I collect bikes from the 50's, Mostly because of the awesome variety of parts that were available back then, and because of the spurt of inventiveness of that period.
Take hubs for example, in the fifties you could get:
- all steel hubs, three piece hubs, all aluminum hubs - fixed, free, double-fixed, fixed-free - small flange, medium flange, high flange, and grande flasque - flat, concave, or convex flanges - drilled, undrilled flange patterns - spoke hole with and without countersinks - 32/40 (UK), 36/36 (Fr), any spoke count (competition) - Metric, Imperial threading on axles ... with and without flats - 90mm through 140mm OLN - solid and hollow axles - sealed or free bearings - Grease ports on shell, on axle, or none - etc. - etc. - etc.
I bring this up because, with so much variety, care must be taken when choosing the spokes, and building the wheels. Steel flanges were typically 2mm thick, aluminum flanges varied from 2 1/2 to 4mm (with and without countersink). The distance from the spoke hole to the end of the flange varied, significantly. Spoke hole diameter varied. Spoke pattern varied.
When taking into consideration the variety of spokes, nipples, and rims, you can see that building wheels for these bikes is not simple.
So when someone asks about 310 mm spokes, I sit up and listen. It is a common problem among collectors of British bikes from the 30's to the 60's. It remains a problem because very, very few shops stock 310mm spokes (despite what they might list on the net) and the major manufacturers rarely produce this size to stock.
Correct me if I'm wrong. I also need some 308 & 310mm spokes.
Amir Avitzur
Ramat-Gan, Israel