27 inch wheels - how come?
10-06-20, 09:52 AM
#51
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Mostly I switch, for reasons of weight-saving (kevlar beaded tires and freehubs) and fat, supple tire options, but some high-end touring stuff is worth saving. I've seen a couple 40-spoke-rear/36-spoke-front wheelsets with those Suntour sealed hubs that seem like they'd run forever (as long as the axle doesn't break). Sometimes those venerable 27" Araya rims are even anodized, and it fades to a beautiful champagne color which complements the gray paint commonly found on old Univega tourers. One of my friends who had such a wheelset didn't want to spend the extra money to switch, so he commissioned me to build that rarest of birds: a 27" dynamo front wheel. He got a used 3N30 from his homeland of Germany, bought some Taiwanese spokes, and I built it up with the original Araya anodized rim. I put a solid axle in his rear hub, and with nearly-flatproof Schwalbe Marathon tires he's ready to set off wherever. The bike does weigh north of 35lbs though, and that's the downside.
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Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
10-06-20, 10:55 AM
#52
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Many bikes that came with them are outfitted for them, especially the brakes, there can be other things that are a PITA to change as well.
One of the "Paramount" tenants can be "do no harm", many of the bikes that are original with them and are still original this far down the line need to stay that way to preserve them.
Case in point. 1958 Paramount,
Original wheels, including hubs and spokes.
And another Paramount, 75-6?
Original wheels laced to old Phil Wood hubs, likely very early on as this was fairly common back in the day.
One of the "Paramount" tenants can be "do no harm", many of the bikes that are original with them and are still original this far down the line need to stay that way to preserve them.
Case in point. 1958 Paramount,
Original wheels, including hubs and spokes.
And another Paramount, 75-6?
Original wheels laced to old Phil Wood hubs, likely very early on as this was fairly common back in the day.
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10-06-20, 01:20 PM
#53
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Thank you sir, anytime. 
They both present well, were in very good condition when they got to me so I'm just the steward.
The 58 was pretty grungy so pretty scary carefully chiseling petrified grease but went ok and turned out good.
Everything was in great condition for being 60 years old, especially the headset, hubs and bearings.
See here,
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...nt-p-12-a.html
They both present well, were in very good condition when they got to me so I'm just the steward.
The 58 was pretty grungy so pretty scary carefully chiseling petrified grease but went ok and turned out good.
Everything was in great condition for being 60 years old, especially the headset, hubs and bearings.
See here,
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...nt-p-12-a.html
