A customer brought in a Raleigh Fusee SLX for service.
Since it's been in use for a decent period of time, they wanted a full inspection.
There was some wheel runout and rim centering issues.
With round-section spokes at about 65% weight distribution and fairly high tension,
turning the nipples is quite a chore.
Things would be different if these were flat spokes.
↑Photo for reference in case I forget the wheel name
The spoke contact surface with the rim likely has a special shape,
but formally it's essentially a standard nipple inverted.
With a low rim height, the rim tape surface is pretty close to the spoke holes, which is a bit risky.
The rear wheel has a 2:1 spoke pattern,
but looking from the side, instead of the "Ж (zhe)" lacing pattern where
the radial spokes on the non-freewheel side pass over
the final cross on the freewheel side,
it uses the "XI (ex-eye)" pattern where they don't.
If this were the same number of spokes on both sides and trying to equalize spoke tension,
XI lacing would be fine, but with a 2:1 pattern like this,
the spoke angle on the freewheel side becomes more radial compared to Ж lacing,
resulting in higher spoke tension on the non-freewheel side
(measurements confirm this is actually happening).
Also, this hub has a large freewheel-side flange diameter,
making it look like quite a high-low flange,
but the spoke hole spacing is uneven.
If we extend the spokes inward from here
to where the spoke holes would have even spacing,
a virtual small flange appears with the same spoke angle characteristics.
In reality, compared to actually building with a virtual small flange hub,
this has a larger flange diameter and shorter spokes, so at the same spoke tension,
spoke deformation is less with the larger flange.
The customer also wanted me to check inside the star ratchet, so I took it apart.
The original grease had gotten dirty.
↑In the back, it still faintly retained its pink color.
After cleaning, I applied fresh original grease.
Since it's been in use for a decent period of time, they wanted a full inspection.
There was some wheel runout and rim centering issues.
With round-section spokes at about 65% weight distribution and fairly high tension,
turning the nipples is quite a chore.
Things would be different if these were flat spokes.
↑Photo for reference in case I forget the wheel name
The spoke contact surface with the rim likely has a special shape,
but formally it's essentially a standard nipple inverted.
With a low rim height, the rim tape surface is pretty close to the spoke holes, which is a bit risky.
The rear wheel has a 2:1 spoke pattern,
but looking from the side, instead of the "Ж (zhe)" lacing pattern where
the radial spokes on the non-freewheel side pass over
the final cross on the freewheel side,
it uses the "XI (ex-eye)" pattern where they don't.
If this were the same number of spokes on both sides and trying to equalize spoke tension,
XI lacing would be fine, but with a 2:1 pattern like this,
the spoke angle on the freewheel side becomes more radial compared to Ж lacing,
resulting in higher spoke tension on the non-freewheel side
(measurements confirm this is actually happening).
Also, this hub has a large freewheel-side flange diameter,
making it look like quite a high-low flange,
but the spoke hole spacing is uneven.
If we extend the spokes inward from here
to where the spoke holes would have even spacing,
a virtual small flange appears with the same spoke angle characteristics.
In reality, compared to actually building with a virtual small flange hub,
this has a larger flange diameter and shorter spokes, so at the same spoke tension,
spoke deformation is less with the larger flange.
The customer also wanted me to check inside the star ratchet, so I took it apart.
The original grease had gotten dirty.
↑In the back, it still faintly retained its pink color.
After cleaning, I applied fresh original grease.