Another day with wheels (and so on).
A customer brought in a front wheel from a ZIPP 303.
This is the partner to the rear wheel I rebuilt the other day.
ZIPP 18H hub, black CX-RAY, straight radial lacing.
This hub has a model designation of 88,
which comes from the fact that the original 88 hub had a stated weight of 88 grams.
Hubs of the same grade ever since
have continued to bear the "88" designation despite being clearly heavier than 88 grams.
The same situation applies to the rear hub 188.
Since that alone is confusing,
ZIPP also assigns formal names by adding a version designation after the 88—
for example, 88V6 (Version 6).
This hub is an 88V8, but it has
a flange ring (a spoke dropout prevention ring) pressed into the end of the hub shell.
The fit between the flange ring and the hub shell by itself
is loose, not really what you'd call a press fit,
but when the wheel is built and spoke tension is applied,
the flange pushes the flange ring from the inside,
making it impossible to remove by hand.
The rear hub models that use free-side radial lacing
also have flange ring-style construction on the free side,
but if a spoke breaks, you need to remove the flange ring to replace it,
which requires releasing the spoke tension on the flange side first—
quite tedious.
Besides ZIPP, Easton hubs also
use flange ring-style construction.
Now, about this flange ring—
I said it can't be removed by hand when the wheel is built,
but it can sometimes come loose unexpectedly from road impacts,
and the manufacturer has issued a recall.
According to the Japanese explanation, the 88, 88V6, 88V7, and 88V8
are subject to recall,
though strictly speaking the first "88" here refers to the 88V4.
The 88V9 doesn't use flange ring construction, so it's not subject to recall.
For the 88V4, see (→here)
For Easton's flange ring-style hubs, see (→here)
Ah, I see. The reason the customer had been storing this 303
was partly related to this recall.
So I'll replace the hub and rebuild it.
This front wheel had an unusually high number of nipple washers that I judged needed replacement—
more than you'd expect from an in-house manufacturer.
Finished building.
Unipair hub for straight spokes, 18H,
black CX Sprint, straight forced radial lacing.
If it were 16H, I definitely wouldn't have gone with CX-RAY,
and if it were 20H, I might have chosen CX-RAY,
but given that the customer's stated weight is neither heavy nor light,
I went with CX Sprint.
Quite a wide-flange hub.
About the bearings used—
it says "Nitro Bearing," but...
↑This is a Tni 660 front hub.
↑And this is today's hub.
The hub axle end neither fills the outline of the hub shell hole
nor sits flush with the hub shell,
and since there's no O-ring or anything like that anywhere,
the bearing seal becomes the final defensive line against water and dust.
↑The outer race and inner race are black with yellow seals—
that's what they call a Nitro Bearing.
The relationship between the inner race and seal was a non-contact type.
At the customer's request, I'm replacing these with contact-type bearings.
By the way, regarding this hub axle design,
the relationship with the end is a press fit,
but if there were threads,
the hub axle would be male threads and the end female threads.
If it were the opposite, the end of the hub axle with female threads cut into it
would be flush with the bearing end.
This "male thread equivalent press-fit end"
tends to develop play easily in hubs,
so most hubs adopt a female thread equivalent press-fit end
that goes over the protruding hub axle.
The only decent example of a male thread equivalent press-fit end
is the DT rim brake front hub.
Here, "DT" refers not to DT products in general
but specifically to DT brand hubs.
DT makes hubs for complete wheel brands based on their specifications,
and some of those have rather poor designs.
This front hub has a female thread equivalent press-fit end,
so that's not a problem, but it has a through-axle radial-laced flange,
so when the hub is assembled, you can't thread spokes through the flange.
For temporary wheel assembly, you need to remove at least one bearing along with the hub axle,
so I thought it would be appreciated if such hubs were supplied disassembled.
By the way, I'm also weighing the rim this time,
but I have no intention of telling the customer.
↑wow, what a jerk
Thank you for your patience! Please take a look at these photos!
It's the rear rim!
It's the front rim!
↑Stop it!
A customer brought in a front wheel from a ZIPP 303.
This is the partner to the rear wheel I rebuilt the other day.
ZIPP 18H hub, black CX-RAY, straight radial lacing.
This hub has a model designation of 88,
which comes from the fact that the original 88 hub had a stated weight of 88 grams.
Hubs of the same grade ever since
have continued to bear the "88" designation despite being clearly heavier than 88 grams.
The same situation applies to the rear hub 188.
Since that alone is confusing,
ZIPP also assigns formal names by adding a version designation after the 88—
for example, 88V6 (Version 6).
This hub is an 88V8, but it has
a flange ring (a spoke dropout prevention ring) pressed into the end of the hub shell.
The fit between the flange ring and the hub shell by itself
is loose, not really what you'd call a press fit,
but when the wheel is built and spoke tension is applied,
the flange pushes the flange ring from the inside,
making it impossible to remove by hand.
The rear hub models that use free-side radial lacing
also have flange ring-style construction on the free side,
but if a spoke breaks, you need to remove the flange ring to replace it,
which requires releasing the spoke tension on the flange side first—
quite tedious.
Besides ZIPP, Easton hubs also
use flange ring-style construction.
Now, about this flange ring—
I said it can't be removed by hand when the wheel is built,
but it can sometimes come loose unexpectedly from road impacts,
and the manufacturer has issued a recall.
According to the Japanese explanation, the 88, 88V6, 88V7, and 88V8
are subject to recall,
though strictly speaking the first "88" here refers to the 88V4.
The 88V9 doesn't use flange ring construction, so it's not subject to recall.
For the 88V4, see (→here)
For Easton's flange ring-style hubs, see (→here)
Ah, I see. The reason the customer had been storing this 303
was partly related to this recall.
So I'll replace the hub and rebuild it.
This front wheel had an unusually high number of nipple washers that I judged needed replacement—
more than you'd expect from an in-house manufacturer.
Finished building.
Unipair hub for straight spokes, 18H,
black CX Sprint, straight forced radial lacing.
If it were 16H, I definitely wouldn't have gone with CX-RAY,
and if it were 20H, I might have chosen CX-RAY,
but given that the customer's stated weight is neither heavy nor light,
I went with CX Sprint.
Quite a wide-flange hub.
About the bearings used—
it says "Nitro Bearing," but...
↑This is a Tni 660 front hub.
↑And this is today's hub.
The hub axle end neither fills the outline of the hub shell hole
nor sits flush with the hub shell,
and since there's no O-ring or anything like that anywhere,
the bearing seal becomes the final defensive line against water and dust.
↑The outer race and inner race are black with yellow seals—
that's what they call a Nitro Bearing.
The relationship between the inner race and seal was a non-contact type.
At the customer's request, I'm replacing these with contact-type bearings.
By the way, regarding this hub axle design,
the relationship with the end is a press fit,
but if there were threads,
the hub axle would be male threads and the end female threads.
If it were the opposite, the end of the hub axle with female threads cut into it
would be flush with the bearing end.
This "male thread equivalent press-fit end"
tends to develop play easily in hubs,
so most hubs adopt a female thread equivalent press-fit end
that goes over the protruding hub axle.
The only decent example of a male thread equivalent press-fit end
is the DT rim brake front hub.
Here, "DT" refers not to DT products in general
but specifically to DT brand hubs.
DT makes hubs for complete wheel brands based on their specifications,
and some of those have rather poor designs.
This front hub has a female thread equivalent press-fit end,
so that's not a problem, but it has a through-axle radial-laced flange,
so when the hub is assembled, you can't thread spokes through the flange.
For temporary wheel assembly, you need to remove at least one bearing along with the hub axle,
so I thought it would be appreciated if such hubs were supplied disassembled.
By the way, I'm also weighing the rim this time,
but I have no intention of telling the customer.
↑wow, what a jerk
Thank you for your patience! Please take a look at these photos!
It's the rear rim!
It's the front rim!
↑Stop it!