Another wheel day (and so on). But first.
There used to be a handlebar manufacturer called ITM in Italy.
Rather than adopting a strategy like Deda—moving production to Taiwan to offer products cheaply
while maintaining an Italian brand image—
ITM refused to compromise on in-house Italian manufacturing
even for budget-grade components,
and that's apparently what led to their bankruptcy.
ITM is short for Italmanubri,
where "Ital" means "Italian" and "manubri" means "handlebar,"
so in English it would be "Italian Handlebar."
By the way, the current ITM is a different brand that bought the name from the old ITM.
The old ITM had a series called "Millennium" that included handlebars, stems, and seatposts.
There were also wheels and carbon forks, but
I don't think they ever made it to Japan in any significant quantity.
The Millennium stem is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of aheadset stem design.
This is the Millennium Adjustable, a rare stem with an angle-adjustment mechanism built in.
As for this Millennium seatpost,
it's not actually made by ITM.
It was made by Selcof, another Italian seatpost maker
that was equally committed to in-house Italian manufacturing.
↑Selcof seatpost box
There's a clear line where the seat post clamp is inserted into the round tube,
and of the infinitely adjustable seesaw-style front and rear bolts,
the front bolt is adjusted by loosening the rear bolt
and turning it with an 8mm wrench.
The Millennium's seat post clamp has exactly the same shape.
Conversely, while they're scarce, there are also handlebars and stems with ITM manufacturing but Selcof branding.
These have the exact same design as ITM's stems, so anyone who knows what to look for can tell right away.
Anyway, another wheel day (and so on).
A customer entrusted me with a DT rear wheel with a 32mm high rim.
On the hub shell of what appears to be a hub equivalent to DT's 240S,
there's RRC
525
R stamped on it.
Among DT rims, those designated R (Road) and RR (Road Racing) follow a rule
where the numbers that follow indicate catalog weight.
MTB rims don't follow this rule, so
for example, an XR361 rim isn't necessarily 361g.
To be precise, when DT started their rim business,
their first aluminum rims were called RR1.1 and RR1.2.
Later, redesigned versions of those became RR415 and RR585 respectively,
and from that point on, the numbers have equaled weight.
This rear wheel is designated RRC525R, a model name
that also simply reflects the published weight.
The third letter C stands for Carbon, not Clincher.
The matching front wheel built with the same rim
has the model name RRC425F, so
the R at the end of RRC525R means rear wheel.
24H, white Aero Lite, four-cross lacing pattern.
There was a period when white or red Aero Lite with weak paint coating that peels easily came out,
and it was used on wheels like those from FF Yamaguchi,
but DT announced that the final cross should not be laced
on white and red Aero Lite spokes.
So why is DT itself lacing the final cross on their own complete wheels?
This rim... no matter how you look at it,
is the same as Reynolds' 32 (Thirty-Two) or
the late-model Nomu Lab Wheel #6.
It even has a swirl lip generator (a small protrusion) on the inner side.
In other words, this is a wheel that DT assembled
during a period when Reynolds supplied them with rims
while DT supplied hubs and spokes to Reynolds—
essentially DT's version of Reynolds' 32.
Seeing this reminded me of the old ITM and Selcof relationship,
which is why I wrote that introduction.
This DT version of the 32, the customer wanted rebuilt with
this Campagnolo Proton rear hub.
This is a hub that occasionally appears on Campagnolo and Fulcrum rear wheels:
the "straight spokes on one side only" configuration.
Some of the rear wheels from Racing 7 around that time also had
straight spokes on just one side, but
those had the freewheel side with a universal flange and
the non-freewheel side with forced radial lacing.
This Proton hub has the freewheel side with a forced four-cross equivalent pattern and
the non-freewheel side with a universal flange.
On stock Proton wheels, the non-freewheel side is laced in counter-spoke radial pattern.
↑The image below shows my Neutron hub,
from around the same era as this Proton.
Since the Neutron is categorized as Record-grade,
it has a grease hole in the hub shell
and a C-ring cap to seal it.
Neutron and Hyperon are laced with equal numbers on both sides,
non-freewheel side radial, and while the left-to-right diameter differences are quite extreme
and the left flange is positioned quite far out as you can see,
lateral stiffness doesn't feel compromised.
I disassembled the original wheel.
The image above shows the 12 spokes on the non-freewheel (low tension) side,
and you can see the paint chipped away at the final cross contact points.
The rim had a rim cement bed on it, but
it still came in under 280g—the same weight as the Reynolds 32 and late-model Nomu Lab Wheel #6 rims.
With the Reynolds 32, the rim holes on the inner side have no left-right offset.
And for some reason, only the front wheel is built as an inverted rim.
