Another day, another wheel (and so on).
A customer brought in both the front and rear wheels from a Gokiso (probably) complete wheel.
This is a customer who had me build a Nomu Lab Wheel #5 on a Gokiso hub a few years back,
but compared to that, this one doesn't roll well at all,
so they're asking for a rebuild (Goki-hope—not a typo, intentional!).
The reason I say "(probably) complete wheel"
is because this isn't the original owner,
so we don't have all the details.
The rear wheel is the critical performance issue,
but since this carbon WO rim isn't particularly excellent in height-to-weight ratio,
they want to rebuild it with a so-called Chinese carbon lightweight tubular rim,
so I'm rebuilding the front wheel too.
The hub is a Gokiso Climber Hub, and
the rim is also a Gokiso.
I can't say for certain, but Gokiso sells hubs individually
but apparently doesn't sell rims individually,
so the only way to get one is by purchasing a complete wheel.
I checked my 2016 catalog too,
and it only listed the rim replacement cost for complete wheels—
so yeah, no individual rim sales.
The rim is an Equinox WH175, the same as the Nomu Lab Wheel #2 rim and others.
It's internal nipple spec and has low rim height,
so the end of the inverted nipple on the outer circumference
is very close to the rim tape application surface.
If you use something like Panaracer Polylite rim tape,
you'll get a pinch flat within a few months.
Gokiso sells what are called velo-plugs for their own wheels,
but unless you're doing something like "double-wrapping tubeless tape on this non-tubeless rim,"
velo-plugs might be the better option.
By the way, when it came in, it had a Schwalbe stretch-type rim tape applied—
not by the current owner.
The rim holes on the inner circumference have clear runout,
so you can't build it reversed rim.
The outer circumference holes are all centered,
but there are a lot of nipples whose cores are offset from the hole center—
with no discernible pattern.
With a rear wheel, alternating free-side nipples centered with non-free-side nipples offset
wouldn't be strange,
but this is a front wheel without a dropout.
You could theoretically bend the plain part of the spoke through lever action
just by applying a slight tilt with the tool that turns the internal nipple,
and I can probably identify why this happens in multiple places.
That said, this isn't something that develops with age.
If it's like this, it was like this when brand new.
The spokes have uppercase "H" stamps on the spoke head, so they're Hoshi Starbright,
and they're the real deal—the magnet sticks well.
They're not the counterfeit ones that Hoshi was dumping for a while.
That's not just luck; there's a reason.
Domestic spoke manufacturers traditionally make nipple grab flats with 3.4mm flats,
but the tool for turning internal nipples only comes in 3.2mm,
so this wheel was built with DT brass nipples.
Internal "dedicated" nipples have no slot
on the surface facing the outer circumference of a regular nipple.
The slot presence means the rim gets faintly scratched—
enough that shaved carbon collects in the slot.
There's no problem with that itself, and many wheels are built with
regular nipples reversed as internal nipples.
Also, some internal dedicated nipples have thread starts earlier
than inverted nipples,
and if you get the spoke length wrong on the long side,
you can run out of thread and bottom out.
So this is the end of the inverted nipple that was in contact with the rim,
and there's a round mark on the end face.
As I wrote a while back (→here),
this is the identifying mark for a #15 nipple.
Of the Aero Starbrights that Hoshi has lost the technique for
(if you say otherwise, do a full reproduction—I'll buy them),
only the III type fits through round holes.
And that Aero SB III
has a square aero shape in the butted section.
Also, as a general tendency with all Aero SBs,
the plain part below the neck (round-section part) is often
unnaturally long,
and that proportion isn't consistent relative to spoke length.
These H-stamp aero spokes,
have an elliptical aero shape in the butted section,
a very short plain part below the neck,
and are #15 base.
This is a custom order—a different length and color spec—
from the manufacturing process of NJS Track Spokes 305mm for competitive track cycling.
Once you realize that, a lot of things click into place.
First, the magnetic properties. To my knowledge,
counterfeit Starbrights don't exist among competitive track Aero SBs.
And probably never will.
The spokes were bent in the rim because they're finer than #14 and bend more easily.
A 0.2mm difference makes an absolute difference in that respect.
And if this isn't Gokiso in-house manufacturing but rather
assembled by some shop from a rim and hub,
they'd need to have on hand
spokes that are special in spec and color
in just the right length for this wheel,
which is almost certainly impossible.
And regarding the rear wheel,
the fact that they're still doing non-drive-side radial lacing on equal-sided rear wheels
that were confirmed as crap wheels back in the 20th century,
even now in the 21st century,
has a certain Gokiso-like smell to it.
It's built.
It claims 35mm height but measured 35.5mm,
but let's call that nominal dimension.
Shimano's R9100 C40 wheel
has the WO rim version using the exact same rim as the 9000 C35
(cosmetics differ)
at 35mm height but calling it C40,
and the tubular rim version, even though it's a new rim with spec changes,
is 37mm height and calling it C40,
so compared to that, this is pretty minor.
Gokiso Climber Hub 20H
Black CX-RAY non-radial lacing.
The hub flange connects to the hub body like an old pine tree root,
so even with non-radial lacing,
there shouldn't be any side play in the hub shaft
from spoke tension,
but the flange holes are quite inward relative to
the apparent outer diameter of the hub flange,
so non-radial lacing causes
the spokes to contact the hub flange.
Looking at the inside of the flange on the hub alone when the wheel was disassembled,
there were marks from crossed lacing,
so contact is happening to some degree.
This rim, despite being so-called Chinese carbon,
comes through a distributor,
so responsibility is clear.
The claimed weight is 270g, but
the actual measured weight was over 400g.
Oh, sorry—that was the rim from before the rebuild.
This is the new rim.
The customer is already experienced with tubulars,
so there's no issue with tire handling.
