When I was working around bicycles , in Austin , Texas , around 1983 or there-abouts . . .
One of the darker chapters of my "checkered past" occurred when I worked for the "North American Distributor" of Roval Wheels . Whole wheels were not shipped into the U.S.A . Shipments consisted of fairly large numbers of bulk parts , which were then built-up , right there in Austin .
I began by working at the shop which had been building all of the Rovals , for the importer . Later I allowed myself to be talked into working for the importing business itself . "Jumped from the frying pan , right into the fire."
If I remember correctly , I was around Roval Wheels , in 1983 - 1984 . And I would guess that they had been an item in Austin for perhaps a year and a half or some such , before I began working at that shop . I'm certain that those wheels were around in 1983 . I'd guess that they might possibly have been around in 1981 .
I saw many of them . I saw them being built . I saw them being trued . I shipped many of them .
It was all so long ago , and far away . . .
But , it I remember correctly . . .
One of the least popular wheel options was a fairly normal amount of spokes , 28 spokes , and with the same count front and rear ? Those rims were silver colored , instead of black . Were those rims for wired-on tires ( "clincher" ) , instead of for sew-up tires ?
There were I believe there ( 3 ) , fairly standard , common ( for Roval anyway ) spoke combinations . But , perhaps there were only two ?
Charlie listed two of them in his posting .
Towards the end of my time there , the importer turned away from doing much more business with Roval . Perhaps he stopped entirely ? But , as business with Roval was winding down , there was a wheel set , which was something of a super-duper wheel-set .
I know that there were front wheels with only 12 spokes . To go along with a 12-spoke front , honestly I can't recall if the rear had 18 spokes , or fewer . But I know that I held at least one 12-spoke front wheel in my own hands .
I know that the designer of the wheels , in France , seriously wished he could work his way down to only 6 spokes in the front wheel . He felt that 3 spokes per side , 3 spokes per hub-flange , was the minimum .
And again , things are a bit vague , but there were some very general recommendations about weight . Of course , the weight recommendations had been loosely converted from kilograms into pounds . If I recall correctly , one of the weight recommendations was at the 175 pound level . But , they were not exact recommendations . Also , I could be mistaken .
As with any exotic equipment , especially equipment made some years ago , and irreplaceable today , you will want to be careful . My opinion would be that 180 pounds , on a pair of 18 - 24 wheels , ridden with care , should not be a problem .
I'm sure you know what happens to the black color on the rims , if you use your brakes in the rain .
The "official" touch-up method , at both the shop where most were built , and at the importer , was to use a black felt-tip marker on the wheels , before passing the wheels along . The black finish was fairly delicate . A black "Marks-A-Lot" or "Magic-Marker" was used to touch-up quite a few wheels .
And finally , my only personal claim to fame !
Quite a few times , I had seen a great number of the spokes , lying about loose , before being built-up into wheels . I wondered why the spokes were all very slightly curved , instead of straight . One day I thought perhaps I understood ! I looked very closely at the spokes , several of them . The spokes were NOT perfectly oval in cross section . Each spoke had a sharp edge , and a blunt edge . Each spoke was actually "tear-drop" shaped !! Which of course meant that each spoke should properly have a leading edge , and a trailing edge . The obvious orientation would be to have the blunt edge leading , like a tear-drop , or like some sort of fairing on an aircraft .
I pointed this observation out , both to the main wheel-builder , and to the importer . Neither one was impressed . They had more than enough to worry about , without thinking about the orientation of each individual spoke , in each wheel !!!!
So , there ya go . The very next time that you build-up a Roval Wheel , from loose parts , please make sure to use the correct orientation , on each and every individual spoke ( after all , there aren't very many of them ! ) .
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> There were at least two combinations of Roval wheelsets. I have one pair
> with 24/18 and another pair with 18/16. I wonder which, if any of these, I
> should be riding at around 180 lbs.
>
> They do feel nice but there must be some slop in the 16 spoked front wheel
> at the hub. It is true and tight but induces a nasty low speed shimmy -
> manageable but unpleasant on my Holdsworth Professional and purely
> outrageous when fitted to my DeRosa SLX Professional. Need to fuss with it
> and would welcome any Roval tips and tricks.
>
> Charlie Young
> Honeybrook, PA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Elman" <tr4play@cox.net>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 7:13 PM
> Subject: [CR]Roval Wheels ???
>
>
> > A short time ago I posted a question which led to the conclusion that
> Roval
> > wheels were on topic. Next question is in regards to number of spokes.
I
> > was recently told that Roval wheelsets were available with three
different
> > spoke counts to accomodate riders of different weights. Can anyone on
the
> > list confirm this, and if so, can you advise what the options were for
> both
> > front and rear wheels? Finally what OLN sizes did they come in?
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Eric Elman
> > in stormy Somers, CT