Campagnolo's equal-spoke-count wheels are both built as inverted rims on front and rear.
So I decided to build this rear wheel as an inverted rim too.
The Reynolds front wheel proves that inverted rim building works fine.
The image above is after the freewheel side temporary lacing is done and
I've laced just one final cross on the non-freewheel side using Italian-style pattern.
I placed a marker tape on the flange hole behind where the counter-spoke passes through,
positioned to block the adjacent flange hole.
These two spokes in the final cross,
they cross over the valve hole.
I shifted the final cross spoke hole one position forward.
The marker tape stays in its original position.
This operation is equivalent to the right/left drop conversion
when threading spokes into a universal flange hub for the first time.
The left and right final cross pairs (four spokes total) now form a bundle that doesn't cross the valve hole,
creating a properly inverted rim build.
Done lacing.
Proton hub, 24H, black Champion straight / black CX Sprint,
four-six lacing with tie-ins.
Since Campagnolo doesn't make a Comp straight spoke
(they exist, but they're hard to find), I used half-Comp
with increased spoke ratio on both sides.
The customer wanted the freebody changed from Campagnolo type to Shimano type, but
when I removed the right end nut, there was significant rust,
and the freebody wouldn't come out by hand.
Based on the age, the hub axle should be the older non-butted type,
and in that case aluminum freewheel bodies in white anodize can't be installed.
To fit an aluminum freebody, you'd need to swap in a newer butted axle (I have stock).
A steel freebody can be fitted to the older axle (I have stock).
The fastest way to remove the freebody is to take the axle out of the hub body, so
I removed the axle assembly with the freebody attached.
The freewheel-side hub bearing shows no signs of damage,
but the non-freewheel side ball bearings had taken on a rust color.
Though the hub rotation had no grinding sound to it.
The races too
and the cone have clean wear marks, with no pitting anywhere or even any hints of it,
so replacing just the ball bearing retainer should be sufficient.
I removed the freebody from the axle.
It was indeed the older non-butted axle.
A quick wipe-down.
I could polish and remove the rust more thoroughly if needed.
There's a ring of rust migration formed just under the inner bearing races,
especially pronounced on the outer side.
↑Freebody side condition
Even if we swap out the freebody or axle,
wheel center shouldn't shift, but
sometimes it shifts by about one sheet of paper anyway, so
I'll reassemble the hub and check, correcting if needed.
There used to be a handlebar manufacturer called ITM in Italy.
Rather than adopting a strategy like Deda—moving production to Taiwan to offer products cheaply
while maintaining an Italian brand image—
ITM refused to compromise on in-house Italian manufacturing
even for budget-grade components,
and that's apparently what led to their bankruptcy.
ITM is short for Italmanubri,
where "Ital" means "Italian" and "manubri" means "handlebar,"
so in English it would be "Italian Handlebar."
By the way, the current ITM is a different brand that bought the name from the old ITM.
The old ITM had a series called "Millennium" that included handlebars, stems, and seatposts.
There were also wheels and carbon forks, but
I don't think they ever made it to Japan in any significant quantity.
The Millennium stem is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of aheadset stem design.
This is the Millennium Adjustable, a rare stem with an angle-adjustment mechanism built in.
As for this Millennium seatpost,
it's not actually made by ITM.
It was made by Selcof, another Italian seatpost maker
that was equally committed to in-house Italian manufacturing.
↑Selcof seatpost box
There's a clear line where the seat post clamp is inserted into the round tube,
and of the infinitely adjustable seesaw-style front and rear bolts,
the front bolt is adjusted by loosening the rear bolt
and turning it with an 8mm wrench.
The Millennium's seat post clamp has exactly the same shape.
Conversely, while they're scarce, there are also handlebars and stems with ITM manufacturing but Selcof branding.
These have the exact same design as ITM's stems, so anyone who knows what to look for can tell right away.
Anyway, another wheel day (and so on).
A customer entrusted me with a DT rear wheel with a 32mm high rim.
On the hub shell of what appears to be a hub equivalent to DT's 240S,
there's RRC
525
R stamped on it.
Among DT rims, those designated R (Road) and RR (Road Racing) follow a rule
where the numbers that follow indicate catalog weight.
MTB rims don't follow this rule, so
for example, an XR361 rim isn't necessarily 361g.
To be precise, when DT started their rim business,
their first aluminum rims were called RR1.1 and RR1.2.
Later, redesigned versions of those became RR415 and RR585 respectively,
and from that point on, the numbers have equaled weight.
This rear wheel is designated RRC525R, a model name
that also simply reflects the published weight.
The third letter C stands for Carbon, not Clincher.
The matching front wheel built with the same rim
has the model name RRC425F, so
the R at the end of RRC525R means rear wheel.
