This is a companion article to the rim replacement work I did on the Nomu Lab Wheel No. 8 on August 11 (→here).
I'm writing about things I couldn't cover at that time.
A customer brought in the rear wheel of the Nomu Lab Wheel No. 8.
The nipples are in a rainbow color pattern.
They wanted to see if something could be done about the dirt on the rim.
Apparently, when they took the bike in to a shop called KCS to have the rear disc brake fluid replaced,
dirt was put on the rim that was absolutely not there before they dropped it off.
I saw the actual bike about a week before it was dropped off,
and it didn't seem like the brake fluid needed changing.
Well, that's not really the core issue this time, so
I won't pass judgment on whether the work needed to be done or not.
So, about this rim dirt—
↑This is it.
What looks like dirt here is actually not dirt at all—
the black anodizing on the rim is peeling off.
So wiping it with parts cleaner won't remove it.
Acetone didn't work, and neither did harsh degreaser.
No matter how much you scrub, it doesn't come off at all.
Or rather, the surface treatment has already peeled off in an uneven pattern.
When asked about this, KCS initially
claimed that "rain must have caused this"
and tried to gloss over the customer with a completely absurd story.
At that point, the customer didn't protest strongly and
brought the wheel to our shop for reassembly,
but since there was nothing I could do about it either,
and even though neither our shop nor the customer was at fault,
I was feeling pretty down about it, so I felt bad for them and
decided to replace both the rim and labor costs for free at our shop
(the content of the companion article).
With rear rims, chain oil can splatter onto the rim sides
and if left unattended for a long time, it leaves permanent staining on the rim.
In that case, usually only the right side (sprocket side) rim side gets dirty,
creating a left-right difference in staining.
This is especially pronounced with rim depths of 50mm or more.
But this anodizing peel is appearing on both the left and right sides of the rim.
From what I can see, this customer's bike is usually pretty clean,
and there's no way they'd overlook this kind of dirt for a long time.
Also, the permanent staining caused by chain oil can usually be cleaned off to some degree.
KCS seems to have had a guilty conscience about something, because
when handing the bike back, they specifically said "I cleaned the rear wheel for you!"
So about the story that rain caused the rim color to peel—
↑Would colored nipples lose their color this much from rain?
↑And in these areas,
only one face out of the four gripping faces of the nipple
has lost its color.
Also, if rain were the cause,
↑This is a photo of both wheels when they were first brought in
before the rear wheel was reassembled.
I can't explain why only the front wheel is fine and clean.
Also, this front wheel's condition is about how clean
the customer normally keeps things. I swear
I didn't wash it specially just for this article.
↑This is what I mean.
This corrosion (I'll call it that) shows evidence that
some kind of liquid splattered on it and was left sitting.
When it was left sitting, it was at a phase close to the ground, so
there must have been a puddle of liquid at the contact point
between the rim hole and the nipple. Looking at the nipples,
You can see that skillfully, only the area near the rim holes is peeling.
In the rainbow color pattern, which colors go in sequence varies depending on the hole count,
but they go: purple→dark blue→turquoise→green→yellow→red→purple... and so on.
So the dark blue to green phase is the ground-facing phase
when it was left sitting.
Also, liquid ran down the rim and fell between the tire and the bead hook apex,
then spread out front-to-back and turned the rim white in that spot.
↑I removed the tire.
The rim is discolored.
It also splattered onto the hub body and the anodizing is peeling there too.
The hub and spokes were reused, so
the customer's rear wheel hub is still in this condition.
No amount of wiping cleaned it up.
It also splattered on the hub flange and the aluminum spider arm of the sprocket.
The steel tooth section also turned white, but—
This came off with just a wipe of my finger.
It also splattered on the spokes, but—
That also comes off mostly with just a finger wipe.
It seems to cause serious damage only to aluminum surface treatments.
Rim relocation in progress...
I replaced the rim and nipples.
We've kept the original rim and nipples as evidence, and
when I got a similar anodized rim at our shop and
liberally applied DOT oil, a very harsh citrus degreaser,
chain oil, and—when the Wako's rep visited—
the parts cleaner they said was the harshest we had in the store,
applying them to different spots on the rim and
leaving it in direct sunlight for several days,
none of them caused the kind of
irreversible damage shown in the image of the original rim above.
According to KCS's story, "rain" is the cause,
but I don't believe that.
The customer later took the original rim (in the image above) to KCS to discuss it
and saw enough of their response that I'm writing this article.
If "Nomu Lab didn't like something about the wheel,
so they maliciously made it dirty" were the case,
that would be one thing. And I don't think that's what happened, for the record.
What's scary is the possibility that they were acting with good intentions, saying
"Let me wash it with our shop's secret recipe!" and screwed it up,
because in that case there might be other victims.
