A customer dropped off the front and rear wheels from a Roval limited-edition wheel set,
the Rapide CLX II Team.
The hub rotation was rough on both wheels,
and especially on the rear wheel, it stopped
faster than a mama-chari wheel.
This wheel is built with DT's AeroLite II spokes,
which are exclusive to DT complete wheels.
Since there's no generic spoke with the same
flat ratio in AeroBatted form,
there are some challenges with repairs,
but the wheelset does come with
a small number of spare spokes.
Also, DT's SINC ceramic cartridge bearings
are used, and spares for these
are included as well.
SINC appears to be an abbreviation for
silicon nitride ceramic (Si₃N₄ Ceramic).
The customer had the bearings replaced
using the ones that came with the wheelset
at Cycle Shop Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop,
and still has two unused 6802s on hand,
but this time we decided to go with
a generic non-contact seal steel ball bearing replacement.
Ah, the fact that the hub bearings are currently rough
isn't to say that Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop made a mistake.
I mentioned the shop's name for a reason (more on that later).
The frameset that the customer uses with this wheel
isn't a Specialized.
However, because the wheel design is such that
the bearings go bad quickly with careless
through-axle clamping,
I did mention to be careful about tightening.
I removed the quick-release end cap from the right side of the rear wheel.
You can see the bearing on the outside of the freebody.
I removed the freebody
and extracted the star ratchet components.
You can see the bearing on the inside of the freebody.
Both freebody bearings needed replacement,
and the outer one in particular was damaged.
These SINC ceramic bearings have
a contact seal on one side
and a non-contact seal on the other.
There's an industry rule (not entirely followed)
that says "when using a contact seal,
make the seal color brown or orange!"
This freebody bearing is also installed
with the orange side facing outward.
The bearing on the left side of this hub body
has suspicious signs of being installed backwards.
For instance, on Campagnolo freebody bearings,
the seal facing outward is blue,
while the seal facing inward is black,
but does there really exist a professional shop
that, without grasping the intent behind the color coding,
commits this kind of 50-50 mistake?(foreshadowing)
I'll extract this one later as well,
but first I'll remove the bearing from the right side of the hub body
and look inside the hub drum to verify
the orientation of the left-side hub body bearing.
The hub is a DT Ratchet EXP,
and with the Ratchet EXP you can't replace the bearings
without using a specialized tool on the splines
to remove the part covering the bearing.
In the image above, the orange seal was
facing outward.
↑There are clear wrinkles on the inner ring side of the seal.
↑I flipped the bearing around.
This is the side facing toward the inside of the hub drum.
There are no wrinkles on the inner ring side of the seal.
Since the inner ring thickness is different,
it might be angular contact.
Looking into the hub drum from the right side,
Yep, the orientation is wrong
What an idiot
Now, I'm not saying this mistake is why the wheel bearings
had to be replaced twice in less than two years of use.
I'm simply stating the fact that
Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop is incompetent—unable to grasp
the intent behind what the parts themselves are telling them.
The two freebody bearings and the left side hub body bearing were 6802s,
while only the right side hub body bearing was a 15267.
↑Flipped over, it looks like this
Next, the front wheel.
After removing the quick-release end caps from both sides
and spinning the wheel while pressing a finger
into the bearing,
the rotation felt less rough and more like
catching every half rotation—
a periodic gritty sensation
transmitted through my fingertips.
Of the two images above, the lower one is the hub's right side,
and you can see the "DT SWISS" marking
around the left edge of the bearing's outer ring.
If you know this, you can make out the same marking
around the top of the outer ring in the upper image
of the hub's left side, though it's unclear.
It's one of those things you can read "if you know to look for it."
With the rear wheel, once you remove the Ratchet EXP parts
the bearing comes off without any tapping,
so I removed the bearing closer to the wheel's center first.
However, hub body bearings tend to wear on the side
farther from the wheel's center, so
on the front wheel I removed the right-side bearing first.
When I then examined the left-side bearing
still pressed into the hub body,
it wasn't damaged enough to warrant replacement,
so after confirming with the customer,
I replaced only the right-side bearing on the front wheel.
the Rapide CLX II Team.
