Originally Posted by
RoadGuy
Somebody already asked you "why"? And, you never answered.
Which puzzles me.
You aren't against upgrading parts, the fact that you upgraded the brakes tells me that you aren't that worried about maintaining the "vintage" appearance. Freehubs and cassettes exist as an improvement to the threaded wheelhub and freewheel because the axle is supported by bearings located farther out on freehubs with cassettes. There are fewer axles failures (breaks and bending) on freehubs compared to thread hubs with freewheels (especially when considering 8-speed thread wheels and freewheels vs 8-speed freehubs and cassettes. And, the appearance of a freehub and cassette is just about the same as a threaded wheelhub and freewheel.
Did you ever take your relaced wheels back to the Builder for tuning after riding on them? New spokes need a break-in period, afterwhich the wheel needs to be trued/tuned, and the spokes should stabilize if they are quality parts, properly installed.
Hi. Changing over to Ultegra brakes was one of the ways I've been trying to cure the thumping in that front wheel. I couldn't get replacement pads for the originals, so this seemed the way to go. And with their brushed metal finish, the Ultegras were a near match aesthetically.
Unfortunately and while the brakes are very effective, it didn't stop the pulsing. The next step to try to cure it was to have the wheels re-laced with stainless steel spokes and brass nipples. I've got maybe a thousand miles on the re-built wheels. I will take your advice and return them for a first tune-up.
But the re-laced front wheel STILL pulses. Someone else here noted that it may be the result of the seam in that front wheel having been ground away a bit too much, causing a dip in the rim and creating the pulsing. That now makes sense. Which means that these OEM wheels may ALSO get removed and put away, just like the other OEM parts noted below.
I guess the reason I wanted to stay with the threaded hub and freewheel was to keep stuff interchangeable back there, and also to keep the bike SOMEWHAT period-correct. I agree that a more modern cassette would be an improvement . . . but it just sort of seems to cross a line, you know?
So far, I've carefully wrapped and placed each removed OEM component - brakes, brake hoods, sprocket assembly, FD and RD, etc. - into a box. There's a good chance the OEM wheels, with their new spokes and nipples - may join them.
And if I re-installed all those OEM parts tomorrow, I'd again have an original, possibly more valuable, but definitely less competent, Raleigh Super Course.
But this bike is just too much fun not to be ridden daily. Eh? Maybe I'll reconsider that whole freewheel vs. freehub/cassette thing. Thanks for your time and your learned response. DB