TOPIC:

I'm in the middle of refinishing the wheels on my crono but two things are a bit confusing. Both front and rear wheels have small phillips screws going into the middle of each spoke. At first glance they seem to be attaching a cosmetic cover to one side of each spoke so I unscrewed them and gingerly tried to see if said "covers" would pop off. They didn't budge. I'm after full disassembly with these wheels so I can get a nice job done at the media blaster so if these are indeed just covers I'd really like to know. Also, If they don't provide any structural/strength needs I'd like to just get rid of them. See pics.

the second question is regarding the front disc carrier which, once again, looks like it should pop off once the bolts are removed however this is not happening. I'm trying to get rid of the faded gold paint on everything. The calipers are already done so now i'm stuck on this carrier. Please let me know how to separate the parts as I'm not the kind to just start levering on things.

Hi Cal, the disc carrier looks very similar to the Saturno, it will be located on a light press fit location diameter, if there is any corrosion between the carrier and hub you will have to gently prize it off, try 2 wooden wedges or tyre levers from opposite side
John

The cast wheel looks a bit like the GFR except that has only three spokes. The spoke cover on the GFR is listed as a separate part. I'm pretty sure they are for aerodynamics and appearance only and not a structural item but I've never tried prising one off.

Also, remember that alloy plus steel plus corrosion equals stuck.

I think Nordie wheels have that mystery screw too - Joachim's pretty good with the devil in the detail stuff, he might know.

ihave just ben out in my garage for a little test with a GFR front wheel.
The bolt did not come of easy, but in the end it did.
The cover nearly fells off then
So the bolt in the middle is the only thing which holds the cover at it's place. No hidden edges or hooks
So maybe a good soak with WD40 or something like that would do the job.
You can also try to heat the edges of the cover wit a hot air gun (be carefully) for several times.
Would have been better if Luigi had also painted the inside of the spoke.

Good luck, Joachim