I ordered a Zonda DB for a customer.
As expected, it's a through-axle spec with 100mm front and 142mm rear width.
The frameset the customer wants to install this on has
an over-locknut dimension of
100mm front and 135mm rear width with a quick-release spec,
and apparently they asked around at about three shops before coming here,
but they all said installation wasn't possible.
Converting the front 100mm to quick-release is straightforward,
but converting the rear 142mm to quick-release is also possible
within the range of parts Campagnolo originally provided.
The first disc road wheels Campagnolo released were
the Bora One DB and Zonda DB
(so back then, pro teams also used the Bora One DB).
Apparently, that original Bora One DB can be converted to a 135mm quick-release spec
by swapping the rear hub shaft.
I learned this from someone at the parts distributor most knowledgeable about Campagnolo in Japan
(by the way, the recently released latest Bora WTO series
cannot be converted to quick-release specs).
With the Zonda DB, it can be converted to quick-release spec using the same method
as with Fulcrum's MTB wheels from before that
(though the parts aren't identical).
First, swap out the end pieces on both sides of the rear wheel
to make the hub width 135mm.
At this point, it becomes a 135mm through-axle—
a super niche specification.
Then by inserting quick-release end pieces into it,
it becomes a quick-release spec with
an over-locknut dimension of 135mm width.
↑This is the instruction manual that came with the wheel.
Top right is 142mm through-axle,
top left is 135mm through-axle,
and bottom is 135mm quick-release, but
First, since it ships as a 142mm through-axle,
remove the end parts D and E from the right and left in the diagram above.
H is the part that comes with the wheel from the factory.
On some wheels, this part H equivalent is
split into two pieces.
Swap parts D and E for A and B.
This converts it to 135mm through-axle.
From that state, insert part G—a 12mm nominal diameter piece
with the insertion portion that hooks into the quick-release hole and frame slot.
This converts it to a 135mm quick-release spec, but
The wheel only came with parts A and B
for converting the rear wheel to 135mm through-axle.
However, our shop has part G in stock,
so quick-release conversion is possible.
I wrote earlier that it can be converted to a 135mm quick-release spec
using original parts, but I didn't say
using only the parts included with the wheel.
↑This is an instruction manual from April 2015
for converting a Fulcrum MTB wheel front hub
from through-axle to quick-release, but
MTB has a 15mm nominal through-axle hole diameter,
so the outer diameter of the insertion part for the quick-release conversion part is also 15mm.
With part G, the outer diameter is 12mm instead.
Since disc road front hubs are also 12mm diameter,
the diameter of the part that hooks into the frame slot is
9mm or 10mm—you better check, dumbass,
said the person from the distributor most knowledgeable about Campagnolo in Japan,
so I looked it up and
it was 10mm.
For the front hub, third-party parts that fill the 100mm width and 12mm diameter
to convert to quick-release are available
from various manufacturers.
The diameter of the part that hooks into the fork end is 9mm.
Provisional centering of the off-the-shelf 142mm width.
The rim is very slightly offset to the right.
On the rim there's a long sticker with ZONDA and CAMPAGNOLO,
and the thickness of this sticker
is something the centering gauge picks up, so be careful.
I positioned the two measurement points of the gauge
at phases where the sticker is not applied.
There were cutting chips remaining from drilling the hole on the inner circumference of the rim,
so I shook them out.
Provisional centering after converting to 135mm through-axle spec.
The rim's tendency to shift right is the same,
but the amount has clearly increased.
The phase without the sticker and the phase where the outpoke side spoke doesn't interfere with the gauge
are limited, so
on a wheel with runout, the phase at which the centering gauge contacts
became 90 degrees orthogonal to before, which is why the amount changed...that's not it.
Actually, there was barely any lateral runout.
The right end has a reverse-threaded nut,
and the left end is a snap-fit—
a pop-in end that's too sturdy to call a simple pop-in—but
the right end does shift position depending on how much you thread the nut in.
However, the original 142mm-width end nut was torqued down harder than anything,
so the 135mm-width end nut's threads aren't more advanced.
So I suspect that when the Zonda DB is converted from 142mm through-axle
to 135mm through-axle,
there's a tendency for the wheel center to shift
in the direction of the rim shifting right.
↑Outpoke side
↑Freehub side
On the Bora DB's outpoke side and such,
the end of the hub shaft becomes the end of the hub dimension,
but on the Zonda DB, the end of the end piece is
the end of the hub dimension on both sides.
The portion that's one step lower than the gear teeth of the end,
the inner diameter of the end piece
I thought it would match the outer diameter of the flange of part G,
almost filling it, but
it wasn't quite that, and there were differences between front and rear as well.
