I took in the front wheel of a Bora Ultra WTO 45 from a customer.
This is the second generation with a wider rim, and it's the latest model currently available.
↑From the side — the customer got hit by a car
and two spokes on the right side are broken.
All fixed.
In situations like this, I usually write that just adjusting the nipples on the two replaced spokes
gets things pretty much back to normal,
but with this wheel there was runout all over the place.
Once I got the lateral runout mostly gone,
radial runout that wasn't there before showed up, and it took a huge amount of time.
I suspected there might be bent spokes mixed in with the unbroken ones,
so I examined all the spokes except the two replaced ones quite carefully,
but found nothing wrong with the remaining spokes.
↑The replaced spokes
These spokes come in boxes of four, so if I stock up on about two boxes of all the spoke types in advance,
I can handle most cases on the spot.
Even if I have the skill to fix a situation like this,
there's nothing I can do without the spokes on hand.
The spokes broke on the right side, but
the rotor on the left side
was bent beyond repair.
When I put a straightedge on an obvious spot...
↑it looks like this.
With Campagnolo G3 lacing on the rear wheel,
directly under the G3 phase, the rim's radial position is pulled inward,
and in the rest phase in between, it's pushed outward.
So when doing a strict radial true, the gauge on the truing stand stays clear at all G3 positions
and barely rubs at all rest phases—
you can't push it further than that state.
With 21H, the outer rim shape is roughly like adding together one regular heptagon, one circle, another circle, and another circle, then dividing by four.
This is a phenomenon you can observe on aluminum-spoked Shamal Ultra wheels,
steel-spoked Zonda wheels,
conventional Bora with steel spokes and carbon rim,
and Shamal Carbon alike.
The amount of this "radial runout that's unavoidable with G3 lacing" is
clearly visible on the truing stand,
but in actual use the tire deformation at the contact patch is much larger,
so you can't feel it.
When working in front of a customer,
I often number the rest phase where the valve hole is and the adjacent G3 phase with the same number,
showing them how the phases numbered 1・1・2・2・3・3・・・・・7・7 alternately rub and don't rub on the truing stand gauge.
But remarkably, on this latest Bora Ultra WTO 45,
the inward dip directly under the G3 phase is barely observable,
and the rim's outer edge is nearly perfectly round.
Of course, the spoke tension isn't low.
Rim height is probably a factor, but the conventional Bora 50 also has the radial runout unique to G3 lacing,
so for a WTO 45 with similar rim height to have virtually none of it,
I'd say the rim is quite stiff.
This is the second generation with a wider rim, and it's the latest model currently available.
↑From the side — the customer got hit by a car
and two spokes on the right side are broken.
All fixed.
In situations like this, I usually write that just adjusting the nipples on the two replaced spokes
gets things pretty much back to normal,
but with this wheel there was runout all over the place.
Once I got the lateral runout mostly gone,
radial runout that wasn't there before showed up, and it took a huge amount of time.
I suspected there might be bent spokes mixed in with the unbroken ones,
so I examined all the spokes except the two replaced ones quite carefully,
but found nothing wrong with the remaining spokes.
↑The replaced spokes
These spokes come in boxes of four, so if I stock up on about two boxes of all the spoke types in advance,
I can handle most cases on the spot.
Even if I have the skill to fix a situation like this,
there's nothing I can do without the spokes on hand.
The spokes broke on the right side, but
the rotor on the left side
was bent beyond repair.
When I put a straightedge on an obvious spot...
↑it looks like this.
With Campagnolo G3 lacing on the rear wheel,
directly under the G3 phase, the rim's radial position is pulled inward,
and in the rest phase in between, it's pushed outward.
So when doing a strict radial true, the gauge on the truing stand stays clear at all G3 positions
and barely rubs at all rest phases—
you can't push it further than that state.
With 21H, the outer rim shape is roughly like adding together one regular heptagon, one circle, another circle, and another circle, then dividing by four.
This is a phenomenon you can observe on aluminum-spoked Shamal Ultra wheels,
steel-spoked Zonda wheels,
conventional Bora with steel spokes and carbon rim,
and Shamal Carbon alike.
The amount of this "radial runout that's unavoidable with G3 lacing" is
clearly visible on the truing stand,
but in actual use the tire deformation at the contact patch is much larger,
so you can't feel it.
When working in front of a customer,
I often number the rest phase where the valve hole is and the adjacent G3 phase with the same number,
showing them how the phases numbered 1・1・2・2・3・3・・・・・7・7 alternately rub and don't rub on the truing stand gauge.
But remarkably, on this latest Bora Ultra WTO 45,
the inward dip directly under the G3 phase is barely observable,
and the rim's outer edge is nearly perfectly round.
Of course, the spoke tension isn't low.
Rim height is probably a factor, but the conventional Bora 50 also has the radial runout unique to G3 lacing,
so for a WTO 45 with similar rim height to have virtually none of it,
I'd say the rim is quite stiff.