Another day, another wheel build (and so on).
A customer brought in what used to be the rear wheel with an Easton EC90 Aero rim.
It's a full carbon clincher rim.
The hub went bad, and after poking around with it
things got really confusing, so
the customer wanted me to rebuild it with a different hub.
The R4SL hub is the ceramic bearing version of the R4 hub,
but the difference in rotational performance from steel ball bearings is barely noticeable
and it's like what Campagnolo calls USB (※)—
just ceramic balls dropped into a steel ball race designed for steel balls—
so the ball races get seized up and fail quickly.
※I should correct this: the current USB has ball races strong enough that it's almost "fake CULT,"
so it shouldn't be lumped in with bearings like this.
Even when I see them during inspections or truing work, the R4SL hubs (especially rear hubs)
very often have hub axles that spin with a grinding feel,
and I often jokingly interpret the SL acronym not as "Super Light" but as
"Short Life," but for the R4SL,
the SL really might actually stand for Short Life.
It's built.
Evolite hub 20H, black half-half laced.
I'll do the truing later.
Before the rebuild it had red aluminum nipples,
but the customer wanted black spokes and black nipples, so that's what I did.
Now, moving on to a different job,
a customer brought in an EC90 Aero rim as a standalone piece.
I think Easton had difficulty getting spare parts for wheels,
but I don't know the details about that. Anyway, it's brand new.
This one is a tubular rim.
There was an unusual amount of scratching noise inside the rim,
and I understand that scraps from the balloon come out during manufacturing.
But I have no idea why there was a piece of nylon brush in there.
I can sort of guess based on the work process, but...
It's built.
Evolite hub 20H, black half-half laced.
I'll do the truing later.
The customer wanted black nipples,
but now that I think about it, this is an internal nipple design.
Still, I'm using black nipples this time.
There are a few reasons, but explaining what I can:
the paint on the threads provides a resistance that seems to work as a loosening preventer (brass nipples, by the way),
and it makes it clear that I'm the one who built it.
On a different note,
among Mavic Comet disc wheels from the era when aluminum was used in the brake zone,
the clincher rim models supposedly don't need rim tape, but actually they do.
There's mysteriously a valve-hole-like hole on the opposite side of the valve hole.
Without rim tape, the tube actually flats immediately.
Even without a full-width stretch band-type rim tape,
you need to apply tape-type rim tape to that spot at least.
There's a similar hole on the EC90 rim too, and
this hole is it. The considerate design is there
because there's a serial number.
Naturally, it only goes through on the outer side,
but if you were to apply rim cement and, while it's half-dry,
push the valve into this hole to mount the tire,
it would get pretty annoying.
On the clincher rim,
(probably intentionally) tape is applied on top to seal it.
This is about the same size as the valve hole, so it's unlikely to be a balloon deflation hole,
and besides, these rims didn't have balloons in the first place.
↑Clincher rim
↑Tubular rim
The wheel weights came out like this.
There's a 178g difference, but the rear hub, spoke count, and spoke gauge on both sides are the same,
and while the internal-nipple tubular has slightly longer spokes, the difference is only a few grams,
the clincher has aluminum nipples so it's about 13g lighter,
and the clincher had balance weights stuck on,
so the weight difference between the clincher and tubular rims is probably 170–180g.
I actually weighed the tubular to satisfy my curiosity, and
for a 56mm rim height, it's surprisingly light—I was surprised
(both are what would be called narrow rims nowadays).
If I revealed that, you'd end up knowing roughly the clincher weight too,
but it's valuable data so I'm not telling.
↑Man, what a jerk
Sorry for the wait!
Please take a look at this image!
↑Stop it!
A customer brought in what used to be the rear wheel with an Easton EC90 Aero rim.
It's a full carbon clincher rim.
The hub went bad, and after poking around with it
things got really confusing, so
the customer wanted me to rebuild it with a different hub.
The R4SL hub is the ceramic bearing version of the R4 hub,
but the difference in rotational performance from steel ball bearings is barely noticeable
and it's like what Campagnolo calls USB (※)—
just ceramic balls dropped into a steel ball race designed for steel balls—
so the ball races get seized up and fail quickly.
※I should correct this: the current USB has ball races strong enough that it's almost "fake CULT,"
so it shouldn't be lumped in with bearings like this.
Even when I see them during inspections or truing work, the R4SL hubs (especially rear hubs)
very often have hub axles that spin with a grinding feel,
and I often jokingly interpret the SL acronym not as "Super Light" but as
"Short Life," but for the R4SL,
the SL really might actually stand for Short Life.
It's built.
Evolite hub 20H, black half-half laced.
I'll do the truing later.
Before the rebuild it had red aluminum nipples,
but the customer wanted black spokes and black nipples, so that's what I did.
Now, moving on to a different job,
a customer brought in an EC90 Aero rim as a standalone piece.
I think Easton had difficulty getting spare parts for wheels,
but I don't know the details about that. Anyway, it's brand new.
This one is a tubular rim.
There was an unusual amount of scratching noise inside the rim,
and I understand that scraps from the balloon come out during manufacturing.
But I have no idea why there was a piece of nylon brush in there.
I can sort of guess based on the work process, but...
It's built.
Evolite hub 20H, black half-half laced.
I'll do the truing later.
The customer wanted black nipples,
but now that I think about it, this is an internal nipple design.
Still, I'm using black nipples this time.
There are a few reasons, but explaining what I can:
the paint on the threads provides a resistance that seems to work as a loosening preventer (brass nipples, by the way),
and it makes it clear that I'm the one who built it.
On a different note,
among Mavic Comet disc wheels from the era when aluminum was used in the brake zone,
the clincher rim models supposedly don't need rim tape, but actually they do.
There's mysteriously a valve-hole-like hole on the opposite side of the valve hole.
Without rim tape, the tube actually flats immediately.
Even without a full-width stretch band-type rim tape,
you need to apply tape-type rim tape to that spot at least.
There's a similar hole on the EC90 rim too, and
this hole is it. The considerate design is there
because there's a serial number.
Naturally, it only goes through on the outer side,
but if you were to apply rim cement and, while it's half-dry,
push the valve into this hole to mount the tire,
it would get pretty annoying.
On the clincher rim,
(probably intentionally) tape is applied on top to seal it.
This is about the same size as the valve hole, so it's unlikely to be a balloon deflation hole,
and besides, these rims didn't have balloons in the first place.
↑Clincher rim
↑Tubular rim
The wheel weights came out like this.
There's a 178g difference, but the rear hub, spoke count, and spoke gauge on both sides are the same,
and while the internal-nipple tubular has slightly longer spokes, the difference is only a few grams,
the clincher has aluminum nipples so it's about 13g lighter,
and the clincher had balance weights stuck on,
so the weight difference between the clincher and tubular rims is probably 170–180g.
I actually weighed the tubular to satisfy my curiosity, and
for a 56mm rim height, it's surprisingly light—I was surprised
(both are what would be called narrow rims nowadays).
If I revealed that, you'd end up knowing roughly the clincher weight too,
but it's valuable data so I'm not telling.
↑Man, what a jerk
Sorry for the wait!
Please take a look at this image!
↑Stop it!