Opened my own business!

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    • #115683

      I built my first set of wheels about 3yrs ago using borrowed tools, and they never needed trueing. About a year ago I started building/repairing for friends as a hobby, and now I’ve decided to take it to the next level and have opened my own business!

      Check it out right here: Southern Wheelworks

    • #115684

      Best wishes with your new business dgaddis 😀

    • #115685

      Congrats! I’ll grab some cards from you and bring them back up to the guys in Columbia.

    • #115686
      "klowe8828" wrote

      Congrats! I’ll grab some cards from you and bring them back up to the guys in Columbia.

      Guess I need to get some cards then huh? Lol. It’s on the list…

    • #115687

      Congratulations, I might have some business to throw your way sometime soon… I’m in the process of building up a One 9.

    • #115688
      "eastwood" wrote

      Congratulations, I might have some business to throw your way sometime soon… I’m in the process of building up a One 9.

      Sweet. The One 9 is a great ride by all accounts. A friend has one with the rigid carbon fork and it weighs less than 20lbs!

    • #115689

      Congrats on the new business! I’ve vowed that my next set of wheels will be hand built. Now I know who to call!

    • #115690

      Congrats dgaddis! This is pretty exciting… you planning on writing up a blog post for Singletracks about your new venture?

    • #115691
      "mtbgreg1" wrote

      Congrats dgaddis! This is pretty exciting… you planning on writing up a blog post for Singletracks about your new venture?

      Eh…I don’t think so. I don’t feel right about writing a post just trying to sell myself, know what I mean? I probably will write a post later, like after a year, when I have more to say about having a bike business besides "I just spent a bunch of money on insurance so buy some wheels from me so I can make it back" 😆

      But, I do have a review of the Stan’s Crest 29er rims that’s 99% ready to go, and I may throw a plug in there 😃

    • #115692
      But, I do have a review of the Stan’s Crest 29er rims that’s 99% ready to go, and I may throw a plug in there 😃

      Nice, that’d be cool!

    • #115693

      That is awesome man! Congrats!

    • #115694

      Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Be sure and pass the word around!

      The last few evenings have been spent doing paper work, fun fun stuff lol. But I’ve got most of my dealer accounts set up now, including:
      White Industries (beautiful crazy smooth hubs made in the USA)
      Hope Technology (hubs from jolly ol’ England)
      Velocity (rims made here in the USA)
      Stan’s NoTubes (excellent tubeless road and MTB rims)
      Hawley – distributer that carries American Classic, WTB, DT Swiss, Sapim, Shimano, SRAM, and Wheelsmith among others.

      Should have accounts with Industry Nine, Chris King, Alchemy Bicycle Works, and maybe ENVE by the end of the week too.

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      "jtorlando25" wrote

      Congrats on the new business! I’ve vowed that my next set of wheels will be hand built. Now I know who to call!

      Looking forward to it! There’s a lot of benefits of custom hand built, and they’re a lot more affordable than most folks think. Less expensive than many off the shelf sets in fact.

    • #115695

      Sweet. Good luck. I can vouche for Velocity rims and Hope hubs. I had a pair of wheels built last year with the P35 rims and Hope hubs. Freaking awesome and bombproof. 35 mm wide footprint makes my hardtail just cushy with high volume tires… And the high engagement Hope hubs sound like a swArm of bees..hikers are well out of the way by the time I come up on them… Dgaddis I checked your website and with your mechanical background I’ll bet you will be pumping out some fantastic well built wheels.

    • #115696

      Business cards are here.

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    • #115697

      Very cool. I wish you the best of luck! I Liked you on FB.

    • #115698

      Things are going pretty well so far, staying busy enough but not too busy, right where I want it to be at the moment. Several really nice wheels have left the shop lately.

      Eastwood got a pair of single speed specific wheels for his new SS 29er he’s building up. Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs, Stan’s Crest rims in white, DT Swiss Comp spokes with alloy nipples. Valves are flanked by a pair of white spokes on each wheel. There’s a video of the hub sound on the Southern Wheelworks Facebook page. It’s LOUD and AWESOME.

