A customer brought in a Rolf Prima Vigor—no wait, not the 〆 (shime) version
but the α (Alpha) model for me to work on.
They said it got hit from the side in an accident, but
there was barely any runout, and I only needed to fix
a faint center deviation that was probably there from the start.
On the same day I inspected this wheel, I was also checking a different Vigor (without the Alpha designation),
and I noticed the Vigor Alpha has elliptical aero spokes that appear to be CX-RAY,
while the regular Vigor uses square aero spokes with slightly larger spoke gauge.
In both cases the spokes run through round holes,
and both wheels had hub flanges with slitted holes.
The UCI rules state "wheels must have 16 or more spokes front and rear,"
but there's also a separate rule that says if a complete wheelset is certified,
this requirement doesn't apply.
Rolf Prima's Vigor and Vigor Alpha pass through this exception. So they can be used in domestic professional races.
You'll see 16H and 18H on certified wheels fairly often,
but the only ones with 14H are these two Rolf Prima wheels, and they're also the minimum spoke count.
The wheel regulations I looked up today are from the August 23, 2019 version, but
for hand-built wheels as opposed to non-standard wheels (i.e., complete wheelsets),
it says "wheels that meet the traditional wheel definition
do not need to be certified," however
they've been revised to require "assembly with removable 20 or more steel spokes,
and that the parts be commercially available products."
That custom CX-RAY I mentioned had a longer gripping section.
I inspected a Bora WTO45 at the same time as this front wheel,
and the rear wheel had about the same amount of center deviation as in my previous post.
but the α (Alpha) model for me to work on.
They said it got hit from the side in an accident, but
there was barely any runout, and I only needed to fix
a faint center deviation that was probably there from the start.
On the same day I inspected this wheel, I was also checking a different Vigor (without the Alpha designation),
and I noticed the Vigor Alpha has elliptical aero spokes that appear to be CX-RAY,
while the regular Vigor uses square aero spokes with slightly larger spoke gauge.
In both cases the spokes run through round holes,
and both wheels had hub flanges with slitted holes.
The UCI rules state "wheels must have 16 or more spokes front and rear,"
but there's also a separate rule that says if a complete wheelset is certified,
this requirement doesn't apply.
Rolf Prima's Vigor and Vigor Alpha pass through this exception. So they can be used in domestic professional races.
You'll see 16H and 18H on certified wheels fairly often,
but the only ones with 14H are these two Rolf Prima wheels, and they're also the minimum spoke count.
The wheel regulations I looked up today are from the August 23, 2019 version, but
for hand-built wheels as opposed to non-standard wheels (i.e., complete wheelsets),
it says "wheels that meet the traditional wheel definition
do not need to be certified," however
they've been revised to require "assembly with removable 20 or more steel spokes,
and that the parts be commercially available products."
That custom CX-RAY I mentioned had a longer gripping section.
I inspected a Bora WTO45 at the same time as this front wheel,
and the rear wheel had about the same amount of center deviation as in my previous post.