# What to do about wheels??



## circa1939 (Oct 11, 2010)

So I'm not able to afford restoring my wooden rims right now and buy new spokes, wheels, etc.  Any idea what I can do for wheels for the meantime to be able to enjoy my bikes right now till I have some extra cash to throw at them??

Thanks guys!!

(...and no, not "sell them" either! hahaharolleyes:


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## Andrew Gorman (Oct 11, 2010)

Not a lot of cheap options aside from putting on a set of skinny 27" rims off of a 1970's bike.  English size 28" rims could come off of a Flying Pigeon/India made or British roadster.  29-r mountain bike rims are unfortunately kind of expensive.


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## twowheelfan (Oct 12, 2010)

i think that you will need to do as everyone else did. take a set of 26" balloon tires with the skip tooth hub and just do the swap.
it will give you a big gap in around the fender area, kind of an eyesore, but at least you can pedal it around! save the money up and get the rims rebuilt.
i built a set of 700c rims with a ND model C hub and Schwalbe 40x622 (28x1.5) tires to use as rider wheels. i just move that set around until i get the parts to restore the wood ones.


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## Adamtinkerer (Oct 12, 2010)

Someone, I think over on Rat Rod Bikes, found some 27 x 1 3/8" tires, they look really good on the older 28" bikes. I bought a set of Flying Pigeon wheels for one of mine.


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## circa1939 (Oct 12, 2010)

Yeah i steer clear of the rat rod bike thing so I would have never seen that post, but thank you very much for the heads up on the idea.  Rat rodding a bike is a backwards sort of notion,...I've seen what some people have done with great old bikes from the 1930s and older, destroying a perfectly good bike in the name of "cool",.... which in and of itself, is simply not "cool."  

Again, thanks guys...!


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## sam (Oct 13, 2010)

Hard to find but not impossable is to get old Canadian rims from the 30s.They are steel 700s in 36 hole size that "look" good on old single tube bikes.And single tube or wood rimed bikes did also come with steel single tube rims.The Canadian rims look like the english 28s and infact the set I have were mare in england.Painted they look great--sam


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## DonChristie (Oct 13, 2010)

How bad are your original rims? What type of rebuilding is necessary?


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## circa1939 (Oct 13, 2010)

schwinndoggy said:


> How bad are your original rims? What type of rebuilding is necessary?




Well, the one is a bit out of round and warped a bit.  All spokes are shot and stretched out on both wheels.  Need refinishing.
My wife's bicycle has metal clad rims,...good shape could probably use either a good once-over on a truing stand or possibly new spokes.


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## DonChristie (Oct 13, 2010)

Maybe the old rims can be used. Spokes dont stretch, rather the nipple loosens. Warps and bends are fixed by tightening said nipples. Is the bike original paint/patina? Are the rims 28 inch? Do you have tires? I would rather fix the old stuff. Theres a reason it is still with us, made with quality. Just my .002 cents


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## sam (Oct 13, 2010)

"Spokes dont stretch"--this is true(they snap)
"rather the nipple loosens"---does not always apply to wood rims(sometimes the nipple diggs into the wood)
"Warps and bends are fixed by tightening said nipples"--again with wood does not always work this way.Sometimes with wood you have to tru the rim and let the spokes "hold" it in place rather than try and pull it in place.
"Theres a reason it is still with us, made with quality. Just my .002 cents" ---very well said---sam


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## circa1939 (Oct 13, 2010)

schwinndoggy said:


> Maybe the old rims can be used. Spokes dont stretch, rather the nipple loosens. Warps and bends are fixed by tightening said nipples. Is the bike original paint/patina? Are the rims 28 inch? Do you have tires? I would rather fix the old stuff. Theres a reason it is still with us, made with quality. Just my .002 cents




Seems as though the nipples are tighted up nearly all the way to the bottoms of the threads though???  On most of the spokes anyway??
Bike has original paint, no head badge so its a mystery I've been trying to resolve to some degree!
Rims are 28"  Have tires on it now, but they're ready to pop!  One has a hell of a bulge on the side!  
I'd much rather have the original stuff as well,... not very keen on using new personally,... was made better, has more character and its history in and of itself speaks volumes!
Unfortunately my pocketbook does not speak volumes to match though  
We're saving up for our first baby who's due this January,... so nearly all our cash is going towards the tyke and a home!


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## circa1939 (Oct 13, 2010)

sam said:


> "Spokes dont stretch"--this is true(they snap)
> "rather the nipple loosens"---does not always apply to wood rims(sometimes the nipple diggs into the wood)
> "Warps and bends are fixed by tightening said nipples"--again with wood does not always work this way.Sometimes with wood you have to tru the rim and let the spokes "hold" it in place rather than try and pull it in place.
> "Theres a reason it is still with us, made with quality. Just my .002 cents" ---very well said---sam




Hmmmm,.... I'll have to look,... maybe the nipples have dug in then,.... that would make more sense to what I've experienced here with this bike.


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