marty_mcfly

I found a vintage Rival Exclusiv cruiser in the trash a few years back. I adored the thing; it felt like riding a freakin' couch it was so comfy--big seat, big handlebars, a WORKING generator light and nice rack (anywhere but a bike forum, "nice rack" would be sexual harassment). Unfortunately, it was vandalized by some heathens at my high school who tried to steal it but failed. Instead, they beat the **** out of the bike. I was pretty bummed. Oh the stinging injustice of humanity! I think these buffoons are the same jerks who pee on the toilet seat.

Anyway, I've recently renewed efforts to ressurect my Rival, but I'm running into some problems.
The worst snag is that, apparently, no company makes new 700c wheels with coaster hubs. I've been to every bike shop in my area, and they have looked through all of their catalogs, finding zilch. As of right now, my only hope is to keep digging through the trash for another miraculous find. I'm growing weary of this, however.

Does ANYone know of ANYone who might know SOMEone who could hook me up with a rear 700c wheel with a coaster hub? I'm dyin' here.

cudak888 

Simple. Buy either a set of new 700C hoops, new stainless spokes, and lace them into hubs of your choice, or find a pair of nice 700Cs on Craigslist for a bargain price, then de-lace the rear hub and lace a coasterbrake hub into it.

-Kurt

schiavonec

I saw a coaster 700 at nycbikes. Not sure on the quality though. You could also go with a 3spd sturmey archer with coaster brake. AEbike used to carry them.

marty_mcfly

Yes... I have seen about rebuilding a wheel for the back. buying a pair would be nice because 700s by themselves aren't expensive. The problem I ran into was, I'd either have to buy or get access to a true-ing stand (which I've never used) or I could pay a shop to do it. But that would cost around $50 just for the labor.

I looked at NYC; I may get lucky there, but I think I'll either try Craiglist, or some of those vintage sites listed in the stickies.

If anyone in St. Louis reads this and would build me a wheel for cheap, you can e-mail me.

Thanks for the good suggestions.

marty_mcfly

Oh. One more thing. Schiavonec, I'm not familiar with sturmies. Do they work like english 3 speeds?

Scooper

Yes. Sturmey-Archer IS the definitive English 3-speed hub. The current production AWC model is a 3-speed hub with coaster brake.

https://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/

cudak888 

$50 for building a wheel with the original spokes? Outrageous.

However, if you can find a wheelset that has a rear hub with the same flange diameter as a generic Shimano coasterbrake (most any small-flange hub will be close enough), you can de-lace and re-lace the rim yourself with a $3 spoke wrench, then take the wheel to the local bike shop for the final truing, which shouldn't cost too much. If they quote you more then $20 for truing, walk out and find another shop.

For more info on wheelbuilding, see Sheldon "Wheel" Brown's article on WHEELBUILDING.

-Kurt

frameteam2003

If ya take your time--you can tru the wheel in your frame.Use some clothpins for markers,tape to mark rim, etc.May take you a while but it can be done.Flip the bike over on seat and bars.

marty_mcfly

All of the spokes are ancient, so the shop included all new spokes and the re-lacing, time-intensive part of the job in the labor, I'm sure. However, if I re-lace them, that sounds good. I've got the spoke wrench, which I've just been using for spot truing, using the brake levers for guidance, but I could give it a shot.

Sheldon Brown is real wacky, but easy to understand.