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      This set just shipped out. Very light, but very stiff and daily driver durable. Light-Bicycle carbon rims, Hope Pro 2 Evo front hub and Industry Nine rear hub, and DT Swiss Revolution spokes w/alloy nipples all around. Only 1547g.

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      And a REALLY light set for a drop-bar Niner used as a Monstercross bike for paved and gravel rides. Iron Cross rims, American Classic hubs, Revolution spokes everywhere except the rear driveside where heavier Competition spokes were used for a little extra stiffness. 1458g. For all-metal wheels with 32 spokes each…that’s LIGHT.

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      (that’s crazy light for an all-metal 32 spoke rear wheel)

      TELL YOUR FRIENDS! ;)

    • #115699

      Southern Wheelworks is over a year old now! It’s been a fun ride, and I’m looking forward to what’s in store in the future. I just renewed my insurance, which went up $500 since I needed to increase my coverage (sales were better than expected last year!), but that’s a good "problem" to have! Here’s a few recent builds.

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      My own set of NOX carbon rims and Hope hubs. LOVE these wheels.

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      A good nights work. One 26" rim brake MTB wheel, one road wheel, and a pair of 29+ wheels.

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      A set of wheels for Greg, which you’ll see reviewed on the Singletracks blog soon. White Industries hubs, Stan’s Arch EX 650B rims. Fun fact: one of these (I forget which) was the 100th wheel I’ve built. I think.

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      Nice light road wheel. I want to build more road wheels, but I’m mostly known for MTB wheels.

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      Beefy downhill wheels. These Mavic rims are a HUGE pain to build with their threaded eyelets. This set saw lots of racing duty in New England, and the customer won his class in the series on ’em.

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      A pair of NOX carbon rims and Industry Nine Torch Classic hubs. Sooooooo nice. 1,513g of awesome.

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      Another pair of red I9 hubs, this time laced to some Crest 29er wheels. 1,622g.

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      Recently added dials to my truing stand, which are very handy for making those final few tweaks. Gotta be careful though, I could see them becoming a huge time suck too. Got to remember the dials are reading in 100ths of a millimeter, you’ll never get it perfect, but you could spend hours trying. There is such a thing as good enough!!

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      Process pic – aligning spokes as the leave the hub flange. Before, how it’s done, and after.

    • #115700

      Wow, 100+ hand-built wheels in a year – thats awesome! Keep it up, Dustin!

    • #115701

      Dude, this is so awesome! Great to hear how well things have been going!

    • #115702

      Nice wheels! Congrats on your business doing so well! One of these days a nice set of carbon road wheels will be in my future…

    • #115703
      "gar29" wrote

      Nice wheels! Congrats on your business doing so well! One of these days a nice set of carbon road wheels will be in my future…

      Hit me up when you’re ready! I’m one of only 3 custom builder’s of November’s carbon Rail rims here in the States, though I haven’t had the chance to build any yet. Had a few tire kickers, but no one’s pulled the trigger yet. They’ve got a shallower rim coming out soon as well. Once we get the wife through school and I get my custom road bike built it will most likely have a set of Rail rims with skinny tires for paved duty, and I’ll have an extra lower cost set of alloy rimed wheels with some bigger tires for dirt/gravel riding. That’s the dream anyways…. 😆

    • #115704

      Man, those Rail rims are nice! Your website is looking great, btw. Nice job on it.

    • #115705

      I wish you the best of luck. I just dropped you a wheel inquiry I’m on a small budget Sette Reken build for my wife but would love to give you the business vs a bigger box web store.

    • #115706

      How are things going?

    • #115707
      "Funrover" wrote

      How are things going?

      Good! Had a few really cool builds out the doors lately.

