Originally Posted by
clubman
You're going with SA hub brakes anyway so braking surface doesn't matter to you....I'd stay with the chromed steel.
+1
I am toying with the idea of those expensive alloy 28" westwoods, but only to improve braking performance of the rod rim brakes on my DL-1 (and in both of these scenarios, wheel building would be in order). For some reason, this seems easier/better than trying to find correct rod-to-drum-linkages, which exist, but not widely. Other than the braking-while-wet issue, I think the chromed westwoods are better looking than modern alloy.