A customer brought in a Cosmic Carbon 40C (a wheel model) for service.
They wanted me to check the wheel runout and centering.
When it comes to build precision variations in complete wheelsets,
I think most manufacturers are pretty much on par with each other.
Campagnolo and Fulcrum
hang name cards from the builder on the hub, and
Shimano's Dura-Ace grade wheels
are only assembled by those specially selected from the company's craftspeople,
and each maker does pay attention to quality improvement and traceability,
but even these manufacturers sometimes have centering issues that you can't overlook.
While very minor runout might develop during shipping,
significant centering drift shouldn't happen.
So, as I mentioned a moment ago about each maker's average final tolerance being roughly similar,
from my experience, I've noticed that Mavic rear wheels
tend to have centering drift where the rim is shifted toward the freewheel side a bit more often.
Since this happens even on new ones, it's not explained by spoke loosening on the non-freewheel side from extended use.
But this one—the center gauge just locked right in with a satisfying "click"—
the centering was perfect.
If they were all like this, that'd be great.
There's a possibility it got a final check at a proper shop,
but I try not to ask about a wheel's history unless the customer brings it up themselves,
so I don't know about that.
But if that were the case, they probably wouldn't bring it to my shop...
I should've asked.
There was just a tiny bit of runout,
the kind that would naturally develop from regular riding anyway.
They wanted me to check the wheel runout and centering.
When it comes to build precision variations in complete wheelsets,
I think most manufacturers are pretty much on par with each other.
Campagnolo and Fulcrum
hang name cards from the builder on the hub, and
Shimano's Dura-Ace grade wheels
are only assembled by those specially selected from the company's craftspeople,
and each maker does pay attention to quality improvement and traceability,
but even these manufacturers sometimes have centering issues that you can't overlook.
While very minor runout might develop during shipping,
significant centering drift shouldn't happen.
So, as I mentioned a moment ago about each maker's average final tolerance being roughly similar,
from my experience, I've noticed that Mavic rear wheels
tend to have centering drift where the rim is shifted toward the freewheel side a bit more often.
Since this happens even on new ones, it's not explained by spoke loosening on the non-freewheel side from extended use.
But this one—the center gauge just locked right in with a satisfying "click"—
the centering was perfect.
If they were all like this, that'd be great.
There's a possibility it got a final check at a proper shop,
but I try not to ask about a wheel's history unless the customer brings it up themselves,
so I don't know about that.
But if that were the case, they probably wouldn't bring it to my shop...
There was just a tiny bit of runout,
the kind that would naturally develop from regular riding anyway.