Well, well. Zombie thread, but a Google search on this question took me here. I dealt with this last month; I had my LBS tune up an old Speedster ('71?) with an SA 3-speed. The front wheel was shot (car rolled up onto the sidewalk and hit it, bent it to resemble a potato chip), so it was replaced with an alloy 590 and a Bontrager Sports tire. The rear wheel is an original Schwinn steel item, with a Kenda in place of the original tire.

Braking is pretty good on the rear, definitely better on the front. The issue is the ride quality: On chopped up NYC pavement, that front wheel-tire combo transmits an awful lot of road shock. I can deal with it for the most part, but I hit a particularly nasty stretch of cobblestones Saturday that made me wish for that extra rubber that a matching 597 up front would give.

I'll pop this into C&V and see if anybody knows of a source for an aluminum 597.