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Vince-
Can a wheel not be handbuilt?
It can be hand built by robots
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/the-robot-wheel-building-revolution-37550/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yF_S1L0X68
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It's because the wheel was built by hand from start to finish with no automation, by Talbot Wheelworks. That simple.
The majority of mass produced wheels are, as has been noted by other posters, either laced by humans and then essentially built to completion by machines or the entire process is automated. The real work in building in is the tensioning, truing, and balancing of spoke tensions in my opinion.
If a wheel is laced by hand and then finished by machines then it's not entirely handbuilt.
gbj_tester
t_w
Just taken receipt of some R460's laced to RS Mono's built by the very capable @t_w.
The peds will hear me coming now!
Lovely attention to detail.