I received a Cosmic Ultimate from a customer for service.
The image above is after service — it's now fitted with Continental Competition
25C tubular tires.
Both front and rear wheels came in for tire replacement.
I myself have the same wheel from the narrow rim era,
the Cosmic Carbon Ultimate, but
this one is a wide rim with the model name Cosmic Ultimate,
a rim brake wheel.
Currently, only disc brake models are in production,
and while the rim cosmetics have changed,
what concerns me more is that the connection between the carbon spoke and rim
has shifted from a Lightweight-style treatment
to a more conventional wheel-like treatment.
Unlike Lightweight, the rear wheel has a radial lacing on the non-drive side,
and only the non-drive side has nipples attached at the hub for adjustment.
While this can be used for truing, it's really there
for centering purposes,
which I think is a measure to improve product yield.
Similarly, Reynolds RZR is a Lightweight-style wheel
(a monocoque wheel with flat carbon spokes encasing tension structure),
and its rear wheel also allows for stepwise centering adjustment.
All rear wheels are naturally offset slightly toward the non-drive side, and
by inserting an optional number of thin spacers when fitting
the left dropout end onto the hub shaft,
you can adjust the wheel center within that precision range.
↑There's a dedicated nipple wrench like this.
You could probably make do with a clean-gripping wrench tool
if you didn't have this,
but in the case of the first-generation Cosmic Carbon SLR,
this same wrench slot is inside the carbon rim hood internally,
so this tool is essential.
By the way, I once tried changing these nipples from
brass to aluminum,
but the spoke and nipple threads were size 13,
so I gave up.
The rim was offset toward the drive side.
Phew, glad it was on the drive side.
Since there are nipples only on the non-drive side,
if the rim had been offset toward the non-drive side,
I could only correct it by loosening.
There was lateral runout too, which I corrected within correctable range,
but the phase with the most drive-side runout was
directly below the spoke coming from the right flange,
so I couldn't fully correct it.
However, it only shows up on the truing stand —
the runout is so small you can't feel it when riding
with the brake set and engaged.
Center is dialed in.
For the front wheel, knowing about issues doesn't help you fix them,
so it's better not to use a center gauge.
There are some things in this world you're better off not knowing about (→see here).
For the front wheel, if the bearing play is fine,
it's just a tire replacement,
but there's an issue related to that, so I'll explain to the customer before proceeding.
Unlike the rear wheel, there's no truing stand work involved,
so it won't take long.
I won't write about this issue here,
but I'll note that it's not unique to the Cosmic Carbon.
It's a type of insider knowledge, but I'll explain it to customers
who have actually experienced the problem.
Worst case, you might end up unable to inflate your tire
at a race venue or in the mountains.
The image above is after service — it's now fitted with Continental Competition
25C tubular tires.
Both front and rear wheels came in for tire replacement.
I myself have the same wheel from the narrow rim era,
the Cosmic Carbon Ultimate, but
this one is a wide rim with the model name Cosmic Ultimate,
a rim brake wheel.
Currently, only disc brake models are in production,
and while the rim cosmetics have changed,
what concerns me more is that the connection between the carbon spoke and rim
has shifted from a Lightweight-style treatment
to a more conventional wheel-like treatment.
Unlike Lightweight, the rear wheel has a radial lacing on the non-drive side,
and only the non-drive side has nipples attached at the hub for adjustment.
While this can be used for truing, it's really there
for centering purposes,
which I think is a measure to improve product yield.
Similarly, Reynolds RZR is a Lightweight-style wheel
(a monocoque wheel with flat carbon spokes encasing tension structure),
and its rear wheel also allows for stepwise centering adjustment.
All rear wheels are naturally offset slightly toward the non-drive side, and
by inserting an optional number of thin spacers when fitting
the left dropout end onto the hub shaft,
you can adjust the wheel center within that precision range.
↑There's a dedicated nipple wrench like this.
You could probably make do with a clean-gripping wrench tool
if you didn't have this,
but in the case of the first-generation Cosmic Carbon SLR,
this same wrench slot is inside the carbon rim hood internally,
so this tool is essential.
By the way, I once tried changing these nipples from
brass to aluminum,
but the spoke and nipple threads were size 13,
so I gave up.
The rim was offset toward the drive side.
Phew, glad it was on the drive side.
Since there are nipples only on the non-drive side,
if the rim had been offset toward the non-drive side,
I could only correct it by loosening.
There was lateral runout too, which I corrected within correctable range,
but the phase with the most drive-side runout was
directly below the spoke coming from the right flange,
so I couldn't fully correct it.
However, it only shows up on the truing stand —
the runout is so small you can't feel it when riding
with the brake set and engaged.
Center is dialed in.
For the front wheel, knowing about issues doesn't help you fix them,
so it's better not to use a center gauge.
There are some things in this world you're better off not knowing about (→see here).
For the front wheel, if the bearing play is fine,
it's just a tire replacement,
but there's an issue related to that, so I'll explain to the customer before proceeding.
Unlike the rear wheel, there's no truing stand work involved,
so it won't take long.
I won't write about this issue here,
but I'll note that it's not unique to the Cosmic Carbon.
It's a type of insider knowledge, but I'll explain it to customers
who have actually experienced the problem.
Worst case, you might end up unable to inflate your tire
at a race venue or in the mountains.