Old(er) peddler getting back in the saddle

Hello !

Glad to find this great group with tons of good info and links.

Once upon a time (read:about 20 years ago) I rode 100 ~ 400 miles a week.
Of course this was prior to settling down and having a family as well as running
a business. I rode on an old Schwinn Super Sport that I loved dearly and have
never seen another like it. It came equipped with Shimano 600 and I replaced
some components with Dura Ace and Ultegra when replacement was deemed necessary.
Such as the time my right shifter fell off going into a turn at 35 mph !

Unfortunately one beautiful morning the Super Sport had a collision with a
truck which didn't do either of us any good considering the motor was running
wide open. It now hangs in the garage reminding me of why I wear a helmet.

Amazingly my good old Mavic MA-40 rims held up and I was able to remove
wheels, shifters, derailleur and such from the frame. Of course I was out of
work for a little bit and money was an issue so the frame I bought was a Schwinn
Le Tour that had been custom built with Superbe Pro. A few of my parts weren't
exactly good to look at anymore and the bike took it hard as well. I used some
of the Suntour components and once it was all put together, it ran well for my
needs and was actually a lot more comfortable than the racing oriented Super
Sport.

Here's the gist.

The Le Tour now has around 15,K on it and the wheels are _finally_ shot. A
tribute to Mavic if ever there was one ! Anyway, I want to replace the rims
myself if possible. Wife, 2 kids and 1 job. What are the odds that my
now-ancient Shimano 600 hubs are in good condition ? This rig is running one of
the last (I believe) 7 speed Dura Ace freewheels built before everything went to
cassettes and frankly it's a gem that I'd hate to trash. Also looking for a
recommendation for a good, solid touring rim ? Am I correct in believing that if
these hubs are shot then I'll probably have to buy a new frame as the newer hubs
are wider and won't fit correctly ?

Thanks for any advice you may offer.

Regards

John S. Douglas, Photographer
http://www.darkroompro.com

"John" wrote:
The Le Tour now has around 15K on it and the wheels are _finally_ shot.

Anyway, I want to replace the rims
myself if possible. What are the odds that my
now-ancient Shimano 600 hubs are in good condition ? This rig is running
one of
the last (I believe) 7 speed Dura Ace freewheels built before everything
went to
cassettes and frankly it's a gem that I'd hate to trash.

Try turning the axels between your fingers, and see if they turn smoothly
and with no side play. Probably a good idea to replace the bearings and
re-grease if you decide to keep them.

Also looking for a
recommendation for a good, solid touring rim ?

Take a look at the Mavic T520:
http://www.lickbike.com/i2116100.htm

Am I correct in believing that if
these hubs are shot then I'll probably have to buy a new frame as the
newer hubs
are wider and won't fit correctly ?

You can get 7-speed 126 mm hubsets from Sheldon Brown:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/hubs.html#retro

Or, assuming your frame is steel and has 126 mm rear dropout spacing, you
can just pop a 130 mm hub in there. Or the dropouts can be easily spread
("cold set") to 130 mm for about $25 at a good LBS. That would include
checking/tweaking the rear dropout and derailleur hanger alignment. You
could even upgrade to 8 or 9 speeds.

Freehub/cassette systems are a much better design than threaded
hub/freewheels (less chance of bending/breaking an axel). If there are a lot
of miles on your FW, it may need replacement anyway.

Art Harris

Glad to hear you've taken up the bicycle. But your commercial activities
belong elsewhere.

john- What are the odds that my
now-ancient Shimano 600 hubs are in good condition ? BRBR

Spin them-smooth?

john- This rig is running one of
the last (I believe) 7 speed Dura Ace freewheels built before everything went
to
cassettes and frankly it's a gem that I'd hate to trash. BRBR

We have 7s DA freewheels...

John- Also looking for a
recommendation for a good, solid touring rim ? BRBR

Mavic T520, Velocity Deep V if 700c...Velocity Dyad if 27 inch...

Am I correct in believing that if
these hubs are shot then I'll probably have to buy a new frame as the newer
hubs
are wider and won't fit correctly ? BRBR


Nope-old sytle hubs are available and it is possible to 'cold set' your
frameset to the proper spacing for 8/9/10s rear hubs...

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"