A customer brought in both the front and rear wheels from a Gokiso (probably) complete wheel.
This is a customer who had me build a Nomu Lab Wheel #5 on a Gokiso hub a few years back,
but compared to that, this one doesn't roll well at all,
so they're asking for a rebuild (Goki-hope—not a typo, intentional!).
The reason I say "(probably) complete wheel"
is because this isn't the original owner,
so we don't have all the details.
The rear wheel is the critical performance issue,
but since this carbon WO rim isn't particularly excellent in height-to-weight ratio,
they want to rebuild it with a so-called Chinese carbon lightweight tubular rim,
so I'm rebuilding the front wheel too.
The hub is a Gokiso Climber Hub, and
the rim is also a Gokiso.
I can't say for certain, but Gokiso sells hubs individually
but apparently doesn't sell rims individually,
so the only way to get one is by purchasing a complete wheel.
I checked my 2016 catalog too,
and it only listed the rim replacement cost for complete wheels—
so yeah, no individual rim sales.
The rim is an Equinox WH175, the same as the Nomu Lab Wheel #2 rim and others.
It's internal nipple spec and has low rim height,
so the end of the inverted nipple on the outer circumference
is very close to the rim tape application surface.
If you use something like Panaracer Polylite rim tape,
you'll get a pinch flat within a few months.
Gokiso sells what are called velo-plugs for their own wheels,
but unless you're doing something like "double-wrapping tubeless tape on this non-tubeless rim,"
velo-plugs might be the better option.
By the way, when it came in, it had a Schwalbe stretch-type rim tape applied—
not by the current owner.
The rim holes on the inner circumference have clear runout,
so you can't build it reversed rim.
The outer circumference holes are all centered,
but there are a lot of nipples whose cores are offset from the hole center—
with no discernible pattern.
With a rear wheel, alternating free-side nipples centered with non-free-side nipples offset
wouldn't be strange,
but this is a front wheel without a dropout.
You could theoretically bend the plain part of the spoke through lever action
just by applying a slight tilt with the tool that turns the internal nipple,
and I can probably identify why this happens in multiple places.
That said, this isn't something that develops with age.
If it's like this, it was like this when brand new.
The spokes have uppercase "H" stamps on the spoke head, so they're Hoshi Starbright,
and they're the real deal—the magnet sticks well.
They're not the counterfeit ones that Hoshi was dumping for a while.
That's not just luck; there's a reason.
Domestic spoke manufacturers traditionally make nipple grab flats with 3.4mm flats,
but the tool for turning internal nipples only comes in 3.2mm,
so this wheel was built with DT brass nipples.
Internal "dedicated" nipples have no slot
on the surface facing the outer circumference of a regular nipple.
The slot presence means the rim gets faintly scratched—
enough that shaved carbon collects in the slot.
There's no problem with that itself, and many wheels are built with
regular nipples reversed as internal nipples.
Also, some internal dedicated nipples have thread starts earlier
than inverted nipples,
and if you get the spoke length wrong on the long side,
you can run out of thread and bottom out.
So this is the end of the inverted nipple that was in contact with the rim,
and there's a round mark on the end face.
As I wrote a while back (→here),
this is the identifying mark for a #15 nipple.
Of the Aero Starbrights that Hoshi has lost the technique for
(if you say otherwise, do a full reproduction—I'll buy them),
only the III type fits through round holes.
And that Aero SB III
has a square aero shape in the butted section.
Also, as a general tendency with all Aero SBs,
the plain part below the neck (round-section part) is often
unnaturally long,
and that proportion isn't consistent relative to spoke length.
These H-stamp aero spokes,
have an elliptical aero shape in the butted section,
a very short plain part below the neck,
and are #15 base.
This is a custom order—a different length and color spec—
from the manufacturing process of NJS Track Spokes 305mm for competitive track cycling.
Once you realize that, a lot of things click into place.
First, the magnetic properties. To my knowledge,
counterfeit Starbrights don't exist among competitive track Aero SBs.
And probably never will.
The spokes were bent in the rim because they're finer than #14 and bend more easily.
A 0.2mm difference makes an absolute difference in that respect.
And if this isn't Gokiso in-house manufacturing but rather
assembled by some shop from a rim and hub,
they'd need to have on hand
spokes that are special in spec and color
in just the right length for this wheel,
which is almost certainly impossible.
And regarding the rear wheel,
the fact that they're still doing non-drive-side radial lacing on equal-sided rear wheels
that were confirmed as crap wheels back in the 20th century,
even now in the 21st century,
has a certain Gokiso-like smell to it.
It's built.
It claims 35mm height but measured 35.5mm,
but let's call that nominal dimension.
Shimano's R9100 C40 wheel
has the WO rim version using the exact same rim as the 9000 C35
(cosmetics differ)
at 35mm height but calling it C40,
and the tubular rim version, even though it's a new rim with spec changes,
is 37mm height and calling it C40,
so compared to that, this is pretty minor.
Gokiso Climber Hub 20H
Black CX-RAY non-radial lacing.
The hub flange connects to the hub body like an old pine tree root,
so even with non-radial lacing,
there shouldn't be any side play in the hub shaft
from spoke tension,
but the flange holes are quite inward relative to
the apparent outer diameter of the hub flange,
so non-radial lacing causes
the spokes to contact the hub flange.
Looking at the inside of the flange on the hub alone when the wheel was disassembled,
there were marks from crossed lacing,
so contact is happening to some degree.
This rim, despite being so-called Chinese carbon,
comes through a distributor,
so responsibility is clear.
The claimed weight is 270g, but
the actual measured weight was over 400g.
Oh, sorry—that was the rim from before the rebuild.
This is the new rim.
The customer is already experienced with tubulars,
so there's no issue with tire handling.