Wheelworks Handcrafted Wheels is a Wellington workshop that has been building custom bicycle wheels since 2004. From their Te Aro premises at 218b Wills St, the small team designs and builds wheelsets for mountain biking, gravel and adventure riding, and road cycling — every one laced, tensioned and trued in-house rather than dropshipped from elsewhere.
The workshop's approach is meticulous. Each build starts with measurement: the exact spoke length is calculated for your specific combination of hub, rim and lacing pattern, and every spoke is cut and rolled to a tolerance of 0.1mm — far finer than the 2mm increments most wheelbuilders work with. Once laced, wheels go through Grimlock, a pneumatic press the team designed themselves that pre-stresses each wheel well beyond anything a rider will put through it, so spokes don't ping or loosen later. Trudi, a truing and tensioning tool they helped develop, finishes the job.
Wheelworks is independent and deliberately stays that way — they're not tied to any brand or distributor, so component recommendations are based on your riding rather than supply deals. When nothing on the market meets their needs, they develop their own parts, such as their Dial hubs and W:one rims.
The relationship continues long after the wheels ship. Every wheel is logged with its components, spoke lengths and build notes, so years down the track the team can advise on new frames, bearings or freehub bodies. Free truing is offered for the life of your wheels, and small parts are kept in stock because these wheels are built to outlast most of what's on the market. NZ-owned and staffed by keen riders, the workshop welcomes enquiries by phone, email or in person.
Wheelworks Handcrafted Wheels has been building custom bicycle wheels from its Wellington workshop since 2004. It's a New Zealand-owned business, and every wheel it sells is built in-house at the Te Aro workshop at 218b Wills St — the team is quick to point out they're not a dropshipper.
The business was founded by Tristan Thomas, who entered the bicycle industry in 1999 on Vancouver Island in Canada. He backed his handicraft with a mechanical engineering degree, and that fusion shows: Tristan is obsessive about mechanical standards and designed all of Wheelworks' proprietary software and tooling himself. He's raced on the road in New Zealand and grew up riding Canada's North Shore, so he knows the demands riders place on wheels from both sides of the workshop bench.
Wheelworks caters to three broad disciplines: mountain biking, gravel and adventure riding, and road. Rather than pushing a single brand, they select components for your intended use, considering not just individual parts but how they interact — and how the wheel might need to adapt over its life. Because they're independent and not tied to any brand or distributor, a recommendation is based on your riding, not a supply deal.
When the market doesn't offer what they need, they build it themselves. That's how their Dial hubs and W:one rims came about, and the workshop keeps parts for Dial, DT Swiss and Hope hubs on hand.
Every build starts with measurement. The team calculates the exact spoke length for your specific hub, rim and lacing combination, then cuts and rolls each spoke to that length — accurate to 0.1mm, where most wheelbuilders work in 2mm increments. The difference hides inside the rim, but it means no broken spokes as the wheel ages.
Once laced, each wheel passes through Grimlock, a pneumatic press the team designed that pre-stresses the wheel well beyond anything a rider will put through it. That settles the spokes before the wheel leaves the workshop, so there's no pinging and no loosening over time. Trudi, a tool Wheelworks was instrumental in developing, plays a part in the truing and tensioning process. Finished wheels are packed in custom-made boxes designed around each wheel's dimensions — better protection, less waste, lower shipping costs.
The after-sale story is where Wheelworks really sets itself apart. Every wheel is logged in their tracking system: components used, exact spoke lengths, process details and build notes. Years later, you can ask whether your wheelset will work with a new frame, what bearings you need, or whether a freehub body exists for a new drivetrain — and they'll have the answer.
Free truing is offered for the life of your wheels. In practice a well-built wheel rarely needs it, but the open-ended offer reflects their confidence in the build. They also stock small parts like bearings, seals and freehub bodies for as long as they reasonably can, because they know their wheels outlast most of what's on the market. Warranty details vary by wheel and are set out on their warranty page.
Starting a build can be as simple or as in-depth as you like, done over email, phone or in person at the workshop. Tell them what you're riding and what you're after, and they'll put together a component selection to optimise your ride. Repairs can be booked through the website, and enquiries get a reply within one working day. There's also a dedicated b2b site for trade customers, and you can follow the workshop's work on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.