For those who don’t know me, I’m a bit of an equipment nut.  I source the parts and assemble most of my bikes myself.  Not a fan of out of the box, pre-assembled bikes.  This ensures I know what’s going into the bike, and have myself to blame when something screws up on the bike.  I also hate riding the same stuff as everybody else; it’s cool to have a unique bike.

I’ve yet to learn how to build my own wheels, because I’m lazy, but in most instances, I am using American Classic wheels, which are virtually handbuilt wheels any.  I eschew proprietary spokes and that sort of rubbish.  I choose reliable equipment, with parts I can easily replace.  I tote along spare parts (or a spare bike) to most races, so no worries there.  Onto the bike…