Road Cycling - Rear wheel for older 7 speed Shimano

Well there seems to be a lot of wheel threads lately, one of them prompted me to buy a new set for my wife. But that's a different topic....

I'm visiting a friend this weekend out of town - he's a dedicated biker, has been commuting to work for years and years on an older bike. He has what once was a decent road bike, a Cannondale R-500 or something like that. Anyhow, he quit riding it a couple of years ago when he got a new rim - I looked at it tonight & it seemed like a heavy old Sun. Anyhow the rim must be a little oversided, it is near impossible to get a tire on the damn thing - he's said that he's gone through several tubes in the past couple of years just trying to get a tire to fit over the thing. I provided an extra set of hands tonight & it was true, we broke 2 tire irons (plastic) that I've used in the past w/out problem & resorted to a screwdriver. Of course we ended up puncturing a tube - something he said we would.

Anyhow, he's discouraged, I say let's get a new rim. Now that his kids are getting a bit older, I'd like to see him back on the road on weekends, I'm trying to convince him to do a century w/ me next month. So I'm motivated to get him going again.

My questions are:

1. Any tips for getting a tire (he picked up a couple of new ones) over an oversided rim?

2. More likely - I'd like to find a rim for him. In doing a quick look, it appears that most of the wheels out there are for newer 8-9-10 speed Shimanos. His is a 7 speed. Any idea if I can use one of these newer rims with his older drivetrain? Or do you know of any rims I should be looking for that would fit a 7 speed system?

Thanks for any suggestions,
Bob

[EDIT] - I did an ebay search, I see some 7/8/9 speed Shimano Altus Hubs w/ Alex Rims - any thoughts on these?

Hm, weird. Are you sure the tubes are the right size? I've heard of very few "oversize rims". My guess is that the tubes aren't a good match. But if there really is some issue, I suppose it's a convenient excuse to upgrade from a likely crappy wheel anyway. And if it gets him out riding, then good on ya both.

A Shimano 7-speed cassette (and that's cassette, not freewheel - there's a difference (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html)) will fit on a 8,9-10 speed hub. You'll just need a 4.5mm spacer, and a bit of limit screw adjustment on the rear derailleur.

thanks for the reply. well the tires are standard size, he's tried several different ones, all 700c. Maybe the rim he bought isn't standard, don't know, I'll see if it has any markings. I've never seen a tire go on a rim with so much difficulty.

Thanks for the he's up on the spacer - that helps!

Bob

A 27 inch rim uses a 630mm tire. A 700c tire is 622mm tall. Someone who tries to fit a 622mm tire on a 630mm rim is gonna be mighty frustrated.

they do sell 27" tires. but be sure the brakes work with the rim. btw, the early 7 speed freehubs don't work with later cogs...unless you file down the little notch on the cogs.

craigslist is your friend. I just sold a pair of early 90s campy aero wheels with shimano 600 7-speed hubs