Fifty Plus (50+) - Replace Rear Wheel Because or Flat Tire?

Had a flat on the rear of my hybrid today, and decided that while I had the tire off, might as well change the wheel too. I am a rather large old guy, so I thought a Sun double wall rim with a Deore hub and 36 black DT spokes should do the trick. Going with a 11-28 cassette, in lieu of the 14-28 freewheel that I have now.
It is a hand built by my LBS, and should be ready by Friday. Just submitted this for review. It's great that new toys are fun even at my age.

John

I took the rear wheel off of my Gunnar because I heard bearing noise and discovered a big crack in the rim. Dropped it off to be rebuilt with a new Open Pro rim, took the old bike into the mountains and flatted.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some people buy a new house because they got a flat tire. ;)

Sounds like a good basic upgrade to me. The change to a cassette from a freewheel is a good idea - unless you had a Phil Wood hub.

7 speed?

How about going with 11-32 for those hills. Sounds like a nice wheel!

I wouldn't be surprised to see some people buy a new house because they got a flat tire. ;)

Sounds like a good basic upgrade to me. The change to a cassette from a freewheel is a good idea - unless you had a Phil Wood hub.

7 speed?

Yes Dawg, my wife wants to build a new house every 5yrs, whether it needs painting or not.

It was a 7-spd Shimano, and the new one is a basic Shimano 7-spd cassette. It's flat around here, and that seems to be enough gears. The free hub should allow me to upgrade if I feel the need later. Shifter will have to be replaced of course.

I went to the hardware store to buy some paint last year. The nice fellow asked me if I wanted the "5-year" or the "10 year" paint.
I said that if you're married, there's no such thing as "10 year" paint.