Classic & Vintage - old track bike - wood wheels?

I bought an old track bike last summer at a yard sale. I'd like to fix it back up to close to its original era. I was told by the guy who sold it to me that it was given to him by an old racer named Jack Disney, who also used to ride the bike, became the seller's coach for his olympic career etc....The bike has a horrible yellow spraypaint job (over some of the lockrings and headset) and no headbadge. I'm going to strip that yellow paint. It looks like it used to be green underneath all the crumby yellow spray paint, so I'll probably put a nice english racing green paintjob on it. And it has really old looking (relaxed) geometry, and it's skip link drive train, with a flip flop hub, freewheel (that works) on one side, fixed on the other.
But my question is...does anyone have any idea if I should try to obtain wooden rims to get it up to orignal spec, or might it originally have actually had these aluminum rims? I believe everything else is steel as it's slightly rusty. I don't plan to ride it much, since it's about 5cm too small for me. So rideablility is not a huge issue even if the rims I found were a tad warped.
thanks in advance for any help I receive.

I bought an old track bike last summer at a yard sale. I'd like to fix it back up to close to its original era. I was told by the guy who sold it to me that it was given to him by an old racer named Jack Disney, who also used to ride the bike, became the seller's coach for his olympic career etc....The bike has a horrible yellow spraypaint job (over some of the lockrings and headset) and no headbadge. I'm going to strip that yellow paint. It looks like it used to be green underneath all the crumby yellow spray paint, so I'll probably put a nice english racing green paintjob on it. And it has really old looking (relaxed) geometry, and it's skip link drive train, with a flip flop hub, freewheel (that works) on one side, fixed on the other.
But my question is...does anyone have any idea if I should try to obtain wooden rims to get it up to orignal spec, or might it originally have actually had these aluminum rims? I believe everything else is steel as it's slightly rusty. I don't plan to ride it much, since it's about 5cm too small for me. So rideablility is not a huge issue even if the rims I found were a tad warped.
thanks in advance for any help I receive.

Sounds like quite a conversation piece - but a track bike with relaxed geometry? Sounds a bit schizophrenic to me.

My understanding is that some of the trackies used in 6 Day Racing did have somewhat relaxed angles. The riders were on those things for a long time.

I'd go wood if I could swing it. Wood rims are around. I think a few specialty makers still make some though I'm sure that's big $. Nasbar, I think, even sold a batch awhile ago. That Schwinn Paramount that's a thread topic isn't nearly old enough to have wood rims stock so they came from somewhere. Keep an eye on eBay.

Good luck. I like those old racers.

:beer:

Jack Disney was probably the best US male track rider of the 50's and 60's. Was it his bike or just a bike?

EDIT Here is some info on Jack Disney

http://www.usbhof.com/inductees/1988.cfm

Jack Disney was probably the best US male track rider of the 50's and 60's. Was it his bike or just a bike?

EDIT Here is some info on Jack Disney

http://www.usbhof.com/inductees/1988.cfm
I was told it was his bike, though I have not been able to confirm it. I don't know if he raced on it or if it was just one of his bikes. It had brakes mounted to it when I recieved it. But the brakes were 70's vintage so they're outta here.

My understanding is that some of the trackies used in 6 Day Racing did have somewhat relaxed angles. The riders were on those things for a long time.

I'd go wood if I could swing it. Wood rims are around. I think a few specialty makers still make some though I'm sure that's big $. Nasbar, I think, even sold a batch awhile ago. That Schwinn Paramount that's a thread topic isn't nearly old enough to have wood rims stock so they came from somewhere. Keep an eye on eBay.

Good luck. I like those old racers.

:beer:

Yeah, I've remember those nashbar rims, I used to wonder who the heck would get them. Now I know.
I've been seeing a few rims on ebay, but I keep losing cause I'm too cheap. And I haven't been able to find them anywhere else on the web. seems odd, but when you think about it, wood rims are very old school and the web is very "not", so I guess it shouldn't have been that suprising.

My understanding is that some of the trackies used in 6 Day Racing did have somewhat relaxed angles. The riders were on those things for a long time.

I'd go wood if I could swing it. Wood rims are around. I think a few specialty makers still make some though I'm sure that's big $. Nasbar, I think, even sold a batch awhile ago. That Schwinn Paramount that's a thread topic isn't nearly old enough to have wood rims stock so they came from somewhere. Keep an eye on eBay.

Good luck. I like those old racers.

:beer:

If you know where those specialty makers can be found, I'd be very curious.

I need to get a tagline like...." I don't go to church, I come here, it's better for the soul"

Sounds like quite a conversation piece - but a track bike with relaxed geometry? Sounds a bit schizophrenic to me.

When I look at older bikes (before the 50's) they all seem to have generally more relaxed geometries, but this one seems even more relaxed than a modernish touring geometry. Perhaps I'll try to include some pics, so you guys can see what I mean. I have a digital camera, I just need to figure out how to downsize them and post em.

If I was you, I would try to find out if Jack Disney is still alive, and if so, try to track him down. He'd probably like to reminisce about his heyday and perhaps could confirm whether the bike was actually his, where and when he rode it, and what it looked like.