24H, white Aero Lite, four-cross lacing pattern.
There was a period when white or red Aero Lite with weak paint coating that peels easily came out,
and it was used on wheels like those from FF Yamaguchi,
but DT announced that the final cross should not be laced
on white and red Aero Lite spokes.
So why is DT itself lacing the final cross on their own complete wheels?
This rim... no matter how you look at it,
is the same as Reynolds' 32 (Thirty-Two) or
the late-model Nomu Lab Wheel #6.
It even has a swirl lip generator (a small protrusion) on the inner side.
In other words, this is a wheel that DT assembled
during a period when Reynolds supplied them with rims
while DT supplied hubs and spokes to Reynolds—
essentially DT's version of Reynolds' 32.
Seeing this reminded me of the old ITM and Selcof relationship,
which is why I wrote that introduction.
This DT version of the 32, the customer wanted rebuilt with
this Campagnolo Proton rear hub.
This is a hub that occasionally appears on Campagnolo and Fulcrum rear wheels:
the "straight spokes on one side only" configuration.
Some of the rear wheels from Racing 7 around that time also had
straight spokes on just one side, but
those had the freewheel side with a universal flange and
the non-freewheel side with forced radial lacing.
This Proton hub has the freewheel side with a forced four-cross equivalent pattern and
the non-freewheel side with a universal flange.
On stock Proton wheels, the non-freewheel side is laced in counter-spoke radial pattern.
↑The image below shows my Neutron hub,
from around the same era as this Proton.
Since the Neutron is categorized as Record-grade,
it has a grease hole in the hub shell
and a C-ring cap to seal it.
Neutron and Hyperon are laced with equal numbers on both sides,
non-freewheel side radial, and while the left-to-right diameter differences are quite extreme
and the left flange is positioned quite far out as you can see,
lateral stiffness doesn't feel compromised.
I disassembled the original wheel.
The image above shows the 12 spokes on the non-freewheel (low tension) side,
and you can see the paint chipped away at the final cross contact points.
The rim had a rim cement bed on it, but
it still came in under 280g—the same weight as the Reynolds 32 and late-model Nomu Lab Wheel #6 rims.
With the Reynolds 32, the rim holes on the inner side have no left-right offset.
And for some reason, only the front wheel is built as an inverted rim.
Campagnolo's equal-spoke-count wheels are both built as inverted rims on front and rear.
So I decided to build this rear wheel as an inverted rim too.
The Reynolds front wheel proves that inverted rim building works fine.
The image above is after the freewheel side temporary lacing is done and
I've laced just one final cross on the non-freewheel side using Italian-style pattern.
I placed a marker tape on the flange hole behind where the counter-spoke passes through,
positioned to block the adjacent flange hole.
These two spokes in the final cross,
they cross over the valve hole.
I shifted the final cross spoke hole one position forward.
The marker tape stays in its original position.
This operation is equivalent to the right/left drop conversion
when threading spokes into a universal flange hub for the first time.
The left and right final cross pairs (four spokes total) now form a bundle that doesn't cross the valve hole,
creating a properly inverted rim build.
Done lacing.
Proton hub, 24H, black Champion straight / black CX Sprint,
four-six lacing with tie-ins.
Since Campagnolo doesn't make a Comp straight spoke
(they exist, but they're hard to find), I used half-Comp
with increased spoke ratio on both sides.
The customer wanted the freebody changed from Campagnolo type to Shimano type, but
when I removed the right end nut, there was significant rust,
and the freebody wouldn't come out by hand.
Based on the age, the hub axle should be the older non-butted type,
and in that case aluminum freewheel bodies in white anodize can't be installed.
To fit an aluminum freebody, you'd need to swap in a newer butted axle (I have stock).
A steel freebody can be fitted to the older axle (I have stock).
The fastest way to remove the freebody is to take the axle out of the hub body, so
I removed the axle assembly with the freebody attached.
The freewheel-side hub bearing shows no signs of damage,
but the non-freewheel side ball bearings had taken on a rust color.
Though the hub rotation had no grinding sound to it.
The races too
and the cone have clean wear marks, with no pitting anywhere or even any hints of it,
so replacing just the ball bearing retainer should be sufficient.
I removed the freebody from the axle.
It was indeed the older non-butted axle.
A quick wipe-down.
I could polish and remove the rust more thoroughly if needed.
There's a ring of rust migration formed just under the inner bearing races,
especially pronounced on the outer side.
↑Freebody side condition
Even if we swap out the freebody or axle,
wheel center shouldn't shift, but
sometimes it shifts by about one sheet of paper anyway, so
I'll reassemble the hub and check, correcting if needed.