After converting to 135mm quick-release spec,
I did truing and centering.
Also, for both wheels this time,
I don't know if the person who assembled them was the same,
but the hub bearing adjustment was overtightened,
so I loosened it slightly within the range of no play.
On a 2:1 rear wheel with the few-spoke side as radial lacing,
the disc rotor mounting side and
the radial lacing side are on the same side, but
perhaps spooked by this, the flange shape for each spoke head
has become quite robust.
※ Switching to tangential lacing out of fear
is the worst thing you can do
in the logic of a wheel by itself separate from brakes.
It creates an odd situation where the freehub side has lower tension,
and no rim brake wheel manufacturer ever did this.
The fact that this flange shape is for disc brakes is evidenced by the fact that
the front wheel's radial lacing side keeps
nearly the same flange shape as a rim brake Zonda.
I'll add a picture later.
Addendum: ↑ I said that, but
I forgot to shoot it and handed it over to the customer, so
I'm posting an official manufacturer image instead.
Also, the diameter of the butted section on the outpoke side is
visibly thicker than on the freehub side,
so when I measured it with calipers,
the freehub side spokes are 2.0–1.6–2.0mm, while
the outpoke side is 2.0–1.8–2.0mm,
which is reverse-different-diameter lacing
versus left-right different-number lacing.
This guy's got some serious skills.
The front wheel doesn't have as large a dishing angle,
so both sides are 2.0–1.6–2.0mm.
Just like the Hyperion DB where the front is 2:1 lacing but non-offset rim
and rear is left-right same-spoke lacing but offset rim,
Campagnolo's evaluation of the magnitude of wheel-related factors is exquisite.
The rear wheel had a lot of debris inside the rim,
including pieces where the blue nylon locktite on the nipples was broken
and aluminum slivers as well.
Looking at this, it seems the manufacturer does roughly remove this kind of debris.
This front wheel must be an individual that they forgot to do that on.
The rim is very slightly offset to the left.
As I mentioned before, the hub bearing was tight,
and there's no way you wouldn't notice it when building the wheel.
Especially the front wheel—they'd overtightened it so much
it actually interfered with wheel assembly itself.
After adjusting the bearing, I did truing and centering.
Though there was barely any runout anyway, so
I basically just retightened and shifted the rim.
As expected, it's a through-axle spec with 100mm front and 142mm rear width.
The frameset the customer wants to install this on has
an over-locknut dimension of
100mm front and 135mm rear width with a quick-release spec,
and apparently they asked around at about three shops before coming here,
but they all said installation wasn't possible.
Converting the front 100mm to quick-release is straightforward,
but converting the rear 142mm to quick-release is also possible
within the range of parts Campagnolo originally provided.
The first disc road wheels Campagnolo released were
the Bora One DB and Zonda DB
(so back then, pro teams also used the Bora One DB).
Apparently, that original Bora One DB can be converted to a 135mm quick-release spec
by swapping the rear hub shaft.
I learned this from someone at the parts distributor most knowledgeable about Campagnolo in Japan
(by the way, the recently released latest Bora WTO series
cannot be converted to quick-release specs).
With the Zonda DB, it can be converted to quick-release spec using the same method
as with Fulcrum's MTB wheels from before that
(though the parts aren't identical).
First, swap out the end pieces on both sides of the rear wheel
to make the hub width 135mm.
At this point, it becomes a 135mm through-axle—
a super niche specification.
Then by inserting quick-release end pieces into it,
it becomes a quick-release spec with
an over-locknut dimension of 135mm width.
↑This is the instruction manual that came with the wheel.
Top right is 142mm through-axle,
top left is 135mm through-axle,
and bottom is 135mm quick-release, but
First, since it ships as a 142mm through-axle,
remove the end parts D and E from the right and left in the diagram above.
H is the part that comes with the wheel from the factory.
On some wheels, this part H equivalent is
split into two pieces.
Swap parts D and E for A and B.
This converts it to 135mm through-axle.
From that state, insert part G—a 12mm nominal diameter piece
with the insertion portion that hooks into the quick-release hole and frame slot.
This converts it to a 135mm quick-release spec, but
The wheel only came with parts A and B
for converting the rear wheel to 135mm through-axle.
However, our shop has part G in stock,
so quick-release conversion is possible.
I wrote earlier that it can be converted to a 135mm quick-release spec
using original parts, but I didn't say
using only the parts included with the wheel.
↑This is an instruction manual from April 2015
for converting a Fulcrum MTB wheel front hub
from through-axle to quick-release, but
MTB has a 15mm nominal through-axle hole diameter,
so the outer diameter of the insertion part for the quick-release conversion part is also 15mm.
