A customer brought in a Racing Zero wheelset for me to work on.
To be precise, it's the Racing Zero 2WAY-FIT version.
If the work request were just routine maintenance and inspection,
whether it's tubeless-ready or not wouldn't matter much,
but the customer's request is to "replace just one spoke with a red one,"
so whether it's 2WAY-FIT or not does change the scope of work somewhat.
The term "stylish thief" mentioned in the title
is our shop's slang for "the state where one spoke is a different color."
Some Kyserium models from ES onwards come stock in this stylish thief state,
but we occasionally get requests to do this intentionally on Campagnolo or Fulcrum wheels.
Unlike Kyserium, when I create this stylish thief state after the fact,
I position the different-colored spoke next to the valve hole
to serve as a marker for quickly locating the valve hole—
adding a bit of practical utility to the modification.
With Campagnolo's G3 or Fulcrum's 2:1 lacing patterns,
you can view three spokes that come together as one unit.
But Zonda and above, or Racing 3 and above models are 21H,
meaning there are 7 bundles of 3-spoke groups.
This "7 (odd number)" is what causes the headache...
↑When you draw out just the 7 radial-laced spokes on the non-drive side of G3 or 2:1 lacing,
it looks like this.
Then, when placing the valve hole at the position optimal for spoke weight balance...
...the phase of the rim joint ends up overlapping with the nipple hole.
To avoid this, G3 or 2:1 rear wheels have the valve hole positioned at an odd location.
↑This is a Shamal Ultra (non-2WAY-FIT) currently in our shop on another job,
↑The area at the base of each spoke has a raised section on the rim—
I'll call this a "plateau" from here on out in this post.
In normal G3 sections, one plateau is provided per spoke, but
↑at the valve hole section, by shifting the phase,
the valve hole and the adjacent spoke hole form one long plateau.
On the matching front wheel...
↑there's a plateau provided solely for the valve hole.
Another case entirely.
This isn't the Dark Label version—instead of the standard USB bearings,
it has CULT bearings as a special feature.
It's a Racing Zero Competition limited-edition model.
There is no 2WAY-FIT version of this,
so the rim is the same as the non-tubeless Racing Zero.
↑Near the valve hole on the front rim,
unlike the Shamal Ultra, the valve hole and the nipple holes on both sides
form one plateau together.
↑On the rear rim, unlike G3, the valve hole sits within the visually apparent bundle of 3 spokes,
and it and its neighboring nipple holes form a plateau together.
With Kyserium wheels, the single differently-colored spoke
is positioned on the drive side of the rear wheel.
So for the front wheel, the side with the differently-colored spoke is the "assumed right side."
In my case, I determine the position of the colored-different spoke by
two conditions: "on the rear wheel, non-drive side; on the front wheel, assumed left side"
and "closest to the valve hole"—
but the first condition takes priority.
So in another case of Shamal Ultra that comes up when searching the blog for "stylish thief"
(→here),
the red spoke on the rear wheel isn't right next to the valve hole.
Still not the main topic.
This is another case of Racing Zero Dark Label (non-tubeless)
that I previously converted to stylish thief state.
I replaced one spoke with red—the spoke on the non-drive side
that's closest to the valve hole.
↑When I check the hub shell label,
it reads "USB" when viewed from the drive side.
The WARNING sticker on the rim used to be placed on the left side of the direction of travel,
but recently it's often on the right, so rather than using that as a reference,
I decided to "use the orientation of the hub shell sticker"
to determine left/right orientation...
↑For the front wheel, it turned out like this.
Fulcrum's front wheel uses what this blog calls "reverse hole orientation,"
so the spokes coming from the left (assumed) flange,
when viewed from the direction of travel on the right, sit
counter-clockwise adjacent to the valve hole.
"When viewed from the assumed right side with USB readable in the correct orientation on both front and rear hubs,
both red spokes emerge from the far flange," and
↑the red spoke next to the valve hole ends up
counter-clockwise adjacent on the front wheel, clockwise adjacent on the rear wheel.
So why does the 2WAY-FIT change the scope of work?
↑The plateau near the valve hole on the rear wheel from this job
looks like it does on non-tubeless rims, but
↑the valve hole position on the front wheel is shifted for some reason
and consolidated into one plateau.
In this case, "the spoke hole closest to the valve hole"
can't be chosen from both left and right neighbors—it becomes fixed here.
When the rim is 2WAY-FIT, it's the front wheel, not the rear wheel,
that determines the conditions for which spoke gets color-changed—
that's what I wanted to write about this time.
So I replaced just that spoke with red.
When I take the direction where "USB" is readable on the hub shell as the "assumed right side"...
↑it turned out like this.
Earlier, I stated the conditions and priority for positioning the differently-colored spoke on the rear wheel as
"1: non-drive side, 2: closest to the valve hole,"
but with that rule, like with the earlier Racing Zero Dark Label,
the relationship of which neighbor the red spoke sits next to the valve hole
would differ between front and rear.
...I deliberated, but this time decided to
"have the red spoke one spoke counter-clockwise from the valve hole when viewed from the right on both wheels"
to keep them consistent.
So this time the red spoke ends up on the drive side.
↑I prioritized "instantly locating the valve position on a spinning wheel"
over slight considerations of directional symmetry.
