bravozulu

I cleaned up my old bicycle from about 30 years of storage and found out that I couldn't get that size of tubulars anymore.

I took off all the old Campagnolo derailleurs, brakes and etc. I bought a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub with a coaster brake ($20, NOS, e-bay) and laced it to a Sun M13 II.

I bought the spokes at the LBS and was hoping that they would be OK. The problem was that the neck of the spokes were a little long for my hub. SA is a steel hub and most other hubs are alloy and thus have a thicker flange.

After about a hundred miles of easy commutes, I was enroute to the doctor to have my knee drained and noticed a noise like a bad shift with a derailleur and stopped to investigate. 6 broken spokes and my tire also went flat at that moment.

Originally the LBS didn't have much selection for spokes and cannot seem to locate a supply that would be compatible with my hub.

Does anyone have a source?

astrodaimler

Phil Wood company used to have a spoke cutting tool with threader. Its true, I almost bought one 20 years ago so I know it exists somewhere. There's got to be someone with one of those around and one who make something similar. The tool, what it does, is that you cut the spoke, and it threads it the same time. Really cool.

bravozulu

Thanks AD, but the problem is not the length. The spokes are breaking because the elbow bend at the hub flange is unsupported. So what I need are spokes that are made for a steel hub.

lotek 

BZ,

what kind of tubulars did you have that you couldn't get anymore?
the only tire I could think of that might be really difficult is a 650B.
I don't think that tubulars actually came in 27 inch size (yah I know conti
states 27 but its a 700C tire). ?
I wouldn't throw out the campy drivetrain just because of rims, heck just
build new wheels.
Nice bike and nice Bike.

Check here for spokes:
https://www.wheelsmith.com/

or here:

https://www.branfordbike.com/cgi-bin/...R_ID=671599077



marty

spider-man

Most people use spoke washers when lacing an old SA three-speed hub with new spokes. Check Loose Screws or Icycles.

repechage

Wrong size tubulars sounds fishy to me, there were some odd sizes, but your bike does not look like a good candidate for that. How were you advised / determined that the size was no longer made?

Regarding the spoke breakage, washers do help. DT makes them just for their spokes, I would not use DT spokes for that hub as DT changed the head land length a while back, they since reduced it back but not to the original, I now use Sapim spokes, don't know about Wheelsmith. Also, I could not tell for certian but looks like the wheel was laced 2X, which distorts the spoke more than say 3X. Go 3X.

cudak888 

Still have the Campy components? Willing to part with 'em?

-Kurt

bravozulu

The sew-ups were 27". I was able to find a set of NOS Hutchies on the net but that was about it. LBS owner had the same problem and a dead set of wheels hanging on the wall just like mine.

Kurt, I sent the Campy Derailleurs to my brother but have a set of Shimano of the same period, and also have the Campy hubs.

Rep & Spidey, both wheels are laced 3X. I will look into the washer/bushing idea, Thanks.

Marty, I sent an e-mail to wheelsmith. Both bikes were put together from parts.
The bicycle is an unknown Italian frame with Campy drop-outs. The chopper was assembled starting with motor cases into a high performance 96" stroker and lots of fabricated parts.

repechage

Every time I have been advised of 27" sew ups, they were "700c", the typical size. Tubular tires are often "mislabeled", Continental uses the term 28".

Go to the sheldonbrown site, he has an "article" about this and other tire perplexities.

Now, some tires are tighter than others and require stretching before any attempt to put them on a rim is made.

Send them to lotek or luker, either one probably could install a set of tires for free if you don't ask for the wheels back.

What is the actual outside diameter of these rims?

cyclotoine

this has been discussed on CR the last few days, the general conclusion I got was that there was no difference between tubulars labelled as 27" or 700 they were both the same, period, there was never a true 27" tubular.

sykerocker 

Damn, another guy with my own tastes: Choppers and road bikes!

My garage is currently six motorcycles (mostly vintage) and four bicycles (three road, one mountain). Real nice looking scoot.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C