A customer brought in the rear wheel of a Roval Rapide CLX 32 for service.
They said that when they pump it up to around 7 bar, there's a creaking noise.
Also, they wanted me to address the issue that the tire is rubbing against the brake shoes even without hard pedaling.
When I took a look, there was room for tightening, but
the spoke tension wasn't particularly loose.
Since there was almost no centering issue,
I tightened the free side to full tension, then retensioned the non-free side until the wheel centered—
and did a full retension of all nipples that way.
Then I pressurized it to just over 8 bar using the customer's tire and tube,
and they said the creaking noise disappeared (though I didn't personally hear it).
The tire is a Continental Grand Prix TT.
This tire definitely has no front/rear distinction in its tread pattern, but
for some reason it has a rotation direction specified.
Not related to that, but with the Grand Prix 4 Season, the tread pattern is such that
if I look at the water channeling direction and install it the way my instinct tells me is correct, it works out.
But since it's confusing, I make sure to check the arrow anyway.
(Just like the image above, the directional arrow appears only on the right side when mounted correctly)
Continental has front and rear dedicated tires called
Attack for the front and Force for the rear,
and the second generation Attack & Force came in 22C front and 24C rear.
Mounting that Attack 2 in 23C on the front wheel and a Grand Prix 4000 S II in 23C on the rear was
my preferred combination when using WO tires,
but the Attack & Force has now moved to a third generation model,
and following the times, it's now 23C front and 25C rear.
I personally think it's a downgrade.
Anyway, with this Attack & Force, both the second and third generations
have almost identical tread patterns front and rear,
but the rear's water channeling direction is reversed from the front.
If you follow your instinct, you might end up installing the rear tire
opposite to the manufacturer's specification, so be careful.
They said that when they pump it up to around 7 bar, there's a creaking noise.
Also, they wanted me to address the issue that the tire is rubbing against the brake shoes even without hard pedaling.
When I took a look, there was room for tightening, but
the spoke tension wasn't particularly loose.
Since there was almost no centering issue,
I tightened the free side to full tension, then retensioned the non-free side until the wheel centered—
and did a full retension of all nipples that way.
Then I pressurized it to just over 8 bar using the customer's tire and tube,
and they said the creaking noise disappeared (though I didn't personally hear it).
The tire is a Continental Grand Prix TT.
This tire definitely has no front/rear distinction in its tread pattern, but
for some reason it has a rotation direction specified.
Not related to that, but with the Grand Prix 4 Season, the tread pattern is such that
if I look at the water channeling direction and install it the way my instinct tells me is correct, it works out.
But since it's confusing, I make sure to check the arrow anyway.
(Just like the image above, the directional arrow appears only on the right side when mounted correctly)
Continental has front and rear dedicated tires called
Attack for the front and Force for the rear,
and the second generation Attack & Force came in 22C front and 24C rear.
Mounting that Attack 2 in 23C on the front wheel and a Grand Prix 4000 S II in 23C on the rear was
my preferred combination when using WO tires,
but the Attack & Force has now moved to a third generation model,
and following the times, it's now 23C front and 25C rear.
Anyway, with this Attack & Force, both the second and third generations
have almost identical tread patterns front and rear,
but the rear's water channeling direction is reversed from the front.
If you follow your instinct, you might end up installing the rear tire
opposite to the manufacturer's specification, so be careful.