To be precise, it's the Racing Zero 2WAY-FIT version.
If the work request were just routine maintenance and inspection,
whether it's tubeless-ready or not wouldn't matter much,
but the customer's request is to "replace just one spoke with a red one,"
so whether it's 2WAY-FIT or not does change the scope of work somewhat.
The term "stylish thief" mentioned in the title
is our shop's slang for "the state where one spoke is a different color."
Some Kyserium models from ES onwards come stock in this stylish thief state,
but we occasionally get requests to do this intentionally on Campagnolo or Fulcrum wheels.
Unlike Kyserium, when I create this stylish thief state after the fact,
I position the different-colored spoke next to the valve hole
to serve as a marker for quickly locating the valve hole—
adding a bit of practical utility to the modification.
With Campagnolo's G3 or Fulcrum's 2:1 lacing patterns,
you can view three spokes that come together as one unit.
But Zonda and above, or Racing 3 and above models are 21H,
meaning there are 7 bundles of 3-spoke groups.
This "7 (odd number)" is what causes the headache...
↑When you draw out just the 7 radial-laced spokes on the non-drive side of G3 or 2:1 lacing,
it looks like this.
Then, when placing the valve hole at the position optimal for spoke weight balance...
...the phase of the rim joint ends up overlapping with the nipple hole.
To avoid this, G3 or 2:1 rear wheels have the valve hole positioned at an odd location.
↑This is a Shamal Ultra (non-2WAY-FIT) currently in our shop on another job,
↑The area at the base of each spoke has a raised section on the rim—
I'll call this a "plateau" from here on out in this post.
In normal G3 sections, one plateau is provided per spoke, but
↑at the valve hole section, by shifting the phase,
the valve hole and the adjacent spoke hole form one long plateau.
On the matching front wheel...
↑there's a plateau provided solely for the valve hole.
Another case entirely.
This isn't the Dark Label version—instead of the standard USB bearings,
it has CULT bearings as a special feature.
It's a Racing Zero Competition limited-edition model.
There is no 2WAY-FIT version of this,
so the rim is the same as the non-tubeless Racing Zero.
↑Near the valve hole on the front rim,
unlike the Shamal Ultra, the valve hole and the nipple holes on both sides
form one plateau together.
↑On the rear rim, unlike G3, the valve hole sits within the visually apparent bundle of 3 spokes,
and it and its neighboring nipple holes form a plateau together.
With Kyserium wheels, the single differently-colored spoke
is positioned on the drive side of the rear wheel.
So for the front wheel, the side with the differently-colored spoke is the "assumed right side."
In my case, I determine the position of the colored-different spoke by
two conditions: "on the rear wheel, non-drive side; on the front wheel, assumed left side"
and "closest to the valve hole"—
but the first condition takes priority.
So in another case of Shamal Ultra that comes up when searching the blog for "stylish thief"
(→here),
the red spoke on the rear wheel isn't right next to the valve hole.
Still not the main topic.
This is another case of Racing Zero Dark Label (non-tubeless)
that I previously converted to stylish thief state.
I replaced one spoke with red—the spoke on the non-drive side
that's closest to the valve hole.
↑When I check the hub shell label,
it reads "USB" when viewed from the drive side.
The WARNING sticker on the rim used to be placed on the left side of the direction of travel,
but recently it's often on the right, so rather than using that as a reference,
I decided to "use the orientation of the hub shell sticker"
to determine left/right orientation...
↑For the front wheel, it turned out like this.
Fulcrum's front wheel uses what this blog calls "reverse hole orientation,"
so the spokes coming from the left (assumed) flange,
when viewed from the direction of travel on the right, sit
counter-clockwise adjacent to the valve hole.
"When viewed from the assumed right side with USB readable in the correct orientation on both front and rear hubs,
both red spokes emerge from the far flange," and
↑the red spoke next to the valve hole ends up
counter-clockwise adjacent on the front wheel, clockwise adjacent on the rear wheel.
So why does the 2WAY-FIT change the scope of work?
↑The plateau near the valve hole on the rear wheel from this job
looks like it does on non-tubeless rims, but
↑the valve hole position on the front wheel is shifted for some reason
and consolidated into one plateau.
In this case, "the spoke hole closest to the valve hole"
can't be chosen from both left and right neighbors—it becomes fixed here.
When the rim is 2WAY-FIT, it's the front wheel, not the rear wheel,
that determines the conditions for which spoke gets color-changed—
that's what I wanted to write about this time.
So I replaced just that spoke with red.
When I take the direction where "USB" is readable on the hub shell as the "assumed right side"...
↑it turned out like this.
Earlier, I stated the conditions and priority for positioning the differently-colored spoke on the rear wheel as
"1: non-drive side, 2: closest to the valve hole,"
but with that rule, like with the earlier Racing Zero Dark Label,
the relationship of which neighbor the red spoke sits next to the valve hole
would differ between front and rear.
...I deliberated, but this time decided to
"have the red spoke one spoke counter-clockwise from the valve hole when viewed from the right on both wheels"
to keep them consistent.
So this time the red spoke ends up on the drive side.
↑I prioritized "instantly locating the valve position on a spinning wheel"
over slight considerations of directional symmetry.