Originally Posted by
Doohickie
Yeah... perfect looking, with looking being the operative word. The rims are a bit out of true, and with rod brakes that's critical. They pulse pretty good. One of the tires got a bubble so I ordered a new pair. While I'm waiting for them to arrive I tried truing the wheels (no truing stand; I use an old fork and eyeball it). I'm not expecting great results. I think eventually I'll have to lace some new westwood rims on them.
Oh, and your Rudge looks more perfect than my Raleigh... pics can hide the subtle flaws.
My friend, who is far more knowledgeable than me on old bikes, tells me that with rod brakes there will always be a little pulsing.
I laced up a new rear for my Rudge using an old but decent hoop as the original was rusted completely through in places and this was really hard on the brake pads.
Those wheels are insanely tough and were meant to be fixed with a hammer...
Finding some NOS hoops in an English over size would be nice although the 700c /28 inch wheel size is a lot easier to find tyres for... my new rear wheel is actually a non oversized 28.