A customer brought in a Shamal Ultra rear wheel for repairs.
A spoke is broken and needs replacement,
and since there are spokes with scuff marks,
the customer asked that I replace any spokes
I judge to be in need of replacement as well.
Generally, unless scuff marks are severe,
I don't replace spokes unless the customer
specifically requests it,
but there were 2 bent spokes,
so I've already marked them with tape in the image above.
↑Broken spoke
↑Bent spoke
After replacing 3 spokes
and roughing out the lateral runout only.
The rim has shifted quite far to the left,
but since I replaced 3 spokes with scattered phase relationships,
this can happen temporarily.
There's also some radial runout beyond what can't be corrected
from the G3 lacing pattern.
This wheel's original owner is the customer,
and apparently there's no history of truing work.
I trued both lateral and radial runout and centered the wheel.
It took about as long as building a radial laced front wheel for rim brakes.
Done.
The hub internals showed no issues.
↑Replaced spokes
The bent sections of the 2 bent spokes are different locations because
either they were hit by the derailleur and there was chain drop with different causes,
or they were both hit by the derailleur but at different positions
—outer-low versus inner-low where the derailleur position differs.
There were chain drop marks on the rear hub right flange.
The real value of this post isn't in the content up to here.
It's in the backstory of how the customer
brought this wheel in (from outside Osaka Prefecture).
This was a purchase from overseas online shopping, but
when they asked the local bike shop where they bought the bike
to replace the spokes,
they were told that information about
the "wheel's source" that can be looked up via QR code or serial number was necessary.
They were also told that without doing so,
they wouldn't know the "spare parts number for the spoke."
Both of these are lies.
As for the latter—the parts number—there are plenty of ways to find it out.
Of course, serial numbers are unnecessary.
Even an amateur can find this information
from the Campagnolo manufacturer website.
As for the former—looking up the source—
it's true that if the most knowledgeable distributor of Campagnolo in Japan
inquires with Campagnolo headquarters about the serial number,
they can find out
"where Campagnolo first shipped it,"
but unless there's some serious warranty-related issue,
they won't handle source lookups.
I've verified this.
Basically, they could just refuse,
but instead they're just spouting ridiculous lies
as petty harassment to the customer.
This is the first time I've heard such a stupid excuse as
"a serial number check is necessary for repairs."
There could be various reasons—maybe they don't want to touch something not from their own shop,
or maybe they simply lack the skill—
but at the very least, once a customer tells you
whether it was purchased domestically or from overseas,
refusing to fix it is not acceptable,
and when I said as much,
naturally they didn't believe such an outlandish story
and brought it to our shop instead.
I did ask which shop it was,
but I promised not to name them here, so I won't.
Parts purchased somewhere other than your regular shop,
especially things that stand out within the range users can replace themselves—
wheels, saddles, cycle computers and the like—
if you've ever felt that silent pressure when you show up at your regular shop
with those things installed,
that "where'd you buy that?" vibe,
then give this post a thumbs up.
Though I doubt there'd be that many...
Edit:
↓There's a ton of you guys!
A spoke is broken and needs replacement,
and since there are spokes with scuff marks,
the customer asked that I replace any spokes
I judge to be in need of replacement as well.
Generally, unless scuff marks are severe,
I don't replace spokes unless the customer
specifically requests it,
but there were 2 bent spokes,
so I've already marked them with tape in the image above.
↑Broken spoke
↑Bent spoke
After replacing 3 spokes
and roughing out the lateral runout only.
The rim has shifted quite far to the left,
but since I replaced 3 spokes with scattered phase relationships,
this can happen temporarily.
There's also some radial runout beyond what can't be corrected
from the G3 lacing pattern.
This wheel's original owner is the customer,
and apparently there's no history of truing work.
I trued both lateral and radial runout and centered the wheel.
It took about as long as building a radial laced front wheel for rim brakes.
Done.
The hub internals showed no issues.
↑Replaced spokes
The bent sections of the 2 bent spokes are different locations because
either they were hit by the derailleur and there was chain drop with different causes,
or they were both hit by the derailleur but at different positions
—outer-low versus inner-low where the derailleur position differs.
There were chain drop marks on the rear hub right flange.
The real value of this post isn't in the content up to here.
It's in the backstory of how the customer
brought this wheel in (from outside Osaka Prefecture).
This was a purchase from overseas online shopping, but
when they asked the local bike shop where they bought the bike
to replace the spokes,
they were told that information about
the "wheel's source" that can be looked up via QR code or serial number was necessary.
They were also told that without doing so,
they wouldn't know the "spare parts number for the spoke."
Both of these are lies.
As for the latter—the parts number—there are plenty of ways to find it out.
Of course, serial numbers are unnecessary.
Even an amateur can find this information
from the Campagnolo manufacturer website.
As for the former—looking up the source—
it's true that if the most knowledgeable distributor of Campagnolo in Japan
inquires with Campagnolo headquarters about the serial number,
they can find out
"where Campagnolo first shipped it,"
but unless there's some serious warranty-related issue,
they won't handle source lookups.
Basically, they could just refuse,
but instead they're just spouting ridiculous lies
as petty harassment to the customer.
This is the first time I've heard such a stupid excuse as
"a serial number check is necessary for repairs."
There could be various reasons—maybe they don't want to touch something not from their own shop,
or maybe they simply lack the skill—
but at the very least, once a customer tells you
whether it was purchased domestically or from overseas,
refusing to fix it is not acceptable,
and when I said as much,
naturally they didn't believe such an outlandish story
and brought it to our shop instead.
I did ask which shop it was,
but I promised not to name them here, so I won't.
Parts purchased somewhere other than your regular shop,
especially things that stand out within the range users can replace themselves—
wheels, saddles, cycle computers and the like—
if you've ever felt that silent pressure when you show up at your regular shop
with those things installed,
that "where'd you buy that?" vibe,
then give this post a thumbs up.
Though I doubt there'd be that many...
Edit:
↓There's a ton of you guys!