The hub rotation was rough on both wheels,
and especially on the rear wheel, it stopped
faster than a mama-chari wheel.
This wheel is built with DT's AeroLite II spokes,
which are exclusive to DT complete wheels.
Since there's no generic spoke with the same
flat ratio in AeroBatted form,
there are some challenges with repairs,
but the wheelset does come with
a small number of spare spokes.
Also, DT's SINC ceramic cartridge bearings
are used, and spares for these
are included as well.
SINC appears to be an abbreviation for
silicon nitride ceramic (Si₃N₄ Ceramic).
The customer had the bearings replaced
using the ones that came with the wheelset
at Cycle Shop Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop,
and still has two unused 6802s on hand,
but this time we decided to go with
a generic non-contact seal steel ball bearing replacement.
Ah, the fact that the hub bearings are currently rough
isn't to say that Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop made a mistake.
I mentioned the shop's name for a reason (more on that later).
The frameset that the customer uses with this wheel
isn't a Specialized.
However, because the wheel design is such that
the bearings go bad quickly with careless
through-axle clamping,
I did mention to be careful about tightening.
I removed the quick-release end cap from the right side of the rear wheel.
You can see the bearing on the outside of the freebody.
I removed the freebody
and extracted the star ratchet components.
You can see the bearing on the inside of the freebody.
Both freebody bearings needed replacement,
and the outer one in particular was damaged.
These SINC ceramic bearings have
a contact seal on one side
and a non-contact seal on the other.
There's an industry rule (not entirely followed)
that says "when using a contact seal,
make the seal color brown or orange!"
This freebody bearing is also installed
with the orange side facing outward.
The bearing on the left side of this hub body
has suspicious signs of being installed backwards.
For instance, on Campagnolo freebody bearings,
the seal facing outward is blue,
while the seal facing inward is black,
but does there really exist a professional shop
that, without grasping the intent behind the color coding,
commits this kind of 50-50 mistake?
I'll extract this one later as well,
but first I'll remove the bearing from the right side of the hub body
and look inside the hub drum to verify
the orientation of the left-side hub body bearing.
The hub is a DT Ratchet EXP,
and with the Ratchet EXP you can't replace the bearings
without using a specialized tool on the splines
to remove the part covering the bearing.
In the image above, the orange seal was
facing outward.
↑There are clear wrinkles on the inner ring side of the seal.
↑I flipped the bearing around.
This is the side facing toward the inside of the hub drum.
There are no wrinkles on the inner ring side of the seal.
Since the inner ring thickness is different,
it might be angular contact.
Looking into the hub drum from the right side,
Yep, the orientation is wrong
What an idiot
Now, I'm not saying this mistake is why the wheel bearings
had to be replaced twice in less than two years of use.
I'm simply stating the fact that
Kanzaki Kamishinjo shop is incompetent—unable to grasp
the intent behind what the parts themselves are telling them.
The two freebody bearings and the left side hub body bearing were 6802s,
while only the right side hub body bearing was a 15267.
↑Flipped over, it looks like this
Next, the front wheel.
After removing the quick-release end caps from both sides
and spinning the wheel while pressing a finger
into the bearing,
the rotation felt less rough and more like
catching every half rotation—
a periodic gritty sensation
transmitted through my fingertips.
Of the two images above, the lower one is the hub's right side,
and you can see the "DT SWISS" marking
around the left edge of the bearing's outer ring.
If you know this, you can make out the same marking
around the top of the outer ring in the upper image
of the hub's left side, though it's unclear.
It's one of those things you can read "if you know to look for it."
With the rear wheel, once you remove the Ratchet EXP parts
the bearing comes off without any tapping,
so I removed the bearing closer to the wheel's center first.
However, hub body bearings tend to wear on the side
farther from the wheel's center, so
on the front wheel I removed the right-side bearing first.
When I then examined the left-side bearing
still pressed into the hub body,
it wasn't damaged enough to warrant replacement,
so after confirming with the customer,
I replaced only the right-side bearing on the front wheel.