Campag Neutron Ultra Rebuild?

El Tel

I bought a pair of Neutron Ultra wheels in 2007 from Ribble. They are great and I like them a lot. I weigh 78kg.

I've been based in Malawi for the last year and a half, but I visit the UK each summer and get in a few sportive rides. Last summer, while I was back in London, I broke a rear drive-side spoke and had it replaced by Condor Cycles (after some delay while they got the parts). I then went off to the Gran Fondo Pinarello where I broke another one -- fortunately on the day before the event. I had taken the precaution of buying a replacement spoke kit from a mail order company in the UK, so I was able to get Pinarello themselves to fix the wheel, which was all very heart-warming but also worrying at the time!

I'll be coming back to the UK this June and I don't want a repeat performance. I have found several references on the Web to spoke breakages on Neutron Ultra rears (see http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=474914) and we have definitely had some in my UK club. It seems to me that the safest thing would be to get somebody (you?) to rebuild the wheel.

Can anybody suggest somebody who could take this on, and would be able to get the (somewhat special) spokes needed? I can't get a reply from the Campag UK service operation....

Thanks!

Hugues

You could try speaking to Rohan Dubash at Sigma Sport (020 8943 4443). He's based out off their internet operation / warehouse, rather than the shop, so you'll need to choose that option on the automated switch board, rather than the workshop.

Earlier this week I dropped off a couple of Campag wheelsets (Neutron Carbon's and Hyperon Ultra's) for a service and Rohan gave me a tour of the warehouse and their bike build workshop. They certainly have an impressive stock of Campag spares and I could only look enviously at the workshop setup.

El Tel

Good suggestion. Thanks!

velotechcycling

Hi Terry

We did reply to your email, on March 30th at 11.54pm ...
The text ran as follows:

"Thanks for your mail & the detailed history, which is always useful to have in a query like this.

There is an occasional problem with Neutrons with spoke breakage, but it usually can be corrected with a complete wheel rebuild with new spokes.

Just dropping a spoke in and bringing the spoke up to tension will give a superficially straight wheel after a breakage, but really, the wheel should have all of the tension wound out and the nipples removed from the spokes, new nipples fitted & the wheel then re-tensioned & trued to get a really good repair. In fact this is true of any wheel, not just wheels like the Neutron series, but as the gauge of the spokes becomes finer, the spoke count lower and so the tension per spoke higher, it gets to be more & more necessary.

This is Sapim's recommendation, too, and they make all of Campagnolo's spokes.

I wish more wheel builders understood this, but by and large, they don't seem to.

Anyhow, the answer is, yes, we can do a rebuild with either new drive side spokes & nipples (probably prudent to replace them all) or a full spoke kit. I'd need to check on spoke costs, but they are expensive - I have a feeling that you'll be looking at about £130 - £150 for the whole job, and most of that cost is in the spokes.

A single rear wheel can be bought, but it's not far shy of the price of a pair,
normally. I am with one of the biggest UK importers of Campag on Wednesday, I'll do a price check with them & let you know - our contract with Campag makes it difficult (though not impossible) for us to order complete wheels, but a wholesaler should be able to do it quite easily. If they can, I'll sort out a way to get it to you as a retail customer.

I hope that helps for the moment & I'll be back to you on Wednesday.

All the Best
Graeme
Campagnolo ASC Senior Technician "

I wasn't able to get back to you Wed & was in Italy at Campag on Thursday, so was planning to mail you on Monday. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that getting a single rear wheel on it's own is possible, but it takes a while.

Kléber

As said above, it's not enough with these spokes to pop a new one in and wind it up. Normally a spoke will break if the tension gets uneven and this puts additional strain on a spoke. So when you get a broken spoke, it's because another spoke elsewhere has gone slack, the breakage is a secondary problem. They are great wheels but you need to pluck them like a guitar from time to time to check for an even sound, to make sure a spoke isn't working loose.

El Tel

Thanks, Graeme. I'm sorry I missed your email reply. Connectivity in Malawi is, shall we say, variable...?

Anyway, I understand the situation and the options. I'll give it some thought and get back to you directly.

Terry

velotechcycling

No worries Terry!

I'll drop you an answer from my office PC tomorrow, still in the workshop now (10pm) <grin>

bikeav8or

I broken my second drive side rear spoke in less than 3 months. The first break was repaired at LBS using a spoke kit. I ride these wheels only during the summer and then only when the roads are guaranteed dry. I'm not a strong rider and ride on Surreys finest roads which is n't saying much. I weigh 12.2 stone.

When these drive side spokes go you can ride the bike if you have tight clearance frame.

Tomorrow I'm going to back the LBS to try and get a full rebuild c\o campagnolo

Will report back