removed

[Caballero]

Nm

[oldpotatoe]

My buddy got a new set of hand builts, arrived today that he noticed had what appear to be cracks (scratches?) leading from a few of the spoke holes.
Hubs are 32h shimano 9000 series.
He said he can easily feel them with his nail ? Sent me over this pic.
Apparently have a few other scuff, scratches on the rear aswell.

New hubs? Built once? Hard to say from the pic..need to remove a little bit of material to see if it's a scratch or crack. Are the holes slotted? Bladed spokes..

Might be hard on a built wheel.

[Caballero]

All parts are new, inc. hubs rims and spokes. Spokes are Sapim cx Ray, so shouldn't be slotted.

He's a bit disappointed I think !

[El Chaba]

Looks like scratches caused during lacing by a builder who was sloppy and careless.

[ergott]

If that's from a new wheel build, I'd politely ask for my money back.

That's only the carelessness you can overtly see. Who knows what other corners were cut building them.

[oldpotatoe]

If that's from a new wheel build, I'd politely ask for my money back.

I agree..brand new stuff, and it comes with a bunch of scratches(best case)..I'd get a refund. If the lacing was that poor, no telling how 'poor' the build may be.

[AngryScientist]

Looks like scratches caused during lacing by a builder who was sloppy and careless.

that's my guess too based on the picture.

[CampyorBust]

I always get suspicious when someone says I’m going to have a few beers and lace up a wheel set tonight. I don’t know about you but I need my full attention, presence of mind and cheat notes to even true a wheel. Thus I arrive at the following question… Does the builder suffer from the shakes? I only ask as I have come across such a person, I opted not to utilize their services.

Not sure how polite I would be had my brand new wheels built out of new parts arrived in such a state. Your friend has a right to be upset. IMO this speaks volumes…refund!

[Cicli]

I would not accept that. Looks like some very poor workmanship.

[Fatty]

Looks like scratches caused during lacing by a builder who was sloppy and careless.

If that's not a crack it is how cracks get started. Should not have been shipped out. I would ask for a refund.

[seanile]

i don't know guys, to me it just breaks the monotony of perfection... /s

[Vinci]

Those would be odd paths and locations for cracks, especially in unridden wheels.

They would be easily explained as scratches when pulling the spokes through, though.

Feeling them with a fingernail just means that the scratch was pretty deep, which jives with how visible they are.

[Caballero]

Thanks guys. Ive passed on this link to him. He can decide how to proceed.

[11.4]

Seeing this a little late, but my two cents' worth. You scratch a hub like that when you don't have your lacing process down properly. When you build enough wheels, you lace so your spokes lay up easily and you just get the rim on and add nipples. If you don't have the process down, you are pulling and bending spokes all over to slip them under other spokes, and so on. That's what makes them scratch up more. And typically on the inside of the flanges, as shown here. It just says someone wasn't all that experienced at building wheels, so you can't expect the rest of the build to be better.

All that said, those 9000 hubs do scratch easily and slight scratches like you see here are not precursors to hub failure. And that's a really close-up shot in the OP's post. You probably wouldn't notice them if you weren't looking and definitely wouldn't after a week of riding and a little bit of grit in the scratches. The real question is how evenly tensioned they are and how true they stay after some riding. If you can get a refund now, I'd do it and get someone like our Ergott to build some first-rate wheels for you. If you can't, it isn't worth a lawsuit or your losing sleep over it. Just ride them and check how they stay in trim. Nothing's going to explode or disintegrate here. Those 9000 hubs are as bulletproof as you can get, and at 32 holes the spoke holes are far enough apart that they aren't going to zipper a failure, which is how hub flanges typically fail.

[Dead Man]

Yup.. I'd strum the spokes and ride 'em if it's round, true, and ain't gonna taco.

All the same...... first wheelset I ever built was on 9000 hubs, and I didn't scratch 'em. Seems like a "wheelbuilder" ought to be able to achieve at least that

[unterhausen]

I can see how you scratch a rim, but scratching a hub just doesn't compute with me. I suppose if you install the spokes that point inward second instead of first, but even then it takes talent