Wheelers' Retreat

Wheelers' Retreat Cycling emporium....doing things differently! We want to promote the idea that you don't have to be a "cyclist" to go cycling. Just go out & enjoy a ride!

More wheels for stock. This time a pair of 650b gravel wheels with the ever-reliable Bitex BX106 hubs laced with 28 spok...
16/03/2026

More wheels for stock. This time a pair of 650b gravel wheels with the ever-reliable Bitex BX106 hubs laced with 28 spokes front and rear to DT Swiss G540 rims to create a no-nonsense pair set light enough for performance riding but burly enough for bike packing or more powerful riders who tend to break stuff!
These retail at £418 but I will let these go currently for £375 (I will include rim tape)

Here’s one of the jobs I love doing, using old decent quality components to create something lovely. These NOS Campagnol...
09/03/2026

Here’s one of the jobs I love doing, using old decent quality components to create something lovely. These NOS Campagnolo Stheno rims are a classic of early 90s XC mountain bike racing scene and work well with an equally old skool Hope titanium front hub. The customer had requested radial spoking but given a lot of these hubs died due to fl**ges cracking I advised against that! The rear is another gem of the olden days; the Shimano XT M737 parallax. I had one of those that lasted through four pairs of rims…bomber hubs!
I built these with the usual blend of different gauge spokes; the front was silly light with that hub and slender Sapim Laser spokes, silver of course.

One of the benefits of handbuilt wheels is that you can choose easily serviceable and repairable hubs. Bitex hubs such a...
26/02/2026

One of the benefits of handbuilt wheels is that you can choose easily serviceable and repairable hubs. Bitex hubs such as these BX822 are typical of their approach to no nonsense design instead of chasing fashion. The freehub just pulls off for easy cleaning and bearing replacement.
In this case they are laced to another under the radar great product; the tubeless ready Kinlin TL25R gravel rims. These are relatively light, without being weedy. They are also asymmetric allowing for more even spoke tension. As I usually do I have built these with a blend of different gauge spokes to give a sensible weight of just under 1750grams.
These retail for £385 and are ready to roll (once I’ve taped them!) These ones are 700c but can also be built in a 650b version.
Of course I can build other options; I will soon have some DT Swiss G540 650b gravel wheels ready to go as well, watch this space!

Long time no see bike folks!Many will have noticed that I’m not around much these days, but I have just got other priori...
01/02/2026

Long time no see bike folks!
Many will have noticed that I’m not around much these days, but I have just got other priorities as well as the shop, especially after losing my mum recently.
I am now appointment only, but live not far away so can often be there in minutes. So even if you are at the shop door reading my note, by the time you’ve grabbed a coffee at or a drink at I can probably be there to meet you!
Although it’s probably common knowledge by now that the shop will be closing fully in just over a year, I will still be doing wheelbuilding from home.
So with that in mind here are the latest creations; a lovely pair of Velocity Blunt SS 32hole rims laced with classic polished stainless DT Swiss spokes to the ever-reliable Bitex boost hubs. I’m not sure yet what bike these are going on, but I’m sure the customer will tell me all about it shortly, he’s on his way to pick them up now…gotta go, bye!

Breathing life back into an old Dawes Horizon.First picture is as it was when I bought it; I didn’t really know what wou...
31/10/2025

Breathing life back into an old Dawes Horizon.
First picture is as it was when I bought it; I didn’t really know what would happen with it, I just knew it needed to go to a good home! I quickly decided that it would be a prime candidate for a bit of future-proofing.
The rear wheel had a significant bend in the rim so new handbuilt wheels using the great retro rims and hubs from allowed for a shiny silver aesthetic and traditional large fl**ge hubs. These got shod with some 28mm tanwall tyres I had sitting around. Also getting rid of the old threaded freewheel enabled me to make better use of the already sensibly geared chainset (48/36 instead of the ridiculous 52/42 you often see on bikes if this vintage!) and put a 11/34 8speed cassette on. The existing old Shimano rear mech is a long cage so it works perfectly with the pair of Claris 8-speed shifters I had sitting around in the shop. I decided that the bars had not had a hard life and are safe, so tidied up with some blue bartape I pretty much couldn’t give away in the shop 😆 Think it looks great here though.
The brakes were a challenge, as I needed to experiment with nuts and spacers to get the mudguards to fit nicely.
This bike is not for me, it was kinda destined for someone else make use of but that hasn’t worked out so it will become a kinda communal bike to be enjoyed by my friends who want have a go at cycling but who don’t have something suitable.

It’s the time of year for the obligatory autumnal pics post! Most of these are from an evening walk in Malmesbury, the t...
29/10/2025

It’s the time of year for the obligatory autumnal pics post! Most of these are from an evening walk in Malmesbury, the town I call home. One at the end from Westonbirt cos it’s great!
There will be more cycling related posts when I get around to it!
Speaking of which, as a few will have noticed, the shop is closed more often these days. The reason for that is I run it on my own and even when I was there seven days a week people would still say “you’re never there”, yet I would get messages at all times of day or night. So I have made a conscious decision to focus on ME a lot more. As a small business owner you don’t get paid holiday or sick pay. I am only a phone call or message away and home is currently only a couple of minutes away. My regulars know I will help where I can. I find I am more productive when I am not a slave to traditional opening hours.
I’m sure most people understand this 😊

Lovely new road wheels for a Sonder gravel bike.The ever reliable Bitex hubs, laced to DT Swiss RR421 rims using Sapim C...
24/09/2025

Lovely new road wheels for a Sonder gravel bike.
The ever reliable Bitex hubs, laced to DT Swiss RR421 rims using Sapim CXray spokes (the slightly thicker CXsprints on the drive side rear) to produce a sensibly light but still durable pair of serviceable and repairable wheels. These weigh around 1565grams which is pretty good!

I have had a lot of distractions in my life lately, hence no posts on social media!I am still wheelbuilding though, so h...
22/09/2025

I have had a lot of distractions in my life lately, hence no posts on social media!
I am still wheelbuilding though, so here is some I did a while ago now for a vintage bike that will be doing a vintage event. I want to say it’s the L’Eroica but to be honest I’ve forgotten 😆
Anyway, it’s one of those events with rules about how retro your kit is, so these NOS Campagnolo hubs got built into some clincher rims with silver spokes. The brief was to keep the cost reasonable and sensible so we just opted for Mavic Open Elite. Not the best for modern applications but in this case they were an ideal choice.
There will be more regular posts again now as I wade through photos of recent jobs!

Random post as haven’t done so for a while! Edit….just remembered that my Instagram is set to share everything to this F...
22/07/2025

Random post as haven’t done so for a while! Edit….just remembered that my Instagram is set to share everything to this page too. Obviously it has nothing to do with the shop or cycling.
Do I care?
No!
Credit to for this pic of myself and a few others having a great time jamming around the campfire at a friends wedding

14/06/2025

Just a heads up that I will be closed on Monday 16th. Back in on Tuesday at 10am

We recently built these lovely retro track wheels using the old skool H Plus Son TB14 rims laced to some beautiful old s...
14/05/2025

We recently built these lovely retro track wheels using the old skool H Plus Son TB14 rims laced to some beautiful old skool Suntour Superbe Pro track hubs. It’s great to see perfectly useable old parts given a new lease of life!

Address

4 Gloucester Street
Malmesbury
SN160AA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+441666238835

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