I don't think rain is the cause, so
as long as the customer avoids leaving their bike with KCS going forward,
this symptom won't happen again, which would prove
that rain wasn't the cause.
Also, I've never seen colored anodized nipples
fade this much on a wheel
assembled not long ago.
The customer asked if they could borrow the original rim and nipples
to go talk to KCS, so I lent them.
But I made a point of emphasizing that they should absolutely avoid
getting talked into giving up the rim and nipples
(not that they're the customer's anyway, they're mine),
and that they shouldn't take the nipples out of the bag.
Apparently KCS just kept saying they have no recollection.
But then they said they'd investigate how aggressively all our chemicals here attack rims—
Wait? Rain wasn't the cause? Now they're changing their story.
"We tested everything and found nothing that matched!
So our shop isn't at fault!"
There's no point in that kind of "investigation report."
Because the rim was definitely clean before they took it.
I'll give them this advice: it would be better to admit now,
"Actually, we figured out what caused it. It wasn't rain, sorry!"
That would be less damaging.
They also apparently said they don't have the skill to handle a rim swap,
at least not to the level of Nomu Lab or better.
And you're running a shop with your name on the sign?
You say you can't build wheels without shame?
And yet you claim you handle component assembly work and do it properly?
And another thing: the fact that the original rim still exists means
you've already rebuilt it. Shouldn't you offer to pay for that work
without being asked? That's what separates third-rate from first-rate.
And if you make the offer and still mess up: you're second-rate.
If you're first-rate, you wouldn't have screwed up in the first place.
Oh, just to be clear: we didn't ask KCS to pay for
the rebuilding we chose to do for free.
To KCS:
If you've read this far and want to rebut,
or want me to take this article down,
I'm not unwilling to accommodate that request,
but before that, I have one favor to ask.
Present me with solid evidence that this incident
was caused by "rain (rainwater)."
You can do that, right? You originally "explained" it that way to the customer.
If you can't, shut up forever.
A request to any general readers of this article:
Even though something was done wrong by a shop
and you were brushed off with an absurd explanation, refused accountability,
told they don't remember, or ended up having to
swallow your loss,
only those who have actually experienced this
are permitted to click the applause button for this article.
There's no way there are that many people like that...
Addendum:
↓There ARE that many?! That's way too many!!
I'm writing about things I couldn't cover at that time.
A customer brought in the rear wheel of the Nomu Lab Wheel No. 8.
The nipples are in a rainbow color pattern.
They wanted to see if something could be done about the dirt on the rim.
Apparently, when they took the bike in to a shop called KCS to have the rear disc brake fluid replaced,
dirt was put on the rim that was absolutely not there before they dropped it off.
I saw the actual bike about a week before it was dropped off,
and it didn't seem like the brake fluid needed changing.
Well, that's not really the core issue this time, so
I won't pass judgment on whether the work needed to be done or not.
So, about this rim dirt—
↑This is it.
What looks like dirt here is actually not dirt at all—
the black anodizing on the rim is peeling off.
So wiping it with parts cleaner won't remove it.
Acetone didn't work, and neither did harsh degreaser.
No matter how much you scrub, it doesn't come off at all.
Or rather, the surface treatment has already peeled off in an uneven pattern.
When asked about this, KCS initially
claimed that "rain must have caused this"
and tried to gloss over the customer with a completely absurd story.
At that point, the customer didn't protest strongly and
brought the wheel to our shop for reassembly,
but since there was nothing I could do about it either,
and even though neither our shop nor the customer was at fault,
I was feeling pretty down about it, so I felt bad for them and
decided to replace both the rim and labor costs for free at our shop
(the content of the companion article).
With rear rims, chain oil can splatter onto the rim sides
and if left unattended for a long time, it leaves permanent staining on the rim.
In that case, usually only the right side (sprocket side) rim side gets dirty,
creating a left-right difference in staining.
This is especially pronounced with rim depths of 50mm or more.
But this anodizing peel is appearing on both the left and right sides of the rim.
From what I can see, this customer's bike is usually pretty clean,
and there's no way they'd overlook this kind of dirt for a long time.
Also, the permanent staining caused by chain oil can usually be cleaned off to some degree.
KCS seems to have had a guilty conscience about something, because
when handing the bike back, they specifically said "I cleaned the rear wheel for you!"
So about the story that rain caused the rim color to peel—
↑Would colored nipples lose their color this much from rain?
↑And in these areas,
only one face out of the four gripping faces of the nipple
has lost its color.
Also, if rain were the cause,
↑This is a photo of both wheels when they were first brought in
before the rear wheel was reassembled.
I can't explain why only the front wheel is fine and clean.
