A customer brought me a Bontrager brand
tubeless-ready wheel to work on.
Well, it was actually the wheel that got replaced when they switched to
my Nomu Lab wheel #5, and I offered to give it a quick inspection,
but the radial runout was so bad I couldn't fix it on the spot,
so I asked for a bit more time.
It came stock on a Trek ladies' bike, but
the rim is unnaturally heavy, and the aero spokes being used
all appear to have cross-sectional areas at 100% spoke density,
so the whole wheel is incredibly heavy (both front and rear, 24H).
A wide rim with tubeless-ready construction adds to the weight too.
The weight difference compared to my Nomu Lab wheel #5 (including 21g rim tape)
was measured with the same conditions—no quick release, no wheel magnet, rim tape included—
front wheel at 297g, rear wheel at 337g.
I'd say about 200g of that difference comes from the rim alone.
As for the front wheel's radial runout:
↑Unbelievably, the dial on the truing stand stays in exactly the same position,
yet the variation between different phases is this extreme.
I managed to get it down to where only the rim seam is hitting.
Once I got that far, I noticed something—this rim's
brake zone vertical width varies depending on the phase,
which is absolutely ridiculous engineering.
So while the radial runout in those earlier photos isn't actually
as bad as the brake zone visuals suggest, it was still terrible nonetheless.
The rear wheel had less radial runout than the front, but instead
it had the center way off, which was a real problem.
The rim is shifted toward the non-drive side, and while
the drive-side spoke tension isn't at the breaking point,
tightening just the drive side won't fix this.
I had no choice but to loosen the non-drive side somewhat.
The rear wheel is built Italian style, which is
uncharacteristic of Bontrager.
I wrote "Bontrager brand" at the start precisely because
this bothered me.
↑This is a separate example, a "Race" model from when Bontrager was
obsessed with paired spokes,
and that reverse Italian lacing is where
I sense the American philosophy embedded in it.
It's not that Americans never use Italian lacing,
but reverse Italian lacing is pretty much exclusive to American builders.
Even for a stock complete bike wheel,
this weight is heavier than most aero wheels, which seems odd.
If they'd resisted pushing trendy features like wide rims and tubeless-ready,
it could've been a bit lighter, I think.
Incidentally, the rim tape supplied is cheap stuff that feels like packing tape,
and the width doesn't match (it's too narrow),
so you can't actually use tubeless tires on it right away.
The hub is Joytech (a Taiwanese bike component OEM manufacturer that was among the earliest
to start making OEM parts in Taiwan). Joytech is one of the oldest among Taiwanese makers.
Even the famous Novatech is actually Joytech's premium sports component brand.
I've seen this hub somewhere before! (→here)
It differs in details like the hub shell's outer diameter and the dust seal
being an aluminum end cap rather than a rubber cap,
but the freebody is identical.
tubeless-ready wheel to work on.
Well, it was actually the wheel that got replaced when they switched to
my Nomu Lab wheel #5, and I offered to give it a quick inspection,
but the radial runout was so bad I couldn't fix it on the spot,
so I asked for a bit more time.
It came stock on a Trek ladies' bike, but
the rim is unnaturally heavy, and the aero spokes being used
all appear to have cross-sectional areas at 100% spoke density,
so the whole wheel is incredibly heavy (both front and rear, 24H).
A wide rim with tubeless-ready construction adds to the weight too.
The weight difference compared to my Nomu Lab wheel #5 (including 21g rim tape)
was measured with the same conditions—no quick release, no wheel magnet, rim tape included—
front wheel at 297g, rear wheel at 337g.
I'd say about 200g of that difference comes from the rim alone.
As for the front wheel's radial runout:
↑Unbelievably, the dial on the truing stand stays in exactly the same position,
yet the variation between different phases is this extreme.
I managed to get it down to where only the rim seam is hitting.
Once I got that far, I noticed something—this rim's
brake zone vertical width varies depending on the phase,
which is absolutely ridiculous engineering.
So while the radial runout in those earlier photos isn't actually
as bad as the brake zone visuals suggest, it was still terrible nonetheless.
The rear wheel had less radial runout than the front, but instead
it had the center way off, which was a real problem.
The rim is shifted toward the non-drive side, and while
the drive-side spoke tension isn't at the breaking point,
tightening just the drive side won't fix this.
I had no choice but to loosen the non-drive side somewhat.
The rear wheel is built Italian style, which is
uncharacteristic of Bontrager.
I wrote "Bontrager brand" at the start precisely because
this bothered me.
↑This is a separate example, a "Race" model from when Bontrager was
obsessed with paired spokes,
and that reverse Italian lacing is where
I sense the American philosophy embedded in it.
It's not that Americans never use Italian lacing,
but reverse Italian lacing is pretty much exclusive to American builders.
Even for a stock complete bike wheel,
this weight is heavier than most aero wheels, which seems odd.
If they'd resisted pushing trendy features like wide rims and tubeless-ready,
it could've been a bit lighter, I think.
Incidentally, the rim tape supplied is cheap stuff that feels like packing tape,
and the width doesn't match (it's too narrow),
so you can't actually use tubeless tires on it right away.
The hub is Joytech (a Taiwanese bike component OEM manufacturer that was among the earliest
to start making OEM parts in Taiwan). Joytech is one of the oldest among Taiwanese makers.
Even the famous Novatech is actually Joytech's premium sports component brand.
I've seen this hub somewhere before! (→here)
It differs in details like the hub shell's outer diameter and the dust seal
being an aluminum end cap rather than a rubber cap,
but the freebody is identical.