Alleytom

I picked up an older (1990) made in England Raleigh Caprice for my wife, she really likes the bike, and all is in reasonable condition except for the wheels, they have a good amount of rust in two areas. I'd like the swap out the wheels for aluminum, the bike currently has English 26x1 3/8 (590) wheels. Is there something with more common tires that will fit that might come with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed? All I can find are old Schwinn 26x1 3/8 which are also steel and the tires are also uncommon like the tires it already has. Do I just need to buck up and learn to lace wheels so I can do my own?

andrewclaus

This would be a good bike to learn wheel building. It can be done cheaply if you don't plan on making a career out of it. You can use the frame for truing, stacks of books for dishing, and a musical ear for tension. If you happen to find a new alloy rim with the same ERD, lacing is simple--tape the new rim to the old and transfer spokes one at a time. Otherwise, get someone else to double-check your spoke calculations.

soyabean

I dunno how close those are to 650 wheels, you'd have to get your hand on some to see if the brake pads still line up on them.

If by miracle 650 rims work, you can opt to relace, but that's an awful lot of work for a meh beach cruiser.

Otherwise it may be easier to soak those wheels in rust remover (can do one-third section of the wheel each night) and repaint.

dedhed

They won't come with an old SA AW 3 speed hub but a newer model.Lots of UK sellers

The Sun Ringle CR-18 is one of the few alloy rims in ISO 590 and drilled for 32/36/40 for SA AW hubs, but getting hard to find.

​​​​​​https://www.cycleking.co.uk/wheel/wh...3-speed__13117

​​