Also, this front wheel's condition is about how clean
the customer normally keeps things. I swear
I didn't wash it specially just for this article.
↑This is what I mean.
This corrosion (I'll call it that) shows evidence that
some kind of liquid splattered on it and was left sitting.
When it was left sitting, it was at a phase close to the ground, so
there must have been a puddle of liquid at the contact point
between the rim hole and the nipple. Looking at the nipples,
You can see that skillfully, only the area near the rim holes is peeling.
In the rainbow color pattern, which colors go in sequence varies depending on the hole count,
but they go: purple→dark blue→turquoise→green→yellow→red→purple... and so on.
So the dark blue to green phase is the ground-facing phase
when it was left sitting.
Also, liquid ran down the rim and fell between the tire and the bead hook apex,
then spread out front-to-back and turned the rim white in that spot.
↑I removed the tire.
The rim is discolored.
It also splattered onto the hub body and the anodizing is peeling there too.
The hub and spokes were reused, so
the customer's rear wheel hub is still in this condition.
No amount of wiping cleaned it up.
It also splattered on the hub flange and the aluminum spider arm of the sprocket.
The steel tooth section also turned white, but—
This came off with just a wipe of my finger.
It also splattered on the spokes, but—
That also comes off mostly with just a finger wipe.
It seems to cause serious damage only to aluminum surface treatments.
Rim relocation in progress...
I replaced the rim and nipples.
We've kept the original rim and nipples as evidence, and
when I got a similar anodized rim at our shop and
liberally applied DOT oil, a very harsh citrus degreaser,
chain oil, and—when the Wako's rep visited—
the parts cleaner they said was the harshest we had in the store,
applying them to different spots on the rim and
leaving it in direct sunlight for several days,
none of them caused the kind of
irreversible damage shown in the image of the original rim above.
According to KCS's story, "rain" is the cause,
but I don't believe that.
The customer later took the original rim (in the image above) to KCS to discuss it
and saw enough of their response that I'm writing this article.
If "Nomu Lab didn't like something about the wheel,
so they maliciously made it dirty" were the case,
that would be one thing. And I don't think that's what happened, for the record.
What's scary is the possibility that they were acting with good intentions, saying
"Let me wash it with our shop's secret recipe!" and screwed it up,
because in that case there might be other victims.
I don't think rain is the cause, so
as long as the customer avoids leaving their bike with KCS going forward,
this symptom won't happen again, which would prove
that rain wasn't the cause.
Also, I've never seen colored anodized nipples
fade this much on a wheel
assembled not long ago.
The customer asked if they could borrow the original rim and nipples
to go talk to KCS, so I lent them.
But I made a point of emphasizing that they should absolutely avoid
getting talked into giving up the rim and nipples
(not that they're the customer's anyway, they're mine),
and that they shouldn't take the nipples out of the bag.
Apparently KCS just kept saying they have no recollection.
But then they said they'd investigate how aggressively all our chemicals here attack rims—
Wait? Rain wasn't the cause? Now they're changing their story.
"We tested everything and found nothing that matched!
So our shop isn't at fault!"
There's no point in that kind of "investigation report."
Because the rim was definitely clean before they took it.
I'll give them this advice: it would be better to admit now,
"Actually, we figured out what caused it. It wasn't rain, sorry!"
That would be less damaging.
They also apparently said they don't have the skill to handle a rim swap,
at least not to the level of Nomu Lab or better.
And you're running a shop with your name on the sign?
You say you can't build wheels without shame?
And yet you claim you handle component assembly work and do it properly?
And another thing: the fact that the original rim still exists means
you've already rebuilt it. Shouldn't you offer to pay for that work
without being asked? That's what separates third-rate from first-rate.
And if you make the offer and still mess up: you're second-rate.
If you're first-rate, you wouldn't have screwed up in the first place.
Oh, just to be clear: we didn't ask KCS to pay for
the rebuilding we chose to do for free.
To KCS:
If you've read this far and want to rebut,
or want me to take this article down,
I'm not unwilling to accommodate that request,
but before that, I have one favor to ask.
Present me with solid evidence that this incident
was caused by "rain (rainwater)."
You can do that, right? You originally "explained" it that way to the customer.
If you can't, shut up forever.
A request to any general readers of this article:
Even though something was done wrong by a shop
and you were brushed off with an absurd explanation, refused accountability,
told they don't remember, or ended up having to
swallow your loss,
only those who have actually experienced this
are permitted to click the applause button for this article.
There's no way there are that many people like that...
Addendum:
↓There ARE that many?! That's way too many!!
Products Mentioned in This Article
* Amazon affiliate links — prices may vary
Original Japanese post: のむラボ日記 #6376