A customer dropped off the front wheel of a Racing Zero.
This particular Racing Zero comes in several color schemes—
the Bright Label and Dark Label versions started in 2010,
but this color is "Red Passion," which was added in 2014.
The customer wanted truing, but the rim was in a potato chip state, so that wasn't possible.
We had to order a replacement rim.
The Bright Label has: white flange hub / black spokes / black rim / Bright Label decal
The Dark Label has: black flange hub / black spokes / black rim / Dark Label decal
The Red Passion has: white flange hub / red spokes / black rim / Bright Label decal
—but there's one exception (more on that later).
Many spokes were on the verge of seizing, and it was a struggle to loosen them.
Two out of sixteen were completely stuck, so we're replacing those spokes too.
The threads on the spokes we did manage to remove were caked with debris from a brittle threadlocker,
so I cleaned them.
The bearings are USB type, but the ball races were black.
Before disassembling the wheel, I checked the hub bearing adjustment
and noticed a gritty, worm-eaten feeling.
I did a full hub overhaul.
↑Left side of the image is the shaft end (right side of hub),
right side of the image is the bearing adjustment nut side (left side of hub),
but the left side shows more wear.
I used a tool on the cone that was press-fit into the hub
and applied pressure again, and the press-fit clearly advanced.
This is just speculation, but given how much the brake zone on the rim shows wear
versus how little the ball races have worn down,
I suspect there's a history of ball race replacement.
Based on the era, this Racing Zero should have had silver ball races
(black ball races would only make sense if it wasn't a Red Passion model).
After re-pressing the cone into the hub body and reassembling the parts,
I checked the bearing adjustment and the gritty feeling was gone.
The cone on the bearing adjustment nut side (left side) wasn't pressed in fully,
and was ever so slightly tilted,
which I think caused that grinding sensation.
I was suspicious enough to wonder about pitting initially.
It's assembled.
This rim comes without a decal,
and at the customer's request, I applied a Bright Label decal.
On the original rim, the nipples were seized
and there were 2 spots that just wouldn't loosen.
The Dark Label has a gray background with black text and a red Fulcrum logo,
while the Bright Label has a white background with black text and a white Fulcrum logo,
but the Red Passion decal
features a red Fulcrum logo, and otherwise matches the Bright Label—
it's a model-specific version.
However, spare parts are only supplied
in Bright Label and Dark Label decal versions,
so that's what I had to apply.
This particular Racing Zero comes in several color schemes—
the Bright Label and Dark Label versions started in 2010,
but this color is "Red Passion," which was added in 2014.
The customer wanted truing, but the rim was in a potato chip state, so that wasn't possible.
We had to order a replacement rim.
The Bright Label has: white flange hub / black spokes / black rim / Bright Label decal
The Dark Label has: black flange hub / black spokes / black rim / Dark Label decal
The Red Passion has: white flange hub / red spokes / black rim / Bright Label decal
—but there's one exception (more on that later).
Many spokes were on the verge of seizing, and it was a struggle to loosen them.
Two out of sixteen were completely stuck, so we're replacing those spokes too.
The threads on the spokes we did manage to remove were caked with debris from a brittle threadlocker,
so I cleaned them.
The bearings are USB type, but the ball races were black.
Before disassembling the wheel, I checked the hub bearing adjustment
and noticed a gritty, worm-eaten feeling.
I did a full hub overhaul.
↑Left side of the image is the shaft end (right side of hub),
right side of the image is the bearing adjustment nut side (left side of hub),
but the left side shows more wear.
I used a tool on the cone that was press-fit into the hub
and applied pressure again, and the press-fit clearly advanced.
This is just speculation, but given how much the brake zone on the rim shows wear
versus how little the ball races have worn down,
I suspect there's a history of ball race replacement.
Based on the era, this Racing Zero should have had silver ball races
(black ball races would only make sense if it wasn't a Red Passion model).
After re-pressing the cone into the hub body and reassembling the parts,
I checked the bearing adjustment and the gritty feeling was gone.
The cone on the bearing adjustment nut side (left side) wasn't pressed in fully,
and was ever so slightly tilted,
which I think caused that grinding sensation.
I was suspicious enough to wonder about pitting initially.
It's assembled.
This rim comes without a decal,
and at the customer's request, I applied a Bright Label decal.
On the original rim, the nipples were seized
and there were 2 spots that just wouldn't loosen.
The Dark Label has a gray background with black text and a red Fulcrum logo,
while the Bright Label has a white background with black text and a white Fulcrum logo,
but the Red Passion decal
features a red Fulcrum logo, and otherwise matches the Bright Label—
it's a model-specific version.
However, spare parts are only supplied
in Bright Label and Dark Label decal versions,
so that's what I had to apply.