Am I being picky?

[Willam]

I do most repairs myself now, just finished the whole new drivetrain, so when a spoke broke, thought I'd "treat" myself and take it to the LBS, truning the wheels is probably a shop job anyway, they are Rovel wheels, went to pick it up, to find they have replaced the broken black spoke with a "custom" made silver spoke, as they didn't have the correct spoke in, never bothered asking me if this would be ok and also told they didn't true the wheel either, something about the type of nipples on the rovel wheels don't turn, for this and new rim tape I get to pay £25.

Does this sound reasonable? I may have gotten used to fixing things myself now, so paying less but to me I think it's a LBS I need to stop using, and not to mention they are meant to be a rovel stockist, so surely could have picked up the correct spoke, and also matched the colour of the nipple and spoke.

 

[burntoutbanger]

I wouldn't be happy with a silver spoke if all the others are black, certainly not without being asked first.

 

[PaulSB]

That is terrible service. I would ask to see the senior person at the shop and strongly request, I hesitate to say demand but you get my drift, either a full refund or the job doing properly.

As a Rovel stockist their minimum standard should be to return your wheel repaired with all the correct Rovel components unless you opt for otherwise.

Unacceptable.

 

[raleighnut]

It's a bit poor after all Roval wheels are not that uncommon (even I have a set) Plus £25 for bodging a spoke in is a bit steep IMO.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Yes and no.
Firstly, they are stupid. They should have sold it to you as an asymmetric pigmentation enhanced spoke (APES). Instead, they just pointed out that it is silver.
I feel for them but I lament their lack of communication.

Roval wheels are.....err....junk. Or should I say, not suited for general use. They have aluminium nipples which very soon after purchase, start to corrode internally and freeze onto the spoke, making them absolutely impossible to turn. Impossible. The only way to true a wheel with such spokes is to start cutting spokes. Typically, a conservative mechanic will assure the customer that he will try. He then tries. First, the first nipple breaks or rounds off. Instead of immediately phoning the customer and asking him/her to come and look, he then cuts that spoke and replaces it with a standard (not custom) spoke. The Roval has custom - and very stupid spokes - to start off with. Buying a spoke is a matter of ordering a part number for THAT wheel.
He then decides that he quoted you X for the job and he's not touching that wheel any further because it will cost 10X and you will blow your top and not understand.

In spite of only replacing one spoke, the job probably took him 1 1/2 hours of struggle. He undercharged you.

If anyone disputes my use of custom spokes, I'll explain. Standard spokes have dimensions 2mm at the thread and at the elbow. Rovals are 2mm at the elbow, 1.6mm in the centre and 1.8mm at the thread. This requires a 1.8mm nipple - a non-standard item. Further, that nipple is probably in a specific colour, making the problem even bigger.

Have some pity for the poor sod that had to fix that wheel.

 

[mjr]

Not sure about the cost - who knows how long they spent rediscovering what @Yellow Saddle describes? - but it seems like poor service not to ask you before putting in a dissimilar spoke and not truing it.

 

[Willam]

Cheers, all good points.

Makes me feel a bit easier about the situation now...still think a call would have been in order tho.

Spot on Yellow saddle, the wheels are showing signs of nipple corrosion, but to be fair this is the first spoke to go, the wheels are at least 5 Year old.
Think I'll start looking for some replacements now.

 

[screenman]

How thick are they not even to aerosol it black.

 

[Bollo]

If anyone disputes my use of custom spokes, I'll explain. Standard spokes have dimensions 2mm at the thread and at the elbow. Rovals are 2mm at the elbow, 1.6mm in the centre and 1.8mm at the thread. This requires a 1.8mm nipple - a non-standard item. Further, that nipple is probably in a specific colour, making the problem even bigger.

I don't know about older Rovals, but in fairness to Specialized the current road range use standard DT Swiss spokes with 2mm threads and head ends (straight-pull and elbowed). They still use Al nipples though (again DT Swiss) so would be prone to galling and flattening, although a lot of wheel brands will be just as guilty.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I don't know about older Rovals, but in fairness to Specialized the current road range use standard DT Swiss spokes with 2mm threads and head ends (straight-pull and elbowed). They still use Al nipples though (again DT Swiss) so would be prone to galling and flattening, although a lot of wheel brands will be just as guilty.

I thought your comment valid, so I brushed up on my Roval knowledge and I randomly browsed ten Roval wheels on the Spez website.

New Rovals do indeed not use 1.8mm spokes and nipples anymore. Roval seems to have moved away from DT Supercomp spokes to DT Revolution on some of its wheels. This is a huge step forward. However, things aren't as rosy as they appear.
DT Revolution spokes are about twice the price of a DT Competition spoke and most bike shops won't stock them. Further, even if they stock them, the chances of having the combination of straigh-pull and J-bend in black in the right length are slim. A bike shop certainly doesn't want to buy a pack of 72 spokes (Revos come in 72s) for that one spoke that needs replacing. They will rather sell you an in-stock silver one or make one up if they have the equipment.

They still use aluminium nipples in a variety of colours. This is unforgivable in my opinion, but manufacturers are driven between a rock and a hard place - customers want lightweight and the scale is the only instrument that can point out that type of perceived quality.

Further, the sheer variety of spokes required to repair Rovals is staggering. From the ten wheels I surveyed, five different spoke types were listed namely: DT Aerolite, DT Aerocomp, Competition, Competition T-head and Competition Straight-pull. Again, just consider the amount of expensive stock a bike shop my carry in order to work on those wheels. The chances of them ever recovering their investment on a pack of 72 or 100 are slim.

I feel for the bike shop who takes on a Roval.

 

[subaqua]

Burn them !

 

[Bazzer]

Burn them !

A bit harsh on the LBS. It was only one spoke afterall.

 

[subaqua]

A bit harsh on the LBS. It was only one spoke afterall.

ahh but thats how it starts. you let one thing slide and suddenly you are fighting a world war

get in first. burn them