      Super light 29er carbon wheelset for XC racing. Light-Bicycle ‘narrow’ rims, Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs, 28 DT Swiss Revolution spokes per wheel, alloy nipples. XD driver for SRAM XX1 use, thru-bolts front and rear, 1,457g and super stiff. This guys bike now weighs under 20lbs for a geared HT 29er, with an aluminum frame.
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      Built my first set of the new AM-275 rims from Nox Composites. These are some BEEFY all-mountain 650b rims. 27.5mm inner width. Wide enough to swallow an Arch EX rim whole:
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      All laced up to some Industry Nine hubs. This customer lives in FL and lives and rides near/on the coast, so we used brass nipples for better corrosion resistance to the salty enviroment. 1,557g
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      And got some pics and a nice note and some pics from another customer, who got a set of Industry Nine hubs laced up to some Stan’s Crest rims.

      Hey Dustin,

      Just wanted to give you an update. These new wheels and tires have really transformed my ride. I have a smile the entire ride because they are super plush and the Industry 9 are simply the best!

      Wanted to send some pictures over, per your request. My friends really dig my "pimped" out bike. LOL! They think it looks really sharp.

      I love the way it looks and love the way it rides! Thanks again for all your help.

      Best regards,

      Rod

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    • #115708

      A few more recent pics.

      36 spoke rear wheel for a custom WaltWorks 29er for a big dude. King hub, Flow EX rim. 3 & 4-cross lacing.
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      Nice 11spd disc road hubs from White Industries for a CX/commuter build. Waiting on some brand new rims from Velocity for these…
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      WTB KOM rim with 4D drilling – makes for a very straight spoke path
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      I9 SS wheel.
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      I9 + WTB KOM + Turquoise. Customer sent pics of them on the bike – they look sweeeet!
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      Spoke length :: Dialed. These are going on a Moots in CO.
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      More White Industries goodness. The T11 road hub – 11spd compatible, great flange geometry, light weight, titanium freehub body, made in the USA. Waiting on rims for these too…some nice light carbon clinchers.
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    • #115709

      Howdy everyone, checking in! Been a busy year, which I’m thankful for! Lots of cool builds lately, more on the horizon.

      Totally re-did my website over the weekend, take a peek here: http://southernwheelworks.com/

      Some recent work:

      Industry Nine and Derby 650B rims.
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      White Industries Mi6 and Stan’s Flow EX rims. Looooove those shiny hubs!
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      Customer putting some Nox Composites/Chris King wheels to use.
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      Hello Kitty tubeless fatbike wheels
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      48 spoke wheelset for a big guy looking to get into shape.
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      Thru-axle disc brake dynamo set up for bikepacking!
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      And a customer’s sweeeeet titanium Lynskey with some nice White Industries/Pacenti wheels I built him.
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    • #115710

      New site looks good! Sporting the Hello Kitty look on your bike now?! 😆

    • #115711

      I’m loving the fat bike wheels! Hoping to talk to you about some wheels for my single speed after the first of the year.

    • #115712

      Howdy guys and gals! Just thought I’d post an update, been too busy to spend much time in forums lately!

      Things are going great at Southern Wheelworks. I’ve been really busy turning out wheels lately, and invested in a Morizumi spoke machine that makes my life a whole lot easier.

      I sponsored Neil Beltchenko this year, aka gimmearaise here on Singletracks. I built him a crazy awesome set of bikepacking wheels (dynamo front hub to power lights/electronics, ENVE carbon rims, and an I9 rear hub) and he has put a boatload of miles on them. He won the Stagecoach 400 earlier this year, and had an AMAZING ride in the Tour Divide, beating the previous course record, setting the fastest rookie time ever, and finishing in 3rd only 40mins behind 1st place after more than 2700 miles!

      There’s more stuff coming down the pipeline in the near future that I’m REALLY excited about, but can’t unveil it just yet. 😄

      If anyone wants a t-shirt, I’m taking pre-orders for them now.

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      "Life is too short to ride crappy wheels."

