Back in the days before aerodynamics had been invented the only thing that mattered on a race bike was weight. And the place it mattered most - and still does - was wheels. So as a permanently skint teenage time triallist I used to gasp in awe (but more usually exhaustion) as I was overtaken on a distressingly frequent basis by the North's toughest riders on super light wheelsets with silk tubs ringing on the tarmac. It was the 80's version of the 'disc wheel roar'. I was sure that if only I could ditch the tractor wheels on my race bike for a set of Mr Mavic's finest rims nothing could hold me back from stardom. And Mr Mavic's very, very finest rims at that time were the beautiful GEL 280s. 280, of course, referring to the rather optimistically claimed weight in grams, GEL standing for "something french beginning with G, Extra Leger". And extra leger they certainly were. Even today you have to look pretty hard to find a pair of box section carbon rims with a similar weight. So the cyclists' version of Murphy's law ("ability to afford kit you've always lusted after increases in inverse proportion to your ability to propel it forward at any decent rate") started to kick in and I eventually found a very suitable set of rims on eBay. Only Royce seemed to offer a suitably stylish hub in 28 hole drilling, and just to make the job of forward momentum a little easier I stumped up the cash for Sapim CXray aero spokes. Numerous visits to the always helpful customs officer at the post office later, I had all the bits ready to go and spent a weekend lacing and truing them up on my wheel jig, and gluing on tubs.In spite of all the guff people spout about the art of wheelbuilding, it just takes patience, logic, a decent set of tools and an inexhaustible supply of tea & Oasis CDs. And the end result is shown in the photos, topped off with a close ratio Marchisio cassette (and why oh why do Campag and Shimano no longer make straight through cassette ratios? I really, honestly don't need either an 11 tooth sprocket or a 21 tooth sprocket. Or 10 sprockets come to that).
The question now is how long they will last before disintegrating. Time will tell.
