Originally Posted by
garage sale GT
A 27"/630mm front wheel would bolt right in. The Weinmann 219 rim has a bit of a ridge in the middle, maybe enough to keep the pads from creeping inward. That stirrup looks pretty flexible.
Does anyone know whether stirrup brakes NEED that raised ridge down the middle to keep the brake pads out of the spokes?
I heard of some sort of pads with leather inserts which are supposed to work better in the rain on steel rims.
The Westwood style rims used for stirrup brakes have nearly no offset to the spokes to allow for proper clearance as having your brake go into the spokes would be catastrophic.
AFAIK you can only get these rims in 622, 635 (English oversize), and 590 (26 by 1 3/8) rim sizes... it is a very common rim type everywhere but here in North America as rod brake bikes are still mass produced in the third world and are widely used.
The English models have a minimum, height requirement due to the much larger wheel size used... my Rudge actually has a 622 wheel in the rear as the original 635 was totaled.
Running the 622 wheel gives you some excellent tyre options although you cannot run your tyres at high psi due to the lack of a hooked rim.
The Raleigh I am working on now has it's new 622 rear wheel built and installed... the new SA 3 speed is very smooth and the coaster brake seems to have some pretty decent stopping power (on the stand). The bike will be quite use-able even if I have to wait for brake pads.
Now I have to go and build a new front wheel...