      Be sure and follow along on Facebook and Instagram to see the latest. I’ll try and do a better job of hanging around the forums here more frequently!

      Photodump:

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      The new spoke machine.

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      Chris King Mango – soooo good!

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      Old school(ish) Powertap disc brake MTB hub.

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      White spokes flanking the valve

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      Project 321 Lefty hub

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      Customer’s bike

    • #115713

      Looking at your builds is like going to an art gallery. I know I’ll never own any but love looking anyway 😀

      Glad you’re doing well and hope you get to hang out with us some. We just recently had a post concerning exploding hubs in which I’m sure your advice would have served much better than ours.

    • #115714
      "schwim" wrote

      Looking at your builds is like going to an art gallery. I know I’ll never own any but love looking anyway 😀

      Glad you’re doing well and hope you get to hang out with us some. We just recently had a post concerning exploding hubs in which I’m sure your advice would have served much better than ours.

      While I do build quite a few high end, and high dollar wheels, I’ve got some very reasonably priced options too, so don’t rule me out if you’re ever in the market! MTB wheels start just over $500 before shipping and/or tax. Road wheels are less ’cause the hubs are less expensive, and they’re often built with fewer spokes/nipples as well. This set was was only $530 shipped.

      $500 wheels are built with the same love and care as the $1800 wheels.

    • #115715
      "dgaddis" wrote

      Road wheels are less ’cause the hubs are less expensive, and they’re often built with fewer spokes/nipples as well. This set was was only $530 shipped.

      That’s a lite set of wheels for that price!

    • #115716
      "gar29" wrote

      [quote="dgaddis":2ykju7tj]Road wheels are less ’cause the hubs are less expensive, and they’re often built with fewer spokes/nipples as well. This set was was only $530 shipped.

      That’s a lite set of wheels for that price![/quote:2ykju7tj]

      Alloy rims are all more or less the same price, they typically range from $80-$110. Those are about in the middle of the price range, and are very, very light.

      Hubs are the biggest driving factor for the cost, and the Bitex hubs are sweet because they’re inexpensive, well made, light, and available in lots of colors and drilling options. Most low cost hubs are heavy and only 32 and 36 hole, which means a lot of folks will end up with wheels that are overbuilt and heavier than needed. But the Bitex hubs allow for a light set of wheels, with the proper spoke count to fit the riders weight and riding style, without breaking the bank. I like ’em!

    • #175891

      Pretty stoked, wheel building will be my full time gig in a few months!

      Going All In

      The wife and I always said we would move to central GA to be closer to family (it pretty much splits the difference between our two families), and we’ve decided now is the time.  My wife has a job lined up, and I’m going to focus on building wheels full time.  We’ve found a house and have it under contract, and now I’m looking into where to set up shop.  I’m hoping our current house will sell for enough that I can have a shop built at our new house.  Then I can set it up exactly the way I want, and it’ll be more economical in the long run vs renting a space somewhere.

      We should be moving into the new house the first week in December.  I’m going to stay on with my current employer full time until our current house sells, so not sure exactly when I’ll officially be full time on wheels, but hopefully by the end of the year!

    • #175893

      Congrats Dustin, this is awesome! Now there will be two excellent bike companies in Macon: Southern Wheelworks and Thomson. 🙂

    • #175894

      Massive congrats Dustin!! I’m so stoked for you!

    • #175911

      Very cool, congrats!  Sounds like you have a great opportunity in front of you!

    • #176175

      Those look awesome! I may be interested…PM me.

    • #176494

      That’s awesome news, Dustin! The wheels you built for me two and a half years ago are still going strong. Unfortunately, the bike they’re on is for sale, but the wheels are one of the highlights!

    • #176495

      New house, new business, all close to home.  Hope it all works out as perfect as it sounds, Dustin!  Gongrats to you and the family.

    • #585467

      Old thread from 2013/2015 and the link is dead. Hmmm, does this venture still exist??

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