A customer brought in a front wheel from a Roval Rapide CLX60.
It's an old model from 2014,
of course set up for rim brakes.
The same model name from that era came in tubular rim spec as well,
but this one is clincher rim spec.
↑One spoke is bent.
A bag hanging from the handlebar
got caught in it.
This wheel has an aero rim height, so it's an aero wheel,
but the spokes are actually DT Revolution.
The Revo is a 2.0–1.5–2.0mm round butted spoke,
and since its specific gravity is the same as Aerolite,
I think they could have just built it with Aerolites.
With recent Rovals, there's Compé Race,
a 2.0–1.6–2.0mm round butted spoke
used in CL grade and such,
but that didn't exist yet around 2014.
Incidentally, regular Compé is 2.0–1.8–2.0mm.
Whether the round butted section is 1.5mm or 1.6mm
makes a pretty big difference beyond just weight—
at the spoke tension of around 1100N typical
in factory-built wheel assembly,
the probability of plastic deformation in the elongation direction—
that "wonky" phenomenon—is completely different.
But setting that aside,
black Revo straight spokes
in the right length for repairs to this front wheel...
our shop doesn't stock...
Actually had them.
What's at the top in all the images above
is the spoke we swapped in because it was bent.
Fixed.
Just by adjusting the nipple of the replacement spoke
and roughly truing out lateral runout,
the wheel center was already off,
so there was a center offset from the start
independent of this spoke's deformation—
I showed the customer that
before doing center truing as well.
Let me address the title now.
The customer is from Shiga Prefecture,
and they have an important race on September 6–7 (a Saturday–Sunday),
and they want to use this wheel for it,
so they called Specialized Store Kyoto
to inquire about repairs.
When I asked why Kyoto,
they said there aren't many shops handling Specialized
in Shiga Prefecture,
and within the range of contacts they had,
Specialized Store Kyoto was
the closest shop.
When they told the shop the wheel model
during that phone call,
the store said they had no parts and couldn't repair it,
and then immediately after, with barely a pause,
they recommended Nomulabo in one breath.
So the customer called our shop, and I said,
"If you send the wheel it won't make it in time,
but if you bring it in person we can probably sort it out on the spot,"
so they came all the way from Shiga Prefecture.
I thought the spokes were Aerolites
but they turned out to be Revolutions, so I tore the shop apart looking for them.
At worst, we could do a makeshift repair with just one aero spoke,
or if cost wasn't a concern, rebuild the whole thing with CX-RAYs or
all CX Sprints.
The staff member at Specialized Store Kyoto who recommended our shop
wasn't acting on official shop policy—
they were just trying to help in good faith,
a single staff member's independent call.
But I don't take kindly to this kind of under-the-table,
irresponsible dumping.
For details, see my posts on
don't invoke my name willy-nilly
and
it's okay to invoke my name.
The fact that the wheel is a Roval is also the problem.
If the issue was wanting to replace spokes on a Fulcrum Racing Zero
that came with a Specialized frame set,
and that Racing Zero wasn't purchased from the shop
they were calling,
then it wouldn't be so shameful—but
a Specialized Store can't repair a Roval wheel
and responds immediately by dumping it on us—
that's seriously embarrassing.
For Specialized Store Kyoto, that crappy shop, if you're reading this someday,
I'm writing this for you: put it on your SNS,
your website homepage,
and somewhere visible on your storefront sign:
"For Roval wheel repairs,
leave it to us!
We're too incompetent to handle it,
so we dump it on other shops!
We have no shame about our lack of repair skills
or about dumping on other shops without asking!"
Please do that.
Thanks in advance.
If you can't do it,
then identify the staff member who answered the phone like that
and send us a report that you've read them the riot act.
I doubt you'll do either,
so I'm not taking back my characterization of
Specialized Store Kyoto as a
completely incompetent, crappy shop.
It's an old model from 2014,
of course set up for rim brakes.
The same model name from that era came in tubular rim spec as well,
but this one is clincher rim spec.
↑One spoke is bent.
A bag hanging from the handlebar
got caught in it.
This wheel has an aero rim height, so it's an aero wheel,
but the spokes are actually DT Revolution.
The Revo is a 2.0–1.5–2.0mm round butted spoke,
and since its specific gravity is the same as Aerolite,
I think they could have just built it with Aerolites.
With recent Rovals, there's Compé Race,
a 2.0–1.6–2.0mm round butted spoke
used in CL grade and such,
but that didn't exist yet around 2014.
Incidentally, regular Compé is 2.0–1.8–2.0mm.
Whether the round butted section is 1.5mm or 1.6mm
makes a pretty big difference beyond just weight—
at the spoke tension of around 1100N typical
in factory-built wheel assembly,
the probability of plastic deformation in the elongation direction—
that "wonky" phenomenon—is completely different.
But setting that aside,
black Revo straight spokes
in the right length for repairs to this front wheel...
our shop doesn't stock...
Actually had them.
What's at the top in all the images above
is the spoke we swapped in because it was bent.
Fixed.
Just by adjusting the nipple of the replacement spoke
and roughly truing out lateral runout,
the wheel center was already off,
so there was a center offset from the start
independent of this spoke's deformation—
I showed the customer that
before doing center truing as well.
Let me address the title now.
The customer is from Shiga Prefecture,
and they have an important race on September 6–7 (a Saturday–Sunday),
and they want to use this wheel for it,
so they called Specialized Store Kyoto
to inquire about repairs.
When I asked why Kyoto,
they said there aren't many shops handling Specialized
in Shiga Prefecture,
and within the range of contacts they had,
Specialized Store Kyoto was
the closest shop.
When they told the shop the wheel model
during that phone call,
the store said they had no parts and couldn't repair it,
and then immediately after, with barely a pause,
they recommended Nomulabo in one breath.
So the customer called our shop, and I said,
"If you send the wheel it won't make it in time,
but if you bring it in person we can probably sort it out on the spot,"
so they came all the way from Shiga Prefecture.
but they turned out to be Revolutions, so I tore the shop apart looking for them.
At worst, we could do a makeshift repair with just one aero spoke,
or if cost wasn't a concern, rebuild the whole thing with CX-RAYs or
all CX Sprints.
The staff member at Specialized Store Kyoto who recommended our shop
wasn't acting on official shop policy—
they were just trying to help in good faith,
a single staff member's independent call.
But I don't take kindly to this kind of under-the-table,
irresponsible dumping.
For details, see my posts on
don't invoke my name willy-nilly
and
it's okay to invoke my name.
The fact that the wheel is a Roval is also the problem.
If the issue was wanting to replace spokes on a Fulcrum Racing Zero
that came with a Specialized frame set,
and that Racing Zero wasn't purchased from the shop
they were calling,
then it wouldn't be so shameful—but
a Specialized Store can't repair a Roval wheel
and responds immediately by dumping it on us—
that's seriously embarrassing.
For Specialized Store Kyoto, that crappy shop, if you're reading this someday,
I'm writing this for you: put it on your SNS,
your website homepage,
and somewhere visible on your storefront sign:
"For Roval wheel repairs,
leave it to us!
We're too incompetent to handle it,
so we dump it on other shops!
We have no shame about our lack of repair skills
or about dumping on other shops without asking!"
Please do that.
Thanks in advance.
If you can't do it,
then identify the staff member who answered the phone like that
and send us a report that you've read them the riot act.
I doubt you'll do either,
so I'm not taking back my characterization of
Specialized Store Kyoto as a
completely incompetent, crappy shop.