Lots of newer retro city bikes still come with those Westwood rims over here but practically no one rides smaller wheels than 700c.

Here is another source of those rims.

They also mention they know people are looking for 32/40h versions but they simply don't have a source for wheels like that. It seems like hardly anyone still makes them.

There is another shop that sells oldtimer cargo bike partswho has several older wheels in 26 inch but no mention of other sizes or spoke holes.
They do however have some really cool older lights and grips.

Rims are always the first thing to give in to rust when bikes get neglected. It tends to be the biggest factor in making restoration projects uneconomical. 32/40 Westwoods and Raleigh pattern rims especially are getting more rare all the time, so we should take care to save them whenever an opportunity shows up.

LInus! I meant Linus!

This poor fella is a month late for April Fools.
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bi...572723800.html

That's my post, it was inspired by an Astra with a dramatically bent fork and asking price of $300. The seller had been contacted numerous times and thought people were trolling him about the fork being bent. He swore up and down that it was supposed to look the way it did, and even added a note telling off all the people who were reaching out to him. Between that and the fact that people frequently ask me at work about buying used bikes from CL and this being the beginning of peak bike-buying season, I put this up as a PSA

I thought it was funny. I save stuff like that for April Fool. It's a great tradition. Good ad though

I have read this too. I don't believe it. (Been commuting on 8 speed Nexus five years.)

Then You would be a good person to ask about durability and how you like it. Converting them to oil? What's in them now if not oil?
Of course I realize this would be best discussed in a thread of it's own.

Good job! There are a lot of bent/damaged bikes out there with the seller saying there's nothing wrong with it..
Case in point,
A Kijiji bike from last year with seriously damaged forks.
Ready to Ride!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3a5f83e70c.jpg

The downtube decal is just normal all-europe stuff. It's definitely Danish though, because it's front cable braked, rear coaster, that particular design of pannier rack, and they still use the gearcase decal on the current production.

I may know too much about these details.

The person who gives a run down of the whys, hows, facts and figures with his oil conversion here . From what I've read they're a very well made and reliable hub that most people seem to like, with some complaints about gear spacing. Aaron's bicycle repair also have a how to change oil and grease section here . I've only put about 50 kms on to this hub, but I like it very much. I don't know if I would go to the effort of converting it (coz I may sell this bike), but I do have another used hub I was given sitting on a shelf waiting for the right bike. OK sorry, back to 3 speeds :)

Looks like a slightly different chaincase design and cotterless steel cranks?

My belief is that Schwinn partially copied the angles from a 1930s-era Hercules or similar light roadster bike, which had more laid-back frame angles than the post-war Raleigh Sports type bikes had. Schwinn also used 24 TPI threadings on their three-piece cranks from that era, rather than the Raleigh pattern threads or the Schwinn proprietary pattern threads. In fact, I've re-built 1940s Schwinn three-piece bottom brackets using old Birmingham Hercules parts to stand-in for missing Schwinn parts.

This week's find - a set of three-piece cranks from a 1940s-era Schwinn Superior light roadster with "AS&Co" chainring. Even came with the pins. The cosmetic condition is basically "relic" but they should prove to be a workable, unique set of period-correct parts for a 1940s Schwinn light roadster.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LYVjpcLEd...%2BSet%2B2.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6h3L6dTPE...%2BSet%2B3.jpg

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3tyLTldF...%2BSet%2B4.jpg

@capnjohnny capnjohnny, Linus makes basic bikes like the Sports, and they're reliable and durable. I think they're around $600 or $700 which is reasonable. I hear Biria are nicer made with better paint. Both brands are popular here in NYC.

The only Bike shop that carried them local to me was asking $800. before tax for the 8 speed if I recall correctly? It sure seemed to be a sweet ride though.

I ride in the rain but hardly at all in the sort of drenchers that are almost like submersion. Shimano warn that in rain like that, water will get in. In that case, a yearly cleanout and relube seems smart, but I'm skeptical oil or grease will make any difference. But if the grease is too thick a type, it might interfere with some pivoting surfaces. Important, I've found: cable lubrication.

Downtown hotels here appear to like the Birias as rides for guests. Public now charging $100 less than I paid five years ago for the mixte eight speed. (Which makes me feel just great.) My friend Bike Shop Mike considers all these (Linus, Biria, Public, Tokyobike, Papillionaire, etc.) to be overpriced. Maybe, when Bikesdirect sells a steel 8 speed IGH for $500.

From a bike jumble sale or something like that? One crank arm appears to be in much better condition than the other. Thank goodness there are people keeping this old hardware out of the dumps. Just five bikes from the Wright Bros shop remain, which is ridiculous.

Mentioned to a drinking buddy last night I'd just bought bike number 7. He likes bikes, too. But when he heard it was an old Rudge, he just groaned. He doesn't get it.

Edit: I should add, he's very prosperous and is comfortable spending much more on bikes than I am.

Another dubious bike for sale...
CCM 3 Speed.
Could be the angle of the photo but the front end looks off to me.
Ready to Ride!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6a9b925f23.jpg

I wonder what's that piece of wire from his mangled hub. A spring? If a foreign object it's amazing the hub worked as long as it did.

I'm surprised to learn that the new IG hubs don't have oil ports. Adding one makes perfect sense to me. Adding a few drops of oil every once in a while is far easier than tearing down a hub and regreasing and it works just fine. I'm positive that running them dry is a bad idea. Grease will dry up after a while, so that's exactly what will happen.

$400? You're right--that's hardly more than the price of the hub and accessories separately, and almost embarrasses what I paid for the Public mixte five years ago. Sigh.

Running it dry would be really bad! I'm sure oil would be perfectly good for lubrication, but it will leak a bit out the so-called seals, and I saw someone with a disc brake setup show how it then gets on the brake disc. Caliper brakes? Oil away. If the Shimano grease or something similar is used liberally as they instruct and the hub doesn't get submerged I doubt it is going to dry or cake in anything less than five years, maybe even closer to ten. At five years it's time for me to do a repack, and I'll let everyone know what I find.

Edit: I think the idea of Shimano's grease is not that it has any special friction fighting properties but that it's as thin as a grease can be made and still be held in by the hub seals.

local bike shops do seem to be caught between flat sales and an industry restructuring to sell either high end or low priced models, I can't tell if it's because of over-production, increasing competition from online, discount stores, bikeshare, mobile sales out of vans, and direct-to-consumer brands, or more likely a combination of all of the above. I don't understand the economics of the bicycle industry, but I would hate for the IBD model to go away as I value test riding in person before I buy. Bailey told me as a small business owner selling bikes in urban Arlington VA he faced a choice between supplementing his bread and butter sales of the Giant brand he is a dealer for by chasing high value small volume sales among high-end racing or selling Giant's ebikes so he has chosen the latter and they get more floor space than previously. I wish him well, I'm not looking forward to when he retires because he has been so helpful renovating our Raleigh Sports, the next nearest shop to me that services older bikes is 20 miles away, they had a pre-war Rudge up on the bike stand when I popped in a couple of weeks ago. Also I get that sales are seasonal but I'm confused as to whether if consumer prices start to rise faster than wages and a bicycle is a discretionary purchase that would result in fewer sales or if gas prices rise but people still need to get around would this increase sales?

Is there a sub-forum for IGHs? I didn't see one.

Because IGH's appeal to a variety maybe the mods felt they should be discussed in the existing forums for Classic, Commuters, Utility, and Recreational cyclists?

It's pretty tough here for bike shops. NYC is tough all around for retail. Rent! The rent is too damn high! (I work in retail, too.) Too high to compete with web prices. So my friend now has a very small space and doesn't bother much with new bikes. He'll special order on request or take delivery from someplace like Bikesdirect or Nashbar and do the assembly and checkout for a customer. Otherwise it's repairs, some parts and accessories, and selling some reconditioned bikes. His day now is a string of food delivery guys needing flat tires fixed. $15 a pop. A major retailer here, Bike Habitat, is doing much more of their business in accessories and clothing. "It's not like the old days, but it'll do." (Final line from The Wild Bunch.)