A customer dropped off the front and rear wheels of a Bora Ultra Two for me.
The customer isn't the original owner of these wheels,
so they wanted an inspection before use.
Let me start with the front wheel.
On the outer edge of the rim, there were faint traces of tubular tape
with black cotton thread attached, so
the previous tire was most likely a German-made Continental tire other than the Giro (Thai-made)—
specifically either a Sprinter or
Competition model.
The orange WARNING sticker
was on the left side of the rear wheel.
On Bora, Hyperion, and Neutron hubs from this era,
when a dust cap is installed, you can't tell left from right.
Since the lacing is radial, wheel orientation doesn't affect performance,
but ideally I'd want to match the left side of the rear hub—where the cone adjustment nut is—
with the left side of the front hub as well.
So I removed the dust cap on the side where the WARNING sticker is on the rim.
You can faintly see in the upper right of the image above
the WARNING sticker.
So for this Bora, when installing the tire and quick release,
make sure the WARNING sticker is on the left side for both wheels.
When removing dust caps like this,
I'm confident I can do it without cracking the part,
and we have spare parts in stock at the shop anyway,
so there's no need to be nervous—
but it's best not to remove them carelessly.
There were no issues with the cone adjustment,
and the CULT didn't seem to need oiling either,
so I just confirmed that the fixing bolt on the cone adjustment nut was tight.
Checking the preliminary center,
the rim was slightly off to the left.
Since I have the dust cap off,
I can comment on left-right orientation.
↑the amount of offset is about this much
There is a center offset, but
there was also some lateral runout,
so if I true the wheel by tightening the spokes from the right flange,
focusing on one side, the center might come out at the same time.
The reason I check the preliminary center is
to avoid the extra work of later finding myself in a situation where
"the runout is corrected but the center offset got worse."
After truing just the runout and checking with a center gauge,
it came out perfect.
I didn't make any nipple adjustments for centering.
It's true that some intent to center the wheel is included
in my one-sided emphasis truing work, but still.
Now for the rear wheel.
It had a white aluminum freehub for Shimano 11-speed
and the pawls seemed to have weak lift,
so I swapped it out for a new Campagnolo freehub
that the customer provided,
so I didn't check for pawl spring deformation.
The image above is the preliminary center check,
and even after truing the slight runout—less than the front wheel—
the center stayed perfect, but
since the image would be the same, I didn't shoot it after the work.
Rather than the hub rotation feeling stiff from bearing damage,
it just felt heavy, so when I checked the cone adjustment,
unusually it was over-tightened,
so I removed the dust cap and loosened it to the proper range.
The customer isn't the original owner of these wheels,
so they wanted an inspection before use.
Let me start with the front wheel.
On the outer edge of the rim, there were faint traces of tubular tape
with black cotton thread attached, so
the previous tire was most likely a German-made Continental tire other than the Giro (Thai-made)—
specifically either a Sprinter or
Competition model.
The orange WARNING sticker
was on the left side of the rear wheel.
On Bora, Hyperion, and Neutron hubs from this era,
when a dust cap is installed, you can't tell left from right.
Since the lacing is radial, wheel orientation doesn't affect performance,
but ideally I'd want to match the left side of the rear hub—where the cone adjustment nut is—
with the left side of the front hub as well.
So I removed the dust cap on the side where the WARNING sticker is on the rim.
You can faintly see in the upper right of the image above
the WARNING sticker.
So for this Bora, when installing the tire and quick release,
make sure the WARNING sticker is on the left side for both wheels.
When removing dust caps like this,
I'm confident I can do it without cracking the part,
and we have spare parts in stock at the shop anyway,
so there's no need to be nervous—
but it's best not to remove them carelessly.
There were no issues with the cone adjustment,
and the CULT didn't seem to need oiling either,
so I just confirmed that the fixing bolt on the cone adjustment nut was tight.
Checking the preliminary center,
the rim was slightly off to the left.
Since I have the dust cap off,
I can comment on left-right orientation.
↑the amount of offset is about this much
There is a center offset, but
there was also some lateral runout,
so if I true the wheel by tightening the spokes from the right flange,
focusing on one side, the center might come out at the same time.
The reason I check the preliminary center is
to avoid the extra work of later finding myself in a situation where
"the runout is corrected but the center offset got worse."
After truing just the runout and checking with a center gauge,
it came out perfect.
I didn't make any nipple adjustments for centering.
It's true that some intent to center the wheel is included
in my one-sided emphasis truing work, but still.
Now for the rear wheel.
It had a white aluminum freehub for Shimano 11-speed
and the pawls seemed to have weak lift,
so I swapped it out for a new Campagnolo freehub
that the customer provided,
so I didn't check for pawl spring deformation.
The image above is the preliminary center check,
and even after truing the slight runout—less than the front wheel—
the center stayed perfect, but
since the image would be the same, I didn't shoot it after the work.
Rather than the hub rotation feeling stiff from bearing damage,
it just felt heavy, so when I checked the cone adjustment,
unusually it was over-tightened,
so I removed the dust cap and loosened it to the proper range.