ZippyThePinhead

Somehow my oldest tacoed the rear wheel on my 1987 Trek 560 Pro. LBS says "not fixable." Put simply, I'm looking for a wise coat-efficient way to get the bike rolling again. I have two wheel sets for it already-- old Alex Rims with inexpensive hubs and six-speed freewheels. The original wheel set that came with it had a slight hop, and the rear wheel from the second set now being toast, I'm not really wild about getting a third wheel set. It seems to be the most expensive solution. I've never built a wheel, so I can't say whether putting cheap new Alex Rims on one of the wheel sets is even feasible. I do have friends who could probably offer assistance if I go that route.
In the past I purchased a machine-built 10-speed ultegra wheel set from an online seller and had to have them retensioned by my LBS, and that same online seller has 126mm rear hub wheel sets on eBay, which is another reason I'm not eager to just buy a new wheel set (at least from them).

Narhay

What hub and rim are your current wheels built with? If they're quality then I might go down the route of rebuilding them. If they're nothing special I'd look at a 126mm wheelset like something from velomine.

Either way, I was in your position a few times...something wrong with the wheel or rim meant a trip to the bike store, and a trip again later to pick them up plus a dent in my wallet. Eventually I learned how to true wheels and then eventually rebuild them. It's a bit of a dark art and some investment in proper tools but the ability to not have to rely on anyone else was worth it for me.

Knet

Well, without knowing what qualifies as "wise" and "cost-efficient", I would say that the cheapest route is a trip thru eBay, they have some pretty inexpensive wheelsets built on 126 hubs, but that is sorta low end on the quality spectrum. Your original wheelset sounds like it has the same hop that my wheelset has (the hop is at the weld on both of mine, but not that bad for 30 y.o. wheels, I am keeping them around just cuz they are original).

That said, wheels are consumables, it sounds like you have consumed yours, on to the next wheelset.

oddjob2

Hard to beat this $159 Velomine Shimano 105 wheelset. IIRC, I popped these onto my 1989 Trek 360, an easy peazy fit. Rides like a dream. Sell your old rims for $20 each on craigslist.

Mavic CXP Elite Shimano 105 5800 Hubs Silver Road Bike Wheelset [640117/640298] - $159.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

ZippyThePinhead

Actually Velo Mine was the source of the aforementioned 10 speed Ultegra wheel set. The wheels were making noise as soon as I put them on, and LBS mechanic said the spoke tension was all over. Long story short, IIRC it was $125 additional to get them retensioned, which Velo Mine apologized for and PayPal'ed me 25% of. Better than nothing, but fool me once, shame on you, that kind of thing.
Appreciate the perspectives, many thanks.

The Golden Boy 

"Uhhh... happy Father's Day, Dad..."

nfmisso

Sounds like "oldest" has some work ahead of him/her.

I suggest they start here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

I like Velocity rims because they are round and flat, which means they build up fast with minimal amount of truing required - IF Sheldon's (or similar good) directions are followed. I'd go with Velocity Aero rims for your bike because of the relatively narrow tires.

oddjob2

Before mounting the rim strips, I gave each spoke a tweak by hand. If it felt loose relative to others, I'd tighten it with a spoke wrench. Took all of 15 minutes per wheel.