterly fab would that be….

And so to the better guys…

Unboxing

Ultegra Hubs

Mavic Open Pro. Ultegra Skewers

Pumped up tyres

Ultegra Hubs

By way of a balance to my previous post, I thought it appropriate to mention that there are some truly amazing retailers online.  Yes, I should have done my homework before attempting the ‘Hindegate‘ debacle and having learnt my lesson (and now being in possession of my money) I duly began the search for a decent, respectable supplier of handbuilt wheels.

I’d always had pretty good experiences dealing with Merlin Cycles but was completely unaware that they offered a custom wheel building services until I read a few reviews and did a bit of digging around their website (it’s not immediately obvious).  These guys have a great reputation, the wheels were a competitive price, and I was informed that it was likely to take around 8 days for such a service (hell I’d waited three months for the other guys and seriously considered contacting Matt Allwright at Rogue Traders).

I duly paid with Paypal (a bit of extra protection) and held my breath.  For just five days.  I picked up my fabulous new hoops from the posty on Thursday and have to say that they’re just what I was after – Ultegra hubs, 32 spokes and Mavic Open Pro hubs.  Easy to service, reliable and perfect for winter cycling.

A huge thanks to Merlin for restoring my faith.  Highly, highly recommended.