I received an order from a customer and
stocked up on Bora WTO 45 wheels for rim brakes.
I sell the occasional complete wheelset too.
It's not exactly the "three visits of courtesy," but I told this customer
"you can get it cheaper from overseas online shops,"
and sent them away twice.
No matter how I look at it, I just can't match the pricing.
I'm not particularly in the camp of advocating for online retailers,
though I think I've written about this before—
I myself have already bought a lot of things online from actual bookstores and liquor shops,
which represents lost business opportunities for those physical retailers.
If that's a sin, then I'm quite the sinner.
When it comes to bike shops specifically,
I can't bring myself to criticize people who shop online
just because it hurts my own business, calling them unfaithful
or ruthless people who lack human decency.
And if I'm being honest, if I were in the customer's position,
there's no way I wouldn't buy parts and wheels online at all.
This is my approach and philosophy, and I'm not trying to play the understanding ally
to online shoppers, nor am I dismissing the concerns of some colleagues
who worry that if online retail spreads unchecked the whole industry will collapse,
or more bluntly, that money won't come into my shop anymore.
If that's your policy, then go ahead and do your best with it.
That said, I won't deny that I run a pretty ruthless shop too.
Because I take wheels that customers bought from overseas shops or through private sales,
call it an "inspection," and charge them again for the service.
This wheel is USB spec, but
the customer wanted it converted to CULT (Cannondale Ultimate Lightweight Technology) right from purchase.
In that case, I only charge for parts and waive labor, so
at that rate the price doesn't differ much from overseas shops,
and since the customer specifically said they wanted to buy from our shop,
I stocked the wheel.
The rear hub with the USB parts removed.
After converting to CULT, I assembled the hub and checked the centering temporarily.
Since I didn't see the original state,
I can't tell if there's any centering deviation caused by the CULT conversion itself
(which can happen depending on how the cone is pressed in).
I did the true and centering.
Though with the true, there was barely any runout to begin with.
This inspection is free for items purchased from our shop.
The front hub with the USB parts removed.
The front wheel was also off center, but like the rear wheel, I didn't see the original state,
so I can't tell if it was already off center when in USB spec.
Fixed.
There's a USB sticker on the hub shell,
but of course I won't peel it off on my own.
I'll leave that to the customer.
This Bora WTO is rim brake spec.
Hmm, radial-laced front wheels are starting to look fresh again... that's scary, really scary.
Since it's rim brake spec, it has a brake zone,
and AC3 surface treatment is applied as well.
The Bora WTO and Bora WTO Ultra have quite different rims.
Compared to that, whether the bearings are USB or CULT
isn't that big a difference since you can switch them out later,
and with the Ultra, the front hub shell is carbon,
but honestly that's pretty much neither here nor there.
This wheel is 2WAY-FIT rim spec, and while the WTO comes in tubular spec too,
the WTO Ultra is limited to disc brake spec and
2WAY-FIT rim spec only.
There's a reason for this, but I can't write about it yet.
stocked up on Bora WTO 45 wheels for rim brakes.
I sell the occasional complete wheelset too.
It's not exactly the "three visits of courtesy," but I told this customer
"you can get it cheaper from overseas online shops,"
and sent them away twice.
No matter how I look at it, I just can't match the pricing.
I'm not particularly in the camp of advocating for online retailers,
though I think I've written about this before—
I myself have already bought a lot of things online from actual bookstores and liquor shops,
which represents lost business opportunities for those physical retailers.
If that's a sin, then I'm quite the sinner.
When it comes to bike shops specifically,
I can't bring myself to criticize people who shop online
just because it hurts my own business, calling them unfaithful
or ruthless people who lack human decency.
And if I'm being honest, if I were in the customer's position,
there's no way I wouldn't buy parts and wheels online at all.
This is my approach and philosophy, and I'm not trying to play the understanding ally
to online shoppers, nor am I dismissing the concerns of some colleagues
who worry that if online retail spreads unchecked the whole industry will collapse,
or more bluntly, that money won't come into my shop anymore.
If that's your policy, then go ahead and do your best with it.
That said, I won't deny that I run a pretty ruthless shop too.
Because I take wheels that customers bought from overseas shops or through private sales,
call it an "inspection," and charge them again for the service.
This wheel is USB spec, but
the customer wanted it converted to CULT (Cannondale Ultimate Lightweight Technology) right from purchase.
In that case, I only charge for parts and waive labor, so
at that rate the price doesn't differ much from overseas shops,
and since the customer specifically said they wanted to buy from our shop,
I stocked the wheel.
The rear hub with the USB parts removed.
After converting to CULT, I assembled the hub and checked the centering temporarily.
Since I didn't see the original state,
I can't tell if there's any centering deviation caused by the CULT conversion itself
(which can happen depending on how the cone is pressed in).
I did the true and centering.
Though with the true, there was barely any runout to begin with.
This inspection is free for items purchased from our shop.
The front hub with the USB parts removed.
The front wheel was also off center, but like the rear wheel, I didn't see the original state,
so I can't tell if it was already off center when in USB spec.
Fixed.
There's a USB sticker on the hub shell,
but of course I won't peel it off on my own.
I'll leave that to the customer.
This Bora WTO is rim brake spec.
Hmm, radial-laced front wheels are starting to look fresh again... that's scary, really scary.
Since it's rim brake spec, it has a brake zone,
and AC3 surface treatment is applied as well.
The Bora WTO and Bora WTO Ultra have quite different rims.
Compared to that, whether the bearings are USB or CULT
isn't that big a difference since you can switch them out later,
and with the Ultra, the front hub shell is carbon,
but honestly that's pretty much neither here nor there.
This wheel is 2WAY-FIT rim spec, and while the WTO comes in tubular spec too,
the WTO Ultra is limited to disc brake spec and
2WAY-FIT rim spec only.
There's a reason for this, but I can't write about it yet.