alternate wheel compatibility? (switching from road to hybrid, 29er, etc)

Yeah, but I think if I did the wheels, might as well put in a freewheel you can use indexed shifters on, which then requires new derailleur, etc, which opens a whole can of worms! Seems like most of our shops have some kind of 27 tires, but I'm in a town that loves it's old-schoolers! We'll have to see how well I do with the friction shifters (which I haven't touched since I was like 12 yrs old), then maybe I'll get into wheel changing, etc.

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Originally Posted by mayanorange

Yeah, but I think if I did the wheels, might as well put in a freewheel you can use indexed shifters on, which then requires new derailleur, etc, which opens a whole can of worms! Seems like most of our shops have some kind of 27 tires, but I'm in a town that loves it's old-schoolers! We'll have to see how well I do with the friction shifters (which I haven't touched since I was like 12 yrs old), then maybe I'll get into wheel changing, etc.

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yeah that is what I am afraid of!

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Originally Posted by mayanorange

It seems if you have some adjustability in the brakes, you can get away with 700c wheels, but am I limited to a 700c that can only take a 5-6 speed? That'd be fine, but is this an obscure hub size?

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Hubs don't care what size wheel their laced to. Of course, hub width has changed (increased) over the years, and road rims changed from 27 inch to 700c. Thus, if you're looking for pre-built wheels, you won't find certain combinations. If you are OK with having wheels built (or can do it yourself), then you can create many more combinations.

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Originally Posted by madscot13

finding the tires at local shops. When I was fixing this bike up 2 years ago I had to order the tires online. Tubes are not a problem.

plus I could get rid of the old wheels that aren't very true and look like a good re-chroming is in order

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Well, if the wheels already have problems, then that makes sense. I had a bike with those older 27" wheels and they are heavy also. My current 27" set is alloy, so no rust, they're fairly lightweight, so they are no problem. As for tires, I had to order online also, but Wallingford gets them there quickly.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

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Originally Posted by uforgot

Well, if the wheels already have problems, then that makes sense. I had a bike with those older 27" wheels and they are heavy also. My current 27" set is alloy, so no rust, they're fairly lightweight, so they are no problem. As for tires, I had to order online also, but Wallingford gets them there quickly.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

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thanks! Well I don't think my friend is a weight weenie and her current bike is a department store mountain bike so the weight can't be too different.

when I was imagining all of this I didn't imagine that I would have to change the derailleur if I changed the rear cogs, but now I am wondering if my old mountain hub would fit in the dropouts.

From what I've been reading, most older bikes has hubs maybe 126mm long at the most, where newer ones (your mtn hub) I think are 135mm, which would require bending out the stays. Depends on the individual parts I guess.