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Ha, what are the chances.
I did send him a message already, but maybe I should press him a bit more for alternative options.
As long as I can get something built in a reasonable time frame it feels like hand built is increasingly the way to go.
Re weight- it must become an issue at some point? I've done 90% of my riding on my tourer in the last 3 years, it weighs nearly 20kg before I put a water bottle on it. I have the rear wheel in the kitchen as I was repairing a puncture last night. Weighed it just for fun, the wheel with cassette, tube and tyre weighs 2.3kg. The new build needs to end up feeling more spritely otherwise I'm wasting my time.
Admittedly it's an XC rim and very strong, although I did kill one once but that involved carrying 14 litres of extra water on top of pannier luggage.
ILb-
Re weight- it must become an issue at some point? I've done 90% of my riding on my tourer in the last 3 years, it weighs nearly 20kg before I put a water bottle on it. I have the rear wheel in the kitchen as I was repairing a puncture last night. Weighed it just for fun, the wheel with cassette, tube and tyre weighs 2.3kg. The new build needs to end up feeling more spritely otherwise I'm wasting my time.
Everything depends what you + luggage weigh, but subject to that...
What event are you doing? If I was doing a road event, even the TCR* with a bit of off-road thrown in, I wouldn't want gravel wheels, I'd want reasonably light road wheels with decently strong rims so I wasn't worrying about them.
I wouldn't buy wheels now for an event over a year ahead as who knows what will happen.
Wheels are expensive so I can see why you want ones for more than one event, but I'd rather compromise on something else than having, not the best wheels for every event, but good wheels. So, I'd rather get second hand road wheels for the road event and sell them on afterwards, or a cheaper frame, sleep out more and fewer hotels, etc, etc.
*The TCR this year with the Roubaix cobbles might be different. I've never ridden on them (and don't really want to either!) so don't know how hard they are on wheels.
frank9755
Those are actually built by a guy who lives round the corner from me, who I used to fix my wheels a couple of months ago. I had a long chat with him and I would be pretty sure he knows what he is doing.
But don't buy them off eBay!
This is his main site:
https://www.handsonwheels.co.uk/
If nothing else, drop him a line and have a chat. Say you've seen his wheels on eBay, tell him what you want them for and he'll say if they are a good choice, or what would be better.
You get a better service, and you can split the eBay mark-up between you!
Engaging with a good wheelbuilder is the best place to start, rather than looking at deals that people want to sell you. They know what works and what doesn't/ They guarantee their wheels so they don't want them to break or they end up fixing FOC, so they only build wheels that will work for you.
First question he'll ask is how heavy are you?