I received a Racing Zero from a customer.
They want a CULT upgrade, spoke replacement for aesthetics, and a general inspection.
Let's start with the front wheel.
Yep, the usual hub shaft on the verge of catastrophic failure. Since I secured the hub shaft and right end cup with high-strength threadlock during assembly, from now on even if I apply Allen keys from both sides, the left end cup will come off first.
Regarding the CULT upgrade,
To avoid any chance of mixing with the original bearings, I sealed away the original bearings first.
Done.
The number of balls in the bearing no longer matches the rear hub—it's two balls shorter with the smaller bearings. Because of this, the hub flange diameter became smaller, which means the front spokes need to be longer. And spokes of this length in red basically don't exist. After the transition to smaller bearings, no regular Racing Zero model with red spokes has been released. Some Japan-exclusive models came with unmarked red spokes, but there's no parts supply for those. The official answer in such cases is "replace with black spokes."
However, the lettered red spokes on the Racing Zero Competizione that came out after that are the right length for the small-bearing front hub, so a spoke aesthetic upgrade is possible. But this spoke runs about 2,000 yen unmarked, and over 3,000 yen with lettering. Actually, our shop did stock some unmarked red spokes in the right length for small-bearing front hubs at one point, but we're out now. So if the customer wants the aesthetic upgrade with red spokes, the front wheel can only be done with lettered spokes. The spoke cost is high, but I hope you understand.That's what style costs. The rear left red spoke exists in both marked and unmarked versions. If you want to match front and rear, go with marked. If you want to save a bit, go unmarked.
I didn't check the temporary centering before work, and I applied the centering gauge after removing just a bit of runout, but it turned out perfectly centered. I don't know what the original condition was.
Next, the rear wheel.
From chain drop, all the outer spokes (toward the porcupine) have scratches, but since none are gouged or splintered and none are bent or causing lateral runout, I've decided not to replace them. If the customer really insists, I'll do it, but replacement would cost about 14,000 yen just for the spokes.
The temporary centering was slightly offset toward the freewheel side. It looks like it was originally offset by about the thickness of a sheet of paper toward the freewheel side, plus some additional drift from years of use.
The hub contained black ball races and USB—something that's chronologically almost impossible for a wheel of this age.
Speaking of the front hub, the transition from silver ball races happened several years before the switch to smaller bearings. From a timeline perspective, "black ball race small bearings" shouldn't exist. That said, I've seen one example. So even with recent models, if we find USB or steel balls, we can't completely rule out black ball races.
The freewheel body on the rear hub shaft, right below the bearing, had rust staining on the outer side only. The damage on the outer side was significant enough to warrant replacement, so I'm replacing it. Looking at this, the cause of the earlier incident where "the hub shaft was spotless, almost like new, but the freewheel body bearings were destroyed both inside and out" seems to be from over-tightening the quick-release.
Except for the ceramic ball retainer, there's no way to make a mistake,
Only after sealing away the original bearings do I open the CULT bearing box.
The freewheel body pawl return spring was slightly deformed, so I'm replacing it.
The CULT upgrade is complete.
Did the spoke aesthetic upgrade and truing,
And got it perfectly centered.
Done.
When I asked the customer, the rear spokes are now marked too.
↑Replaced spokes
Naturally, since they're not bent, they can be kept as spare spokes. The longer one is for the front, the shorter one is for the rear left.
They want a CULT upgrade, spoke replacement for aesthetics, and a general inspection.
Let's start with the front wheel.
Yep, the usual hub shaft on the verge of catastrophic failure. Since I secured the hub shaft and right end cup with high-strength threadlock during assembly, from now on even if I apply Allen keys from both sides, the left end cup will come off first.
Regarding the CULT upgrade,
To avoid any chance of mixing with the original bearings, I sealed away the original bearings first.
Done.
The number of balls in the bearing no longer matches the rear hub—it's two balls shorter with the smaller bearings. Because of this, the hub flange diameter became smaller, which means the front spokes need to be longer. And spokes of this length in red basically don't exist. After the transition to smaller bearings, no regular Racing Zero model with red spokes has been released. Some Japan-exclusive models came with unmarked red spokes, but there's no parts supply for those. The official answer in such cases is "replace with black spokes."
However, the lettered red spokes on the Racing Zero Competizione that came out after that are the right length for the small-bearing front hub, so a spoke aesthetic upgrade is possible. But this spoke runs about 2,000 yen unmarked, and over 3,000 yen with lettering. Actually, our shop did stock some unmarked red spokes in the right length for small-bearing front hubs at one point, but we're out now. So if the customer wants the aesthetic upgrade with red spokes, the front wheel can only be done with lettered spokes. The spoke cost is high, but I hope you understand.
I didn't check the temporary centering before work, and I applied the centering gauge after removing just a bit of runout, but it turned out perfectly centered. I don't know what the original condition was.
Next, the rear wheel.
From chain drop, all the outer spokes (toward the porcupine) have scratches, but since none are gouged or splintered and none are bent or causing lateral runout, I've decided not to replace them. If the customer really insists, I'll do it, but replacement would cost about 14,000 yen just for the spokes.
The temporary centering was slightly offset toward the freewheel side. It looks like it was originally offset by about the thickness of a sheet of paper toward the freewheel side, plus some additional drift from years of use.
The hub contained black ball races and USB—something that's chronologically almost impossible for a wheel of this age.
Speaking of the front hub, the transition from silver ball races happened several years before the switch to smaller bearings. From a timeline perspective, "black ball race small bearings" shouldn't exist. That said, I've seen one example. So even with recent models, if we find USB or steel balls, we can't completely rule out black ball races.
The freewheel body on the rear hub shaft, right below the bearing, had rust staining on the outer side only. The damage on the outer side was significant enough to warrant replacement, so I'm replacing it. Looking at this, the cause of the earlier incident where "the hub shaft was spotless, almost like new, but the freewheel body bearings were destroyed both inside and out" seems to be from over-tightening the quick-release.
Except for the ceramic ball retainer, there's no way to make a mistake,
Only after sealing away the original bearings do I open the CULT bearing box.
The freewheel body pawl return spring was slightly deformed, so I'm replacing it.
The CULT upgrade is complete.
Did the spoke aesthetic upgrade and truing,
And got it perfectly centered.
Done.
When I asked the customer, the rear spokes are now marked too.
↑Replaced spokes
Naturally, since they're not bent, they can be kept as spare spokes. The longer one is for the front, the shorter one is for the rear left.