As the title, will be building up my road bike again in the next month or so and have left my wheel jig down south so am going to have to pay someone to build my wheels for me. So…reccomendations anyone?

Thanks in advance.

I’m biased, but I’ve just had a couple of 700c wheels re-built by James at The Bike Chain in Rodney Street and they’ve come up a treat.

Ok cool, thanks DuidH, will keep that in mind.

Anyone else any reccomendations?

If you’re happy building your own the Bike Station on Causewayside will let you use their tools, including jigs.

Bike Station seconded – they run a recycling scheme too which is very good.

druidh you work there!

I’d say Andrew at the Bicycleworks.

But then I’d say you shouldn’t need a jig to build a wheel

Neil Bain in Newhaven – might take a while but he builds an fantastic wheel and charges virtually nothing. eccentric fellow too, which is always good.

+1 for Andrew @ Bicycleworks on Argyle Place.

+1 for Neil Bain, he’s very good and cheap. Bring biscuits

Not exactly in Edinburgh but Steve Deas at iCycles in Innerleithen built my last set. Did a beautiful job… took real care over them and built me up a lovely tight set with burgtec hubs and sapim lazer spokes. 8 months in and I’ve never had to touch a spoke. Still running true as.

Does Neil Bain still have the shop in Newhaven. I rember it was on the corner in a sort of concrete bunker type place. I remember the really nice tall guy who had it before Neil, can’t rember his name but he made me some great wheels back in the day.

I’d rather thought that shop had gone years ago.

“The Captain” aka Ian George.

Thats the fellow, he made some of the best wheels I’ve ever owned.

I was down in Newhaven the other day, is the shop still open? What are Neils opening hours?

The Captain was the man. A total vegan legend. We once drove out to Glencoe to ride the Devils Staircase and the WHW to Fort William. The Captain rode out from Edinburgh then rode wth us and then rode home. With canvas tennis shoes, he hated cars.

Neil’s just as eccentric as the Captain, occasionally locking up his shop for a fortnight and riding to France.

Opening hours were usually around 4 to 9 except Sunday and Monday to my knowledge, but they’re sporadic at best. Give him a call on 551 2839 during these hours, if there’s no answer he may 1471 you if he didn’t reach the phone on time.

Does anyone know the whereabouts of The Captain. I’ve heard he has a couple of houses in France. It would be good to catch up with him again.

not exactly Edinburgh but i always use Alistair Gow @ wheelcraft 01360 312709 – always happy to help and if he builds them he’ll fix ’em! he built Beumonts whels for his around the world jaunt. He works out of a shop in clachan of campsie at the foot of the crow road, go see him and ride the crow and the taks…….

I rebuilt a tandem wheel using the back triangle somewhere in the USA – you don’t need a jig. You are the best wheel builder! But if you do wimp out there are so many good wheel builders in Edinburgh, Bike works in Argyle street Bike coop Velo Ecosse – and I saw some nice wheels being built in Bike track in Lochrin place.

Who is the best wheel builder in Edinburgh?

Me, when I’m in Edinburgh 😉

…he built Beaumonts wheels for his around the world jaunt.

Weren’t these the wheels that, if I recall correctly, needed rebuilding in France?

HH is right spokes started snapping very quickly!

true, forgot about that – lol – you guys crack me up!

used to visit the newhaven shop when i was a lad back when george had it and it was “Claymores” and latterly used to live next door to the man himself.

Neils opening times are indeed sporadic but mid week evenings are usually successful. surprising he is still in business given how little he charges but i suppose he must have a legion of very loyal customers.

eccentric genius!

id second andrew at the bike works,i send edin customers there all the time.

mark asked alistair for some wheels and at that time was going to be supported so he got some light race ones then he chucked all his kit on the back so no wonder he had issues….hes a cracking builder,does wheels for all sorts of pro’s, racers etc.

we however also do a good set of wheels as both my mechs have been doing them for years……cycle-world.co.uk

A fried works in Velo Ecosse and he has always built my wheels, road and MTB. Of all the wheels i’ve had, most have required no attention. They are a roadie shop too if that makes any difference to you.

…mark asked alistair for some wheels and at that time was going to be supported so he got some light race ones then he chucked all his kit on the back so no wonder he had issues…

I thought that Mark kept getting punctures and it turned out that the spokes were too long and piercing the inner tube? Have otherwise heard good things about Wheelcraft.

Wow. Thanks for all the responses. Much appreciated.

Spokes were too short and too tight for carrying the weight he had on the bike and the roads he was on. Not entirely sure that double rims with thick spokes would be classified as race wheels. Just going on what he has written in his book.

It’s not Edinburgh but another thumbs up for big Al at wheelcraft. He built me 729s on pro2s with some silly strong spokes. After repeated downhill bashings at inners and ft. william they are still perfectly round and true(even though half the paint is missing off the rims from being bashed and scraped!).

Also, as already mentioned, if he has built them and you bend them he’ll sort them out!