Paul Williams: Evening all As noted last week I am about to bound into a new project by taking on N eil Foddering's beautifully refinished 1941 Imperial Petrel (Joe Cooke). It has been a while since I have undertaken a project of this type and a whil e since I have been trolling EBay for necessary parts. But as I watched a pair of Constrictor 26" X 1 1/4" soar over the 160 GBP mark + shipping I began to wonder about the continuing availability of rims of this size they certainly don't appear that often and attract a lot of attention.
So what's a fellow to do? My Carpenter is kitted out with a very nice pair of Fiamme Yellow Label clincher rims in the correct size (interestingly wit h 36 holes) which I obtained from a fellow lister. Does anyone have any spa re 32 and 40 hole 26 X 1 1/4" (EA1) rims or even correct wheels for an earl y-40s machine that they might be willing to part with and won't completely blow the budget?
There is of course another option which I am not sure would be consid ered kosher here but might solve a problem re. tyres long term. That wou ld be going for something like a Sun CR18 polished rim in a 26 X 1 3/8 size (EA3). The difference is only a matter of 7mm smaller. These are available it appears in 32 and 40 hole drillings. Has anyone else contemplated this as an alternative to the EA1's? How would they look by comparison with the correct rims of the time for a racing bike? I know the EA3's were standard on British 3-speeds. Any comments welcomed.
Hey Paul, Been there. I could never afford to go for Smithsonian restorations and often you run into problems like yours. 590's were a 3 speed tire but they were also standard "touring" wheels on quality singles and tandems back in the day. Several tires are still available and it doesn't look like they'll be dying out before we do. Panaracer makes full on 590-35 tourers in the Col de la Vie model (an excellent tire) and Kenda makes a white/tan walled 32 that also rides very nicely (at 65 pounds pressure). There are others including Schwalbe out there also. My '52 Viking Road/Path was made for 26x1 1/4". I use 700cx30's for my fixed wheels and 590's for hubgeared touring wheels on the same bike with Mafac Racers (great adjustment). If you want to ride the bike then I wouldn't wince too much at the 590's. Here's my Viking set up with them:
http://www.flickr.com/
Craig Montgomery Tucson
BTW, I have an extra 40 hole Sun CR18 I'll sell it to you for my cost (paid around $30) plus shipping (no clue).