Another day, another wheel build (and so on).
I built a wheel with a hub and rim that a customer left with me.
The rim is a carbon WO (clincher).
The hub is a Mavic Ellipse.
Both rim and hub are 20H, but the rim isn't an offset rim.
However, there's a sticker on the outer edge that says "if building a rear wheel, use this freewheel body,"
so it might be a 20H rim designed specifically for rear wheel use.
The spokes are black CX Sprint in straight (non-butted) specification,
and red aluminum nipples.
As for spoke lacing—something I figured out after building—
personally I don't think it's necessary,
but since the customer requested it, I'll do it.
On the rim side, there's a sun-bleached mark from a sticker that was originally there.
To be precise, it's a mark where it was "not" bleached.
From what I can make out in the image above, it's the letter "G" in the alphabet.
As for this wheel, I didn't ask for all the details,
but apparently the customer damaged the Ellipse rim
and asked if I could build a wheel with the remaining parts and the rim they brought in.
Since the rim height (or inner rim diameter) was completely different from the original,
I couldn't reuse the spokes.
However, they brought along a bundle of carefully disassembled aero spokes,
and when I calculated the spoke weight ratio, it came out to about 97%.
This is not quite the same as a crushed 14-gauge (2.0mm) plain spoke.
For example, wheels like the original cosmic carbon type with carbon hood rims
have a base gauge of 13 (2.35mm) for the spoke section.
Both the section below the head and the threaded portion of straight spokes
have round profiles of 13-gauge, so original cosmic carbon type nipples have 13-gauge threaded holes.
In the case of Ellipse, the round section on the threaded side is 14-gauge,
while the section below the head is 13-gauge
(with recent cosmic and Ksyrium steel spokes,
just below the head there's a slight tapered section that's 13-gauge,
and from there it's 14-gauge based).
Sapim makes a spoke called Strong.
That's a single-butted round spoke that's 13-gauge for a while below the head, then 14-gauge after that.
In spoke weight ratio, where 14-gauge plain is defined as 100%,
it definitely exceeds 100%,
but calculated from the manufacturer's published specs it comes to 104.29%.
The original Ellipse spoke consists of
13-gauge round below the head～square aero section～14-gauge round + threads,
so the square aero section has a spoke weight ratio below 100%.
That aside, the image above shows the part of the hub flange
that receives the straight spoke below the head,
and naturally the slit section allows 13-gauge spokes through.
Even with genuine spokes, there's enough play
that after threading, the spoke rattles slightly side-to-side in the narrow part of the slit.
The CX Sprint has a 14-gauge section below the head, so there's even more rattle play,
and the contact surface supporting the spoke below the head is quite narrow,
which makes me nervous about whether the hole toward the rim will break through.
However, even in the original condition, it's pretty much the same.
The image above is a separate case, but it's from a previous Ellipse build in its original condition.
I built a wheel with a hub and rim that a customer left with me.
The rim is a carbon WO (clincher).
The hub is a Mavic Ellipse.
Both rim and hub are 20H, but the rim isn't an offset rim.
However, there's a sticker on the outer edge that says "if building a rear wheel, use this freewheel body,"
so it might be a 20H rim designed specifically for rear wheel use.
The spokes are black CX Sprint in straight (non-butted) specification,
and red aluminum nipples.
As for spoke lacing—something I figured out after building—
personally I don't think it's necessary,
but since the customer requested it, I'll do it.
On the rim side, there's a sun-bleached mark from a sticker that was originally there.
To be precise, it's a mark where it was "not" bleached.
From what I can make out in the image above, it's the letter "G" in the alphabet.
As for this wheel, I didn't ask for all the details,
but apparently the customer damaged the Ellipse rim
and asked if I could build a wheel with the remaining parts and the rim they brought in.
Since the rim height (or inner rim diameter) was completely different from the original,
I couldn't reuse the spokes.
However, they brought along a bundle of carefully disassembled aero spokes,
and when I calculated the spoke weight ratio, it came out to about 97%.
This is not quite the same as a crushed 14-gauge (2.0mm) plain spoke.
For example, wheels like the original cosmic carbon type with carbon hood rims
have a base gauge of 13 (2.35mm) for the spoke section.
Both the section below the head and the threaded portion of straight spokes
have round profiles of 13-gauge, so original cosmic carbon type nipples have 13-gauge threaded holes.
In the case of Ellipse, the round section on the threaded side is 14-gauge,
while the section below the head is 13-gauge
(with recent cosmic and Ksyrium steel spokes,
just below the head there's a slight tapered section that's 13-gauge,
and from there it's 14-gauge based).
Sapim makes a spoke called Strong.
That's a single-butted round spoke that's 13-gauge for a while below the head, then 14-gauge after that.
In spoke weight ratio, where 14-gauge plain is defined as 100%,
it definitely exceeds 100%,
but calculated from the manufacturer's published specs it comes to 104.29%.
The original Ellipse spoke consists of
13-gauge round below the head～square aero section～14-gauge round + threads,
so the square aero section has a spoke weight ratio below 100%.
That aside, the image above shows the part of the hub flange
that receives the straight spoke below the head,
and naturally the slit section allows 13-gauge spokes through.
Even with genuine spokes, there's enough play
that after threading, the spoke rattles slightly side-to-side in the narrow part of the slit.
The CX Sprint has a 14-gauge section below the head, so there's even more rattle play,
and the contact surface supporting the spoke below the head is quite narrow,
which makes me nervous about whether the hole toward the rim will break through.
However, even in the original condition, it's pretty much the same.
The image above is a separate case, but it's from a previous Ellipse build in its original condition.