Yesterday was Reynolds Reynolds (Strike and Stratos),
and today was supposed to be Reynolds Reynolds (probably Stratos and 46 Aero),
but I hit a snag partway through.
The cause was my own misunderstanding.
Today it's wheels again (and so on).
I received a rear wheel from a customer—a Reynolds Stratos (probably).
↑This carbon reinforcement around the valve hole
stems from the LEW design philosophy and all that.
The red sticker is apparently homemade by the customer.
You can see the faded outline where a NOLDS sticker used to be.
Reynolds original hub, 20H, black spokes / CX-RAY 40-count lacing.
This hub has exceptionally wide flanges and excellent dimensions,
but it doesn't come with an 11-speed freebody.
The reason the customer wants it rebuilt might be more about upgrading to 11-speed
than about it being mushy.
Built it up.
Evolight hub, 20H, black half-leader, 40-count lacing.
I'll do the true-up later.
Next, a different job: I received a rear wheel from another customer—a 46 Aero.
The rim has a distinctive shape around the spoke holes—
it's a completely different rim from the older 46mm high "46".
DT-made 20H hub, all-black aero-light straight 40-count lacing equivalent.
If the hub dimensions had slightly better high-low symmetry, it might've been better,
but the non-drive side is mushy.
I suspected the rim might be offset toward the drive side,
but the centering checked out perfectly.
I had mistaken this rear wheel for 24H,
so I was planning to build it with a Black hub, 24H, black half-Compe 46-count lacing,
but it's actually 20H, and Black doesn't make a 20H version,
so an Evolight hub 20H is needed instead.
Unfortunately, stock ran out at this point.
I have it secured through a restock order.
Also, with 20H, it's better to build it more like half-Champ equivalent
rather than half-Compe equivalent, so I'm changing the spoke gauge too.
Disassembling carefully clockwise when viewed from the drive side,
these are the last two nipples remaining.
They haven't been turned at all yet.
Since I shot the photo from the non-drive side,
two nipples remain clockwise from the valve hole.
↑Drive side
↑Non-drive side
The spokes are too long on both sides.
Even manufacturer factory-built wheels have this issue sometimes.
The Stratos I built two wheels back originally had a Tni hub,
so it was a "hand-built wheel with a Reynolds rim,"
and it was built with 3.2mm flats—inverted universal nipples.
I've switched the material from brass to aluminum, but that aspect remains the same after the rebuild.
The Stratos (probably) I built just before—from this article—
came with 5mm hex aluminum nipples with nylon anti-loosening inserts pressed in,
and I reused them after the rebuild,
but they had rectangular washers shimmed between the nipple and rim.
The long dimension of the washer was larger than the rim's spoke hole,
and the washers had a distinct front and back,
so fitting them neatly during the initial build took ages.
The time spent just threading all the spokes was longer
than the time spent adjusting nipples afterward.
This 46 Aero rear wheel uses 5mm hex aluminum nipples without nylon inserts,
but the spoke length correction value might be calibrated for the washer-equipped case.
The washer accounts for about 2-3 threads of length,
so even accounting for that, the spokes are still too long.
Hand-threading the nipple onto the spoke
until the threads are completely used up and it's bottomed out—that's what this is.
With a wrench, I could probably force it another half turn,
but seeing it like this confirms that the original drive side was nearly bottomed out too.
I'm waiting for the rear hub, so work on this wheel stops here.
and today was supposed to be Reynolds Reynolds (probably Stratos and 46 Aero),
but I hit a snag partway through.
The cause was my own misunderstanding.
Today it's wheels again (and so on).
I received a rear wheel from a customer—a Reynolds Stratos (probably).
↑This carbon reinforcement around the valve hole
stems from the LEW design philosophy and all that.
The red sticker is apparently homemade by the customer.
You can see the faded outline where a NOLDS sticker used to be.
Reynolds original hub, 20H, black spokes / CX-RAY 40-count lacing.
This hub has exceptionally wide flanges and excellent dimensions,
but it doesn't come with an 11-speed freebody.
The reason the customer wants it rebuilt might be more about upgrading to 11-speed
than about it being mushy.
Built it up.
Evolight hub, 20H, black half-leader, 40-count lacing.
I'll do the true-up later.
Next, a different job: I received a rear wheel from another customer—a 46 Aero.
The rim has a distinctive shape around the spoke holes—
it's a completely different rim from the older 46mm high "46".
DT-made 20H hub, all-black aero-light straight 40-count lacing equivalent.
If the hub dimensions had slightly better high-low symmetry, it might've been better,
but the non-drive side is mushy.
I suspected the rim might be offset toward the drive side,
but the centering checked out perfectly.
I had mistaken this rear wheel for 24H,
so I was planning to build it with a Black hub, 24H, black half-Compe 46-count lacing,
but it's actually 20H, and Black doesn't make a 20H version,
so an Evolight hub 20H is needed instead.
Unfortunately, stock ran out at this point.
I have it secured through a restock order.
Also, with 20H, it's better to build it more like half-Champ equivalent
rather than half-Compe equivalent, so I'm changing the spoke gauge too.
Disassembling carefully clockwise when viewed from the drive side,
these are the last two nipples remaining.
They haven't been turned at all yet.
Since I shot the photo from the non-drive side,
two nipples remain clockwise from the valve hole.
↑Drive side
↑Non-drive side
The spokes are too long on both sides.
Even manufacturer factory-built wheels have this issue sometimes.
The Stratos I built two wheels back originally had a Tni hub,
so it was a "hand-built wheel with a Reynolds rim,"
and it was built with 3.2mm flats—inverted universal nipples.
I've switched the material from brass to aluminum, but that aspect remains the same after the rebuild.
The Stratos (probably) I built just before—from this article—
came with 5mm hex aluminum nipples with nylon anti-loosening inserts pressed in,
and I reused them after the rebuild,
but they had rectangular washers shimmed between the nipple and rim.
The long dimension of the washer was larger than the rim's spoke hole,
and the washers had a distinct front and back,
so fitting them neatly during the initial build took ages.
The time spent just threading all the spokes was longer
than the time spent adjusting nipples afterward.
This 46 Aero rear wheel uses 5mm hex aluminum nipples without nylon inserts,
but the spoke length correction value might be calibrated for the washer-equipped case.
The washer accounts for about 2-3 threads of length,
so even accounting for that, the spokes are still too long.
Hand-threading the nipple onto the spoke
until the threads are completely used up and it's bottomed out—that's what this is.
With a wrench, I could probably force it another half turn,
but seeing it like this confirms that the original drive side was nearly bottomed out too.
I'm waiting for the rear hub, so work on this wheel stops here.