A customer brought in the front wheel from their Exelium ES (high-end wheel set) for repair.
The spokes are bent, they said.
Sure enough, I could faintly see deformation in the spoke directly under the point of maximum runout.
↑ Releasing tension on the bent spoke I identified.
I replaced the spoke and trued the wheel and centered the rim.
Our shop's spare spoke inventory only had cosmetic spokes (spokes with a different finish for visual effect), so I pulled out one of the black cosmetic spokes from the opposite phase and moved it to the spot that needed replacement, then paired it with a replacement cosmetic spoke, positioning them to be in line when viewed from the side.
This front wheel is 18-hole radial laced, so unlike the 20-hole case, the two spokes that line up in a straight line when viewed from the side come from different flanges on the hub.
When watching the rotating wheel hub and just the cosmetic spokes, it looks like it's swinging two arms stretched out in a crank shape.
↑ The replaced spoke
Since the deformation is mostly from side-to-side impact, I could potentially straighten it and reuse it. Rather than throw it away, I'm returning it to the customer since it could come in handy if they have a more serious spoke bend in the future.
The spokes are bent, they said.
Sure enough, I could faintly see deformation in the spoke directly under the point of maximum runout.
↑ Releasing tension on the bent spoke I identified.
I replaced the spoke and trued the wheel and centered the rim.
Our shop's spare spoke inventory only had cosmetic spokes (spokes with a different finish for visual effect), so I pulled out one of the black cosmetic spokes from the opposite phase and moved it to the spot that needed replacement, then paired it with a replacement cosmetic spoke, positioning them to be in line when viewed from the side.
This front wheel is 18-hole radial laced, so unlike the 20-hole case, the two spokes that line up in a straight line when viewed from the side come from different flanges on the hub.
When watching the rotating wheel hub and just the cosmetic spokes, it looks like it's swinging two arms stretched out in a crank shape.
↑ The replaced spoke
Since the deformation is mostly from side-to-side impact, I could potentially straighten it and reuse it. Rather than throw it away, I'm returning it to the customer since it could come in handy if they have a more serious spoke bend in the future.