About DFW

My name is John Davidson (Age 61) – aka “Davo”. I am, by profession a Mechanical Design Engineer and worked for a Mining Machinery Manufacturer (+40 Years), designing, testing and producing many mechanical components for the Industrial Materials Handling Industry. Covering many aspects of Engineering solutions and solving problems, utilising a wide range of Engineering materials.I have been involved in competitive cycling, riding and racing bikes at a high level, covering a range of disciplines from being a teenager.

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At the age of 61 I am still competitive and race in the UK British Masters scene as well as the occasional regional BC races, Cyclo Cross races and Time Trials. I currently average about 14hrs a week, which sees me clock over 11,000 Miles a Year.Being a competitive cyclist and a father of two boys, all of us actively involved in competitive cycling, our needs for better equipment especially wheels became more demanding. In 2012, to keep up with the competition and trend we purchased our first set of High End Carbon Wheels, this was a massive financial outlay +£1000. After only a few weeks of riding the wheels started failing in many way, loose spokes, constantly being out of true and not even round to what I would consider acceptable.

 

Previous to 2012, utilising my Engineering skills and knowledge, with the help of some research, training and many hours of practice I had been building my own alloy race wheels, the standard Open Pro Tubular and HP rims using Shimano, Mavic and Miche hubs. Frustrated with what was out in the open market and classed as High Premium Carbon Wheels and the feeling I was not getting a value for money product at the quality I was expecting, I started researching the availability of Carbon Rims, after many samples, prototypes, field testing and meetings with various suppliers, I entered into business relationship with my current supplier Fastop Composites. With their composite materials expertise and high tech manufacturing and testing facility, together we designed and manufactured the DFW range of Carbon Rims and I started building my own wheels.

 

After letting a few of my interested team mates use my wheels, this snowballed into building wheels for lots of people and lead to me having to create my own small business DFW, building and supplying hand build carbon wheels to a full range of cycling customers, from Leisure Cyclist to Profession Cyclists. After getting some great reviews from some professional riders, I was asked to build and supply wheels to the “Project 1” and Elite Development Team for 2024. To date (Jan 2024) I have built and supplied over 2000 Carbon wheel-sets, these include, Road Wheels, CX Wheels, Gravel Wheels & MTB Wheels, in various depths and profiles for both disc a rim brake bikes. I support many local North East riders competing at the highest levels of the sport. I have an extensive list of happy customers, some still riding on wheels built more than 6 Years ago.

 

My ambition and drive is to give my customers the best buying and riding experience they can experience at an affordable price along with product confidence. To do this I am creating wheels engineered and hand-built with highest quality of fully tested carbon materials in conjunction with quality components.My DFW hand-built wheels are far superior to mass-produced imported or factory-built wheels. This is because they are all built personally by me. I carefully apply my skills with higher levels of precision, passion and pride, meaning DFW wheels are built to tighter tolerances, are stiffer, stronger and will perform at a higher level for much longer than most of the very expensive commercially available wheels. A good set of wheels should transform a cyclist’s experience, regardless of level, surface or use. And that transformation is not reliant on the price point - it’s on the intrinsic quality of the wheel build and set up. All DFW wheels have been tested and improved in the real world by cycling fanatics covering many miles over a wide range of extremely harsh surfaces and difficult terrain.