Another day of wheel work (and so on).
A customer brought in a Bontrager
Aeolus Pro 37 wheel,
specifically the rear wheel,
for some work.
DT hub, 24H, all-black Aero Lite straight spokes
built in a forced 2-cross pattern on both sides,
but they want me to replace the spokes on the freewheel side with CX Sprint spokes
and tie-wire the non-freewheel side.
I only photographed one side,
but the spoke lengths on both sides looked legitimate.
The spoke threads are the same length as generic parts,
but the nipples have a hex grip on the outer edge,
and the outer contact point is longer than generic nipples.
Meanwhile, the spoke length is
slightly short of flush with the nipple end face.
If this wheel had been built with generic nipples,
the spoke threads would
be just slightly protruding from the nipple.
What the heck. The rim is severely off-center toward the freewheel side.
The deviation is too large to pass a manufacturer's quality check,
so maybe someone did a tension-tightening workout without a center gauge
before bringing it to our shop.
I removed one spoke from each side and checked the length difference.
Since the hub is a high-low flange type, the lengths are clearly different.
Completely disassembled.
I could have done a partial rebuild with just the freewheel side,
but a complete teardown results in higher overall finish quality
and doesn't take significantly longer.
Work that can only be done with the hub as a separate unit
Gave it a thorough cleaning.
The customer had told me I could replace bearings or whatever at my discretion
if there were any issues with the hub rotation,
but there weren't any issues—I just applied specialized grease
to the star ratchet parts.
↑Non-freewheel side spokes
↑Freewheel side spokes
I expected the non-freewheel side, being lower tension,
to show more wear marks at the final crossing,
but the actual result was the opposite.
The freewheel side probably shows more wear
because the spoke angle creates higher contact pressure
at the final crossing. (※)
※Just a guess, no basis for it
The aluminum nipples have such excellent design,
as I mentioned before, so I'm reusing them.
I trued the radial and lateral runout nearly perfectly,
and I won't deny I exaggerated things for the article,
but I built it biased toward the freewheel side.
At this point the freewheel side is tighter than when we received it,
but when I tension up the non-freewheel side to center the wheel,
the freewheel side spoke tension increases slightly.
It will never decrease, of course.
So even without tie-wiring, this wheel is now guaranteed to be
less mushy than the original.
Centered it.
Built.
I switched the freewheel side to black CX Sprint.
I'll do the tie-wiring later.
About this rim—the serial number label format has QR codes on both sides,
numbers starting with 210~ on the top row,
and alphanumerics starting with CD~ on the bottom row.
I know the name of the "manufacturer" that makes this rim,
and I also know the name of the "brand" they sell it under,
but I can't write it here for political reasons.
This rim is OEM production by that manufacturer for the Bontrager "brand,"
but the meaning of the 210~ or CD~ markings in the serial number
is simply determined by production timing—
it's not differentiated by OEM customer brand.
The Bontrager and Aeolus markings printed on the rim sidewall
are also characteristic only of that OEM manufacturer.
This printing, which has slight dimension to it,
is actually applied at the moment it comes out of the carbon mold.
Emboss-printing onto products during carbon molding is not exclusive when the print surface is flat,
but printing onto a curved surface like a rim sidewall
is patented by this OEM manufacturer.
So I can immediately identify rims from this OEM's customers.
Secret technique: Crab Not Needed!
By intentionally revealing the rim weight,
I suppress that guy's appearance—a technique.
If there's no leaking information, he won't show up.
Sorry for the wait! Please look at these images!
A wheel built with a rim bearing a label with QR codes on both sides,
part numbers starting with 210~／CD~!
↑Stop it!
A customer brought in a Bontrager
Aeolus Pro 37 wheel,
specifically the rear wheel,
for some work.
DT hub, 24H, all-black Aero Lite straight spokes
built in a forced 2-cross pattern on both sides,
but they want me to replace the spokes on the freewheel side with CX Sprint spokes
and tie-wire the non-freewheel side.
I only photographed one side,
but the spoke lengths on both sides looked legitimate.
The spoke threads are the same length as generic parts,
but the nipples have a hex grip on the outer edge,
and the outer contact point is longer than generic nipples.
Meanwhile, the spoke length is
slightly short of flush with the nipple end face.
If this wheel had been built with generic nipples,
the spoke threads would
be just slightly protruding from the nipple.
What the heck. The rim is severely off-center toward the freewheel side.
The deviation is too large to pass a manufacturer's quality check,
so maybe someone did a tension-tightening workout without a center gauge
before bringing it to our shop.
I removed one spoke from each side and checked the length difference.
Since the hub is a high-low flange type, the lengths are clearly different.
Completely disassembled.
I could have done a partial rebuild with just the freewheel side,
but a complete teardown results in higher overall finish quality
and doesn't take significantly longer.
Work that can only be done with the hub as a separate unit
Gave it a thorough cleaning.
The customer had told me I could replace bearings or whatever at my discretion
if there were any issues with the hub rotation,
but there weren't any issues—I just applied specialized grease
to the star ratchet parts.
↑Non-freewheel side spokes
↑Freewheel side spokes
I expected the non-freewheel side, being lower tension,
to show more wear marks at the final crossing,
but the actual result was the opposite.
The freewheel side probably shows more wear
because the spoke angle creates higher contact pressure
at the final crossing. (※)
※Just a guess, no basis for it
The aluminum nipples have such excellent design,
as I mentioned before, so I'm reusing them.
I trued the radial and lateral runout nearly perfectly,
and I won't deny I exaggerated things for the article,
but I built it biased toward the freewheel side.
At this point the freewheel side is tighter than when we received it,
but when I tension up the non-freewheel side to center the wheel,
the freewheel side spoke tension increases slightly.
It will never decrease, of course.
So even without tie-wiring, this wheel is now guaranteed to be
less mushy than the original.
Centered it.
Built.
I switched the freewheel side to black CX Sprint.
I'll do the tie-wiring later.
About this rim—the serial number label format has QR codes on both sides,
numbers starting with 210~ on the top row,
and alphanumerics starting with CD~ on the bottom row.
I know the name of the "manufacturer" that makes this rim,
and I also know the name of the "brand" they sell it under,
but I can't write it here for political reasons.
This rim is OEM production by that manufacturer for the Bontrager "brand,"
but the meaning of the 210~ or CD~ markings in the serial number
is simply determined by production timing—
it's not differentiated by OEM customer brand.
The Bontrager and Aeolus markings printed on the rim sidewall
are also characteristic only of that OEM manufacturer.
This printing, which has slight dimension to it,
is actually applied at the moment it comes out of the carbon mold.
Emboss-printing onto products during carbon molding is not exclusive when the print surface is flat,
but printing onto a curved surface like a rim sidewall
is patented by this OEM manufacturer.
So I can immediately identify rims from this OEM's customers.
Secret technique: Crab Not Needed!
By intentionally revealing the rim weight,
I suppress that guy's appearance—a technique.
If there's no leaking information, he won't show up.
Sorry for the wait! Please look at these images!
A wheel built with a rim bearing a label with QR codes on both sides,
part numbers starting with 210~／CD~!
↑Stop it!