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Really, makes no financial sense to get wheels built. Most times I recommend customers just to get a new one. Labour + spokes doesn't get too far from a basic Shimano pre built wheel
Netakure-
Exactly - the market has changed to the point where it's all but impossible to shop build a wheel at a price lower than a basic factory wheel. Shops no longer build frames, as so many did even when I was a boy. They need to acknowledge that hand-built wheels are also a high-cost, high-skill niche business best left to a few expert specialists.
gbj_tester
It's an incomplete change in the cycling market. When all wheels were built in the shop selling them, every bike shop had at least a half decent wheel builder on staff. Bike shops now continue to believe that they should offer that service, and try to do so without the volume of basic wheels passing through the shop which were the training ground for shop staff in the olden days. The smart thing to do would be to admit that they can't do it.