I received a Ksyrium SLE (high-end road wheelset by Mavic) from a customer.
Both wheels felt loose, so they wanted me to tension them if possible,
and the rear wheel's centering has gotten noticeably off.
First, the front wheel had no centering issues but had slight runout.
It was definitely loose though, so I tensioned it separately from truing.
The front wheel of the Ksyrium transformed the most in this post.
The difference would definitely be noticeable when riding.
There were some scratches on the brake zone,
but no dents or bulging, so there are no issues with use.
Next, the rear wheel had fine runout on both sides.
As for the centering issue, when I measured the freewheel side dimension against the non-freewheel side, there was a gap at the hub.
In other words, the rim was shifted toward the non-freewheel side,
which isn't the typical direction of centering drift from long-term use. This was like that from the start.
Rough lateral truing plus centering correction - first attempt
Second centering correction... and it was off by about a sheet of paper,
so this is actually the third attempt. The centering came out.
I adjusted this almost entirely through tightening,
but tightening the freewheel side doesn't move the rim as much as the non-freewheel side does.
Yet the centering came out with barely any loosening of the non-freewheel side, which means
I was able to tighten the freewheel side that much.
Actually, if a wheel was properly tensioned, you couldn't tighten the freewheel side this much.
The fact that I could do this meant it was in a loose state,
but in this case the front wheel's looseness was worse.
Since it's the same customer, I'll cover both together.
I received both wheels for a Neutron (entry-level road bike), but I forgot to take a full photo of the front wheel.
Starting with the front wheel.
The customer mentioned it felt loose during climbing, so
I tensioned it more than just fixing the centering.
Since it wasn't that loose to begin with, it hasn't transformed as dramatically as the Ksyrium.
For the rear wheel, which had shifted about a sheet of paper toward the non-freewheel side,
I did freewheel-biased truing plus some extra tightening,
first shifting it heavily toward the freewheel side,
then corrected it by tightening only the non-freewheel side
to center it. This also tensioned it noticeably.
What's frightening is that some wheel manufacturers ship wheels with centering drift worse than the amount I intentionally created here.
Mavic comes to mind, for example.
What's even more frightening is that some shops hand these to customers as-is.
I didn't notice any issues with the hub, so I didn't touch it particularly,
but I replaced the freewheel pawl spring that was bent
and just gave the ratchet section a grease touch-up.
There were many spots where rim shavings were flaking off, so
I cleaned off the ones in obvious spots.
Both wheels felt loose, so they wanted me to tension them if possible,
and the rear wheel's centering has gotten noticeably off.
First, the front wheel had no centering issues but had slight runout.
It was definitely loose though, so I tensioned it separately from truing.
The front wheel of the Ksyrium transformed the most in this post.
The difference would definitely be noticeable when riding.
There were some scratches on the brake zone,
but no dents or bulging, so there are no issues with use.
Next, the rear wheel had fine runout on both sides.
As for the centering issue, when I measured the freewheel side dimension against the non-freewheel side, there was a gap at the hub.
In other words, the rim was shifted toward the non-freewheel side,
which isn't the typical direction of centering drift from long-term use. This was like that from the start.
Rough lateral truing plus centering correction - first attempt
Second centering correction... and it was off by about a sheet of paper,
so this is actually the third attempt. The centering came out.
I adjusted this almost entirely through tightening,
but tightening the freewheel side doesn't move the rim as much as the non-freewheel side does.
Yet the centering came out with barely any loosening of the non-freewheel side, which means
I was able to tighten the freewheel side that much.
Actually, if a wheel was properly tensioned, you couldn't tighten the freewheel side this much.
The fact that I could do this meant it was in a loose state,
but in this case the front wheel's looseness was worse.
Since it's the same customer, I'll cover both together.
I received both wheels for a Neutron (entry-level road bike), but I forgot to take a full photo of the front wheel.
Starting with the front wheel.
The customer mentioned it felt loose during climbing, so
I tensioned it more than just fixing the centering.
Since it wasn't that loose to begin with, it hasn't transformed as dramatically as the Ksyrium.
For the rear wheel, which had shifted about a sheet of paper toward the non-freewheel side,
I did freewheel-biased truing plus some extra tightening,
first shifting it heavily toward the freewheel side,
then corrected it by tightening only the non-freewheel side
to center it. This also tensioned it noticeably.
What's frightening is that some wheel manufacturers ship wheels with centering drift worse than the amount I intentionally created here.
What's even more frightening is that some shops hand these to customers as-is.
I didn't notice any issues with the hub, so I didn't touch it particularly,
but I replaced the freewheel pawl spring that was bent
and just gave the ratchet section a grease touch-up.
There were many spots where rim shavings were flaking off, so
I cleaned off the ones in obvious spots.