I was in the market for a new wheel set and a friend of mine (fellow campy guy too), convinced me that a handbuilt set would be the way to go. I picked up as set of Pre-2007 Campy Record hubs (back when they were beautiful polished aluminum) and began my search for a builder. Through another cycling forum, I began discussing my needs with a Chicago area wheel builder named Dave Ornee.
I went off line and asked him for a quote of building my hubs with Velocity Aeroheads with an OC (off-center) rear. His price was great (far below other quotes), and I was impressed with his attention to detail. I decided to ship him my hubs to have them built up with Aerohead/Aerohead OC rims, Sapim Race 14/15 DB spokes, Sapim Polyax and S.I.L.S. nipples and Velo plugs.
I shipped my hubs to him last Saturday, he sent me a link so I could use my paypal acct to pay him, and by Thursday my wheels were at my house. Probably the most time consuming part of the process for me was unwrapping them, since Dave put some serious care into making sure they arrived unharmed.
I popped on my cassette and the tires and took them for a spin today. The ride quality was sublime as the Velomax/Record combo makes for a light but solid feel.
Today in Boston it was high 20's with wind gusts in the 25-30 mph range, so it was hard to really guage my speed, but I can tell already that I'm going to love them. The mid profile of the Aeroheads was virtually unaffected by crosswinds which is big for me since I ride along the coast daily.
I only have factory wheelsets to compare them too, but they are much more comfortable than my Campy Protons, and they have a more solid feel than my Eurus's. The lower spoke count on the Eurus's makes them feel more aero, but the Velocity's are laterally stiffer and the Record hubs roll silently along like they are perpetual motion machines.
Dave made sure these were trued beyond the industry standard, and the tensioning was perfect. To say the least I was very happy with my purchase. If you want to talk to Dave about some first class hanbuilts, he can be reached at:
dave@ornee.net