Duke racing wheels with Chris King hubs

Like every wheel builder I'm always very happy when getting a work order for premium wheels. Building high-end sets shows that people trust your skills and that comes only with time and hard work. But, is there anything else which gives even more satisfaction? Yes, it is the customer, pleasant with previous work and ordering a second set.

Some time ago I made a retro set for Tom using his Dura Ace hubs. That wasn't easy build but with proper research, measurements everything went very well and wheels are running smooth and stiff. Very recently Tom came back to me and ordered a set of Duke carbon wheels paired with Chris King hubs. 

Duke is a french company making their own rims and hubs. I had a pleasure to see their all products during recent Eurobike show. Rims are well thought with excellent finish. Light, strong, with offset with appropriate brake pads.

Chris King hubs, well I don't need to introduce them I guess. Absolutely #1 hubs in the world. They are expensive, but you buy them once and they will serve you for the whole life.

For Tom I used 45mm deep Duke racing carbon rims, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, Chris King hubs and brass nipples. The total weight of such set is 1500g. The weight could go down by ~25g if I would use alu nipples but Tom is not a weight-weenie so we stayed with long lasting brass nipples.

Wheels were laced radial front and 2-cross rear both sides. They came up very stiff due to stiff rims and very good geometry of the hubs. 

Rims come with dedicated brake pads which increase braking power and improving braking in wet

Wheels got two layers of tubeless tape allowing to run standard tubes and tubeless set in the future.

The end result is amazing. Wheels are beautiful, robust and will serve for long time. If you're wondering about the cost - it's below 1600CHF which I believe is a very good price/value taking into account the components used in this build.

Wheels are available in my shop.

@Tom, thanks for choosing me for this build. All the best and happy riding!

Cheers

Tomasz

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