Regarding what I wrote in the previous article:
"The rear wheel spokes have a marking of '70' on the freewheel side
and '68' on the non-freewheel side.
There weren't any in this wheel, but exceptions do exist.
I'll cover that in the next article."
With Campagnolo Fulcrum aluminum spokes,
if the markings are the same, the spoke length is identical regardless of manufacturer.
Even if the markings differ, if the effective length
(from the spoke head end to where the threads begin) is the same,
there are cases where there's no practical problem with use.
I believe I'm familiar with virtually all of these variations
when it comes to rim brake-equipped road wheels.
Both "68" and "70" have spokes with different markings but identical effective lengths.
↑This is a rear left spoke with
markings of "68" and "//", respectively,
and these two spokes are identical not just in effective length
but in their overall length as well.
↑Same length
The markings are "68" and "//".
According to the tags I have on file, the part numbers are:
"68" is R0-119B (Racing Zero 119 Black),
"//" is WH-007SHM (Wheel parts 007 Shamal Mille).
Based on this alone, you might think that Fulcrum manufactures with "68"
and Campagnolo with "//"...
↑This is a Fulcrum Racing Zero Competizione
red rear left spoke with lettering,
with part number R0-119R (the R at the end means Red).
The lengths are the same, but
the markings show "68" and "//".
Since red spokes themselves don't even exist on Campagnolo wheels
before the lettering is added,
you can see that the hypothesis "//" is Campagnolo only" doesn't hold up.
However, while not always the case,
there is a clear trend.
Racing Zero spare spokes and nipples come in these sales configurations:
・One spoke and one nipple per set
・Front wheel spokes only, 16 pieces
・Rear wheel spokes only, 14 pieces on the right and 7 on the left
・Nipples only, 10 pieces
When you order "one spoke and one nipple per box,"
for rear left spokes you're more likely to get the "68" marking,
while ordering a complete spoke-only kit
increases the likelihood of receiving the "//" marking.
In the case of the previous article, given the price of 120,000 yen,
it's quite likely that 37 boxes of
one spoke and one nipple each were ordered.
This is because if you order a complete spoke-only kit,
not only would the marking issue be different, but by reusing nipples
the total cost should be somewhat lower
(unless wheel assembly labor is 20,000 yen per wheel,
or 40,000 yen for both wheels, etc.).
I'm posting the image from the previous article again, but
considering these were supposed to be new nipples,
the corners are way too rounded.
I've never seen Fulcrum stock new wheels where all the nipples
look like this.
Even accounting for reused nipples with two rounds of disassembly and reassembly,
it's still too rounded. Whoever did this work was pretty sloppy.
"The rear wheel spokes have a marking of '70' on the freewheel side
and '68' on the non-freewheel side.
There weren't any in this wheel, but exceptions do exist.
I'll cover that in the next article."
With Campagnolo Fulcrum aluminum spokes,
if the markings are the same, the spoke length is identical regardless of manufacturer.
Even if the markings differ, if the effective length
(from the spoke head end to where the threads begin) is the same,
there are cases where there's no practical problem with use.
I believe I'm familiar with virtually all of these variations
when it comes to rim brake-equipped road wheels.
Both "68" and "70" have spokes with different markings but identical effective lengths.
↑This is a rear left spoke with
markings of "68" and "//", respectively,
and these two spokes are identical not just in effective length
but in their overall length as well.
↑Same length
The markings are "68" and "//".
According to the tags I have on file, the part numbers are:
"68" is R0-119B (Racing Zero 119 Black),
"//" is WH-007SHM (Wheel parts 007 Shamal Mille).
Based on this alone, you might think that Fulcrum manufactures with "68"
and Campagnolo with "//"...
↑This is a Fulcrum Racing Zero Competizione
red rear left spoke with lettering,
with part number R0-119R (the R at the end means Red).
The lengths are the same, but
the markings show "68" and "//".
Since red spokes themselves don't even exist on Campagnolo wheels
before the lettering is added,
you can see that the hypothesis "//" is Campagnolo only" doesn't hold up.
However, while not always the case,
there is a clear trend.
Racing Zero spare spokes and nipples come in these sales configurations:
・One spoke and one nipple per set
・Front wheel spokes only, 16 pieces
・Rear wheel spokes only, 14 pieces on the right and 7 on the left
・Nipples only, 10 pieces
When you order "one spoke and one nipple per box,"
for rear left spokes you're more likely to get the "68" marking,
while ordering a complete spoke-only kit
increases the likelihood of receiving the "//" marking.
In the case of the previous article, given the price of 120,000 yen,
it's quite likely that 37 boxes of
one spoke and one nipple each were ordered.
This is because if you order a complete spoke-only kit,
not only would the marking issue be different, but by reusing nipples
the total cost should be somewhat lower
(unless wheel assembly labor is 20,000 yen per wheel,
or 40,000 yen for both wheels, etc.).
I'm posting the image from the previous article again, but
considering these were supposed to be new nipples,
the corners are way too rounded.
I've never seen Fulcrum stock new wheels where all the nipples
look like this.
Even accounting for reused nipples with two rounds of disassembly and reassembly,
it's still too rounded. Whoever did this work was pretty sloppy.