That's what it says on the wheel bag."
Another wheel job today (and so on).
A customer dropped off the front wheel
of a Fulcrum Racing Zero Competizione.
The rim is dented from buckling, and they want it replaced.
The Racing Zero Competizione is
Fulcrum's first flashy-looking wheel,
but the rim spec is 2WAY-FIT, not WO.
The combination of these doesn't matter for performance,
but it's a problem for me because—
With 2WAY-FIT rims, the valve hole is shared
with the closest rim hole on the reinforced section.
With WO rims, the valve hole shares with the nearest rim holes on both sides.
So with WO rims, the nearest rim holes to the valve hole are equidistant on either side,
but with 2WAY-FIT rims, the nearest rim hole is limited to just one location.
When Fulcrum assembles wheels, they follow the rule that
"the cosmetic spoke is positioned at the nearest rim hole to the valve hole,"
and you can see that's what happened in the image above.
There are only two types of cosmetic spokes (the red spokes with lettering)—
one for the front and one for the rear left—
so the red spokes on the rear wheel are always on the left side (non-freewheel side).
Ideally, the front wheel's red spokes should also be on the left side,
but—
↑As you can see, they're on the right side.
If I wanted to move them to the left
by removing the hub axle and flipping it,
the hub shell logo and lettering would end up reversed.
I can move the red spokes to the left,
but then they won't be at the nearest rim hole to the valve.
Campagnolo/Fulcrum complete wheels are
incredibly inconsistent about things like
the direction of the hub shell sticker,
which side the WARNING sticker goes on
(though rear wheels like the Hyperon are definitely right side),
and the relationship with the hub markings visible past the valve hole.
The only way to fix this is to rebuild the wheel,
so I'm going to assemble this one with the red spokes on the left side.
All built up.
The original rim doesn't look like it got much use,
so it must have failed not long after purchase.
I've put the red spokes on the left side.
I haven't seen the matching rear wheel yet,
but if the rear hub shell had a reversed logo,
I could flip the front wheel's hub axle orientation
to achieve consistency:
"both front and rear hubs with reversed logos, both wheels with red spokes on the left."
Just to be clear, there's no political implication in "red on the left."
Oh, I should wrap up the title though.
Campagnolo wheel bags sometimes have
reinforcement patches on the outside or on the inside.
On wheel bags from this era, they're on the outside,
but with the gray bags, it varied.
That's another inconsistency (→here).
On recent ones, they seem to be on the inside,
so the gray bags might have been from the transition period.
↑This is another Campagnolo bag, and it's on the inside.
↑This one's Campagnolo too,
but the material has a different finish for some reason.
Now, the customer who brought in this front wheel
had a Campagnolo wheel bag, and—
The reinforcement patch had a logo that looked like Calvin Klein.
Another wheel job today (and so on).
A customer dropped off the front wheel
of a Fulcrum Racing Zero Competizione.
The rim is dented from buckling, and they want it replaced.
The Racing Zero Competizione is
Fulcrum's first flashy-looking wheel,
but the rim spec is 2WAY-FIT, not WO.
The combination of these doesn't matter for performance,
but it's a problem for me because—
With 2WAY-FIT rims, the valve hole is shared
with the closest rim hole on the reinforced section.
With WO rims, the valve hole shares with the nearest rim holes on both sides.
So with WO rims, the nearest rim holes to the valve hole are equidistant on either side,
but with 2WAY-FIT rims, the nearest rim hole is limited to just one location.
When Fulcrum assembles wheels, they follow the rule that
"the cosmetic spoke is positioned at the nearest rim hole to the valve hole,"
and you can see that's what happened in the image above.
There are only two types of cosmetic spokes (the red spokes with lettering)—
one for the front and one for the rear left—
so the red spokes on the rear wheel are always on the left side (non-freewheel side).
Ideally, the front wheel's red spokes should also be on the left side,
but—
↑As you can see, they're on the right side.
If I wanted to move them to the left
by removing the hub axle and flipping it,
the hub shell logo and lettering would end up reversed.
I can move the red spokes to the left,
but then they won't be at the nearest rim hole to the valve.
Campagnolo/Fulcrum complete wheels are
incredibly inconsistent about things like
the direction of the hub shell sticker,
which side the WARNING sticker goes on
(though rear wheels like the Hyperon are definitely right side),
and the relationship with the hub markings visible past the valve hole.
The only way to fix this is to rebuild the wheel,
so I'm going to assemble this one with the red spokes on the left side.
All built up.
The original rim doesn't look like it got much use,
so it must have failed not long after purchase.
I've put the red spokes on the left side.
I haven't seen the matching rear wheel yet,
but if the rear hub shell had a reversed logo,
I could flip the front wheel's hub axle orientation
to achieve consistency:
"both front and rear hubs with reversed logos, both wheels with red spokes on the left."
Oh, I should wrap up the title though.
Campagnolo wheel bags sometimes have
reinforcement patches on the outside or on the inside.
On wheel bags from this era, they're on the outside,
but with the gray bags, it varied.
That's another inconsistency (→here).
On recent ones, they seem to be on the inside,
so the gray bags might have been from the transition period.
↑This is another Campagnolo bag, and it's on the inside.
↑This one's Campagnolo too,
but the material has a different finish for some reason.
Now, the customer who brought in this front wheel
had a Campagnolo wheel bag, and—
The reinforcement patch had a logo that looked like Calvin Klein.