I received a WH-RS81 rear wheel from a customer.
After an overhaul at a nearby shop,
they wanted me to take another look at it.
It looked like the wheel had a centering issue, but it doesn't.
The hub rotation is abnormally stiff—
it's almost impossible to spin forward by pinching the hub axle end with my finger,
reverse rotation is possible but the freebody moves in sync with it.
This is... that thing, huh? (→here) and its linked source.
This is a symptom specific to when the freebody seal is installed backwards.
Since the right-end hub axle isn't fully seated,
the wheel center is off due to the hub itself, not the rim.
So if the hub parts are assembled correctly,
there's a good chance the center can be true.
Actually, there was still a slight offset after that.
When I tried to loosen the left end, the spring washer was protruding
and tightened down that way.Oh my god, seriously.
If the washer is crushed, it needs replacing, but
it's not sold individually. Instead, it comes as a set with the hollow end bolt, washer,
plastic cone adjuster piece, and left locknut—
a set called the "left lock bolt unit."
I seated it in the recess where it belongs.
The washer shows no deformation on its outer diameter, so
I straightened out the bent tabs and reused it
(the tabs weren't straightened yet at the point of the previous image).
The seal was installed backwards.
The side that faces inward has four "II"-shaped features
covered with rubber.
The side that faces outward has six "II"-shaped features
with bare metal exposed there.
You can remember it as: the side with a U-shaped indentation goes outward.
There was a slight centering issue, so I trued it.
Next, the front wheel.
Same thing—crushed washer.
I asked the customer to be sure, and
they swear they never touched it themselves.Well, then I can write this. Ugh.
They don't understand how to adjust a digital torque wrench,
so they deformed parts by over-tightening the ends.
Since the parts still function as intended, I'm reusing them as-is.
Wait?
The rear wheel has a tubeless rim, so rim tape (Panaracer Poly Lite)
that's technically unnecessary was taped on for some reason. I figured that was just their philosophy,
so I ignored it
(some people do tape Racing Zero and Kysrium rims too, and
Continental and others instruct to use rim tape on such rims).
The image above is the front wheel, but since this is a WO (wire-on) rim, rim tape is essential,
and the manufacturer has pre-installed their own brand from the start.
This customer originally had
both front and rear WH-RS81-C35-TL wheels,
but when they broke the front rim, they ordered the "same wheel" from the shop that did this overhaul farce,
and it was switched to the non-tubeless
WH-RS81-C35-CL.
Plus, they didn't even know about this until bringing them to us.
↑Front wheel nipple (4mm square)
↑Rear wheel nipple (4.4mm hexagonal)
This shop that messed up all these things
is the same one from the previous post,
but I have a promise with the customer, so I can't write the shop name here.
After an overhaul at a nearby shop,
they wanted me to take another look at it.
It looked like the wheel had a centering issue, but it doesn't.
The hub rotation is abnormally stiff—
it's almost impossible to spin forward by pinching the hub axle end with my finger,
reverse rotation is possible but the freebody moves in sync with it.
This is... that thing, huh? (→here) and its linked source.
This is a symptom specific to when the freebody seal is installed backwards.
Since the right-end hub axle isn't fully seated,
the wheel center is off due to the hub itself, not the rim.
So if the hub parts are assembled correctly,
there's a good chance the center can be true.
Actually, there was still a slight offset after that.
When I tried to loosen the left end, the spring washer was protruding
and tightened down that way.
If the washer is crushed, it needs replacing, but
it's not sold individually. Instead, it comes as a set with the hollow end bolt, washer,
plastic cone adjuster piece, and left locknut—
a set called the "left lock bolt unit."
I seated it in the recess where it belongs.
The washer shows no deformation on its outer diameter, so
I straightened out the bent tabs and reused it
(the tabs weren't straightened yet at the point of the previous image).
The seal was installed backwards.
The side that faces inward has four "II"-shaped features
covered with rubber.
The side that faces outward has six "II"-shaped features
with bare metal exposed there.
You can remember it as: the side with a U-shaped indentation goes outward.
There was a slight centering issue, so I trued it.
Next, the front wheel.
Same thing—crushed washer.
I asked the customer to be sure, and
they swear they never touched it themselves.
They don't understand how to adjust a digital torque wrench,
so they deformed parts by over-tightening the ends.
Since the parts still function as intended, I'm reusing them as-is.
Wait?
The rear wheel has a tubeless rim, so rim tape (Panaracer Poly Lite)
that's technically unnecessary was taped on for some reason. I figured that was just their philosophy,
so I ignored it
(some people do tape Racing Zero and Kysrium rims too, and
Continental and others instruct to use rim tape on such rims).
The image above is the front wheel, but since this is a WO (wire-on) rim, rim tape is essential,
and the manufacturer has pre-installed their own brand from the start.
This customer originally had
both front and rear WH-RS81-C35-TL wheels,
but when they broke the front rim, they ordered the "same wheel" from the shop that did this overhaul farce,
and it was switched to the non-tubeless
WH-RS81-C35-CL.
Plus, they didn't even know about this until bringing them to us.
↑Front wheel nipple (4mm square)
↑Rear wheel nipple (4.4mm hexagonal)
This shop that messed up all these things
is the same one from the previous post,
but I have a promise with the customer, so I can't write the shop name here.