With part G, the outer diameter is 12mm instead.
Since disc road front hubs are also 12mm diameter,
the diameter of the part that hooks into the frame slot is
9mm or 10mm—you better check, dumbass,
said the person from the distributor most knowledgeable about Campagnolo in Japan,
so I looked it up and
it was 10mm.
For the front hub, third-party parts that fill the 100mm width and 12mm diameter
to convert to quick-release are available
from various manufacturers.
The diameter of the part that hooks into the fork end is 9mm.
Provisional centering of the off-the-shelf 142mm width.
The rim is very slightly offset to the right.
On the rim there's a long sticker with ZONDA and CAMPAGNOLO,
and the thickness of this sticker
is something the centering gauge picks up, so be careful.
I positioned the two measurement points of the gauge
at phases where the sticker is not applied.
There were cutting chips remaining from drilling the hole on the inner circumference of the rim,
so I shook them out.
Provisional centering after converting to 135mm through-axle spec.
The rim's tendency to shift right is the same,
but the amount has clearly increased.
The phase without the sticker and the phase where the outpoke side spoke doesn't interfere with the gauge
are limited, so
on a wheel with runout, the phase at which the centering gauge contacts
became 90 degrees orthogonal to before, which is why the amount changed...that's not it.
Actually, there was barely any lateral runout.
The right end has a reverse-threaded nut,
and the left end is a snap-fit—
a pop-in end that's too sturdy to call a simple pop-in—but
the right end does shift position depending on how much you thread the nut in.
However, the original 142mm-width end nut was torqued down harder than anything,
so the 135mm-width end nut's threads aren't more advanced.
So I suspect that when the Zonda DB is converted from 142mm through-axle
to 135mm through-axle,
there's a tendency for the wheel center to shift
in the direction of the rim shifting right.
↑Outpoke side
↑Freehub side
On the Bora DB's outpoke side and such,
the end of the hub shaft becomes the end of the hub dimension,
but on the Zonda DB, the end of the end piece is
the end of the hub dimension on both sides.
The portion that's one step lower than the gear teeth of the end,
the inner diameter of the end piece
I thought it would match the outer diameter of the flange of part G,
almost filling it, but
it wasn't quite that, and there were differences between front and rear as well.
After converting to 135mm quick-release spec,
I did truing and centering.
Also, for both wheels this time,
I don't know if the person who assembled them was the same,
but the hub bearing adjustment was overtightened,
so I loosened it slightly within the range of no play.
On a 2:1 rear wheel with the few-spoke side as radial lacing,
the disc rotor mounting side and
the radial lacing side are on the same side, but
perhaps spooked by this, the flange shape for each spoke head
has become quite robust.
※ Switching to tangential lacing out of fear
is the worst thing you can do
in the logic of a wheel by itself separate from brakes.
It creates an odd situation where the freehub side has lower tension,
and no rim brake wheel manufacturer ever did this.
The fact that this flange shape is for disc brakes is evidenced by the fact that
the front wheel's radial lacing side keeps
nearly the same flange shape as a rim brake Zonda.
I'll add a picture later.
Addendum: ↑ I said that, but
I forgot to shoot it and handed it over to the customer, so
I'm posting an official manufacturer image instead.
Also, the diameter of the butted section on the outpoke side is
visibly thicker than on the freehub side,
so when I measured it with calipers,
the freehub side spokes are 2.0–1.6–2.0mm, while
the outpoke side is 2.0–1.8–2.0mm,
which is reverse-different-diameter lacing
versus left-right different-number lacing.
This guy's got some serious skills.
The front wheel doesn't have as large a dishing angle,
so both sides are 2.0–1.6–2.0mm.
Just like the Hyperion DB where the front is 2:1 lacing but non-offset rim
and rear is left-right same-spoke lacing but offset rim,
Campagnolo's evaluation of the magnitude of wheel-related factors is exquisite.
The rear wheel had a lot of debris inside the rim,
including pieces where the blue nylon locktite on the nipples was broken
and aluminum slivers as well.
Looking at this, it seems the manufacturer does roughly remove this kind of debris.
This front wheel must be an individual that they forgot to do that on.
The rim is very slightly offset to the left.
As I mentioned before, the hub bearing was tight,
and there's no way you wouldn't notice it when building the wheel.
Especially the front wheel—they'd overtightened it so much
it actually interfered with wheel assembly itself.
After adjusting the bearing, I did truing and centering.
Though there was barely any runout anyway, so
I basically just retightened and shifted the rim.