Before I get to the main topic of this post.
Yesterday, a front wheel from a LUN (Lun) HYPER (Hyper) wheel built with carbon spokes
was brought into the shop.
On a 2:1 laced front wheel, 3 spokes on the right side (fewer spoke side)
were broken—I didn't ask if it was from a crash or accident—
and one spoke had come off the hub entirely.
So 4 spokes total needed replacement, plus the hub was bent at an angle
and damaged.
The spoke that came off the flange
was on almost the opposite phase from the 3 broken spokes,
and the flange just slipped out of its hook—no real problem there.
The hub axle looking bent is just the appearance caused
by the tension of the remaining spokes,
so once we replace the spokes it should go back to normal. That's what I explained.
The customer had also brought along
a box with 4 spare spokes that came with the wheel purchase,
but when I checked the length of those 4 spokes, they were all different.
Looks like one spare each for the left and right sides of the front wheel
and left and right sides of the rear wheel—all different lengths.
I identified one of the spare spokes that matched the length
of the 3 broken ones, and told the customer they'd need
at least 2 more spokes of that same length to fix it.
Actually, if only 2 spokes were broken,
there would've been one spare from the wheel's 4 spares
that was close enough to the correct length to get the job done.
It would work as a temporary fix until they source the proper length,
and honestly, you could even run it as-is.
So I asked Google about "LUN HYPER"
to find a form on the manufacturer's site for ordering spare spokes
or a sales page, and in the search suggestions
I got "LUN HYPER nomunlab"
of all things. What's that about? I don't recall ever
writing anything particularly critical about this wheel in the past.
Well, whatever. Anyway,
I couldn't find a page where they sell individual spokes.
There was a page saying something like "contact us with your specific situation,"
but that was about it.
But anyway,
I took in a HUNT carbon spoke wheel from a customer
for an inspection.
They wanted it checked out.
I only took photos of the front wheel.
It's 18 holes total in 2:1 lacing—6+12H.
The center's off . . .
With this wheel, when doing truing work
you need to access the rim from the outer side,
so the tubeless tape has to be peeled off.
And characteristically—maybe a bit overly thoughtfully—HUNT
put a small guide hole at the valve hole position
(though not perfectly centered either).
If they're going to do this, I wish they'd just cut it open completely like a can opener.
And if that small hole weren't there,
I could've reused the rim tape.
I could potentially reuse this tape if I peeled it off super carefully
and aligned the hole position when reinstalling,
but it's not ideal.
I did the centering and truing.
While explaining to the customer,
I loosened the nipples completely to show the internal structure.
This part on the rim's inner side—the one you can grip with the nipple wrench—
should never be turned.
It only twists the spoke.
The hexagonal grip surface on the nut
is loosened and tightened from the outer side to make adjustments,
but the square grip surface on the spoke side
is only there to hold against co-rotation
during adjustment—it should never be turned.
I took these HUNT wheel photos back in July this year and they were sitting in my unpublished drafts,
but I pulled them out because the images above are needed for the next post.
Yesterday, a front wheel from a LUN (Lun) HYPER (Hyper) wheel built with carbon spokes
was brought into the shop.
On a 2:1 laced front wheel, 3 spokes on the right side (fewer spoke side)
were broken—I didn't ask if it was from a crash or accident—
and one spoke had come off the hub entirely.
So 4 spokes total needed replacement, plus the hub was bent at an angle
and damaged.
The spoke that came off the flange
was on almost the opposite phase from the 3 broken spokes,
and the flange just slipped out of its hook—no real problem there.
The hub axle looking bent is just the appearance caused
by the tension of the remaining spokes,
so once we replace the spokes it should go back to normal. That's what I explained.
The customer had also brought along
a box with 4 spare spokes that came with the wheel purchase,
but when I checked the length of those 4 spokes, they were all different.
Looks like one spare each for the left and right sides of the front wheel
and left and right sides of the rear wheel—all different lengths.
I identified one of the spare spokes that matched the length
of the 3 broken ones, and told the customer they'd need
at least 2 more spokes of that same length to fix it.
Actually, if only 2 spokes were broken,
there would've been one spare from the wheel's 4 spares
that was close enough to the correct length to get the job done.
It would work as a temporary fix until they source the proper length,
and honestly, you could even run it as-is.
So I asked Google about "LUN HYPER"
to find a form on the manufacturer's site for ordering spare spokes
or a sales page, and in the search suggestions
I got "LUN HYPER nomunlab"
of all things. What's that about? I don't recall ever
writing anything particularly critical about this wheel in the past.
Well, whatever. Anyway,
I couldn't find a page where they sell individual spokes.
There was a page saying something like "contact us with your specific situation,"
but that was about it.
But anyway,
I took in a HUNT carbon spoke wheel from a customer
for an inspection.
They wanted it checked out.
I only took photos of the front wheel.
It's 18 holes total in 2:1 lacing—6+12H.
The center's off . . .
With this wheel, when doing truing work
you need to access the rim from the outer side,
so the tubeless tape has to be peeled off.
And characteristically—maybe a bit overly thoughtfully—HUNT
put a small guide hole at the valve hole position
(though not perfectly centered either).
If they're going to do this, I wish they'd just cut it open completely like a can opener.
And if that small hole weren't there,
I could've reused the rim tape.
I could potentially reuse this tape if I peeled it off super carefully
and aligned the hole position when reinstalling,
but it's not ideal.
I did the centering and truing.
While explaining to the customer,
I loosened the nipples completely to show the internal structure.
This part on the rim's inner side—the one you can grip with the nipple wrench—
should never be turned.
It only twists the spoke.
The hexagonal grip surface on the nut
is loosened and tightened from the outer side to make adjustments,
but the square grip surface on the spoke side
is only there to hold against co-rotation
during adjustment—it should never be turned.
I took these HUNT wheel photos back in July this year and they were sitting in my unpublished drafts,
but I pulled them out because the images above are needed for the next post.