storckm

So I have an old juvenile frame. It was originally made in West Germany with ISO 540 wheels. I bought it from someone in Canada ten or fifteen years ago. It's not a super nice frame, but it's kind of classy: aluminum fenders and generator lights (but old plastic--I may end up replacing the light and generator both). My plan is to fix it up for my daughter's 12th birthday. The front wheel needs to be replaced: the ISO 540 is a difficult size to find, so I've decided to build up a pair of ISO 520 wheels. It looks like the brakes will reach, as far as I could determine. (This is also a difficult size too, but they're used for Terry bicycles.)

Anyway, the hub spacing is 96 mm for the front and about 108mm for the rear. I have a 3 speed hub with 112mm OLD that I'd like to put on the rear, and need to buy a new hub for the front. I'm not sure whether I should buy an old french front hub on ebay and maybe try to swap in narrower locknuts for the rear hub, or just respace the frame. Any thoughts?

RustyJames 

You didn’t mention what style of frame this is (road bike, mountain bike, etc) or how much riding you think your daughter will do but I would look for the shortest path to completion. She’ll likely outgrow the bike in a couple of years so the sooner you get her on 2 wheels the better. (I bought my son a BMX bike last year - early 2000s Redline - since it can be modded to fit him for many years.)

bargainguy

Points for creativity! But think about what you're proposing for a minute.

24" / 520 tires and tubes are mostly special order items where I live. So unless you give her a supply of tires and tubes along with the bike, you're forcing her into finding an oddball size once she flats.

That might not lead to her wanting to use the bike as much, no matter how cool it is otherwise. So finding her a frame with a more accessible tire size might be a better fit all around.

storckm

Thanks for the thoughts.

I suppose you'd call it a city bike or something like that: it's definitely not for serious off-road riding or racing. My daughter currently rides her BMX bike around town, often with her friends or sister: I'd say several rides a week (at least during the summer). This bike is a bit bigger and has a rack, which she'd find useful.

I know she'll outgrow the bike at some point--she's small for her age, but not that small. But her little sister will be able to ride the bike eventually. I know it's a weird size, but I have the frame and want to make it operational, and will likely be doing most of the maintenance for her while she's the right size for it.

dedhed

She's 12, Dad's going to be finding what she needs or picking her up when she flats.

3alarmer 

.
...a regular steel kids bike like that is pretty easy to respace. That's what I would do.

RustyJames 

A line of succession, perfect!

If you can make the 24” tire/wheel work I would go that direction. I’m guessing the tires will dry-rot before they actually wear out. I quick scan on Amazon brought up some Kendas and some off brands that would probably be fine.

jamesdak 

When I needed a 24" setup for the front of my Schwinn Prologue TT I just started hitting all the recumbent sources. 520 is more common there. Grabbed a wheelset from one site that was pretty cheap and if I remember correctly Schwalbe had a few tires in this range. For sure they still offer the Schwalbe One as a 24".


This was a brand new Schwalbe Durano in 520 but I don't see those being offered now.

martl

Nasty stuff, that ISO 540 ISO - ISO 540:2008 - Hard coal and coke — Determination of ash fusibility

storckm

Any thoughts about lacing patterns for a smaller wheel? I've built some 700C wheels, and I've always used 3-cross, but I'm not sure about considerations for the smaller size.

ThermionicScott 

I think it would depend on the rims and hubs you choose. With smaller wheels, at some point you need to use fewer crosses to avoid excessive spoke angles at the hub flanges and rim. How many spokes?

clubman 

I've got 3X on 16" 36 hole wheels, on a Moulton. The rear is an SA 4 speed. No problems, really strong.