A customer left a Racing ZERO with us for service.
This is a limited edition model with CULT bearing specifications.
Fulcrum and Campagnolo are technically separate companies,
but as a Fulcrum-only policy that Campagnolo doesn't have,
there's a sales strategy of "one distributor per country,"
and recently Japan ended up with just one distributor.
When there were two distributors,
models like theones I didn't think would sell much REDWIND 80 and 105,
and MTB wheels that were kept in regular stock
had slight differences between these two distributors,
which was really helpful. But since becoming the sole distributor,
more items have become special order only, so it's become somewhat inconvenient.
For example, the current sole distributor doesn't keep REDWIND 105 in regular stock.
"I'd want it if I could get it right away, but if I have to wait, forget it"—
that kind of lost sales opportunity definitely happens.
Even though I'm writing this, if someone told me "well then, at least stock every Fulcrum road wheel model one by one in your shop,"
that's impossible for us. So while circumstances differ between retailers and import distributors,
it's not right to loudly demand things our shop can't do.
And then the customer went ahead and ordered it.
↑That's a stylish new approach—enlarge the text first, then add the strikethrough
However, having just one distributor does make it easier to push "limited edition tactics"
by making spoke colors and bearing specifications Japan-exclusive.
When you modify the global model specs,
being able to tell at a glance "this definitely didn't come from overseas online shopping"
is actually very convenient for some people.
But anyway, this Racing ZERO Competition
is actually a global specification from back when there were two distributors—not Japan-exclusive.
It had broken in an unusual way—the spoke snapped inside the nipple.
Our shop happened to have the spoke and nipple needed to fix this,
but when the wheel's owner took it to a nearby shop,
they didn't have spokes in stock.
That's unavoidable, but when he asked them to fix it including sourcing the spoke,
they said things like "complete wheels can't be restored to original" (←I'd never heard that before)
and just kept chanting their "reasons why it can't be done"
So when the customer said "Well then, I'll take it to a shop in Osaka City,"
they asked "Is that the Nomu Lab?" and when he said "Yes,"
they told him "They'll do it properly there."
Wait, isn't something wrong with that?
This is a limited edition model with CULT bearing specifications.
Fulcrum and Campagnolo are technically separate companies,
but as a Fulcrum-only policy that Campagnolo doesn't have,
there's a sales strategy of "one distributor per country,"
and recently Japan ended up with just one distributor.
When there were two distributors,
models like the
and MTB wheels that were kept in regular stock
had slight differences between these two distributors,
which was really helpful. But since becoming the sole distributor,
more items have become special order only, so it's become somewhat inconvenient.
For example, the current sole distributor doesn't keep REDWIND 105 in regular stock.
"I'd want it if I could get it right away, but if I have to wait, forget it"—
that kind of lost sales opportunity definitely happens.
Even though I'm writing this, if someone told me "well then, at least stock every Fulcrum road wheel model one by one in your shop,"
that's impossible for us. So while circumstances differ between retailers and import distributors,
it's not right to loudly demand things our shop can't do.
↑That's a stylish new approach—enlarge the text first, then add the strikethrough
However, having just one distributor does make it easier to push "limited edition tactics"
by making spoke colors and bearing specifications Japan-exclusive.
When you modify the global model specs,
being able to tell at a glance "this definitely didn't come from overseas online shopping"
is actually very convenient for some people.
But anyway, this Racing ZERO Competition
is actually a global specification from back when there were two distributors—not Japan-exclusive.
It had broken in an unusual way—the spoke snapped inside the nipple.
Our shop happened to have the spoke and nipple needed to fix this,
but when the wheel's owner took it to a nearby shop,
they didn't have spokes in stock.
That's unavoidable, but when he asked them to fix it including sourcing the spoke,
they said things like "complete wheels can't be restored to original" (←I'd never heard that before)
and just kept chanting their "reasons why it can't be done"
So when the customer said "Well then, I'll take it to a shop in Osaka City,"
they asked "Is that the Nomu Lab?" and when he said "Yes,"
they told him "They'll do it properly there."
Wait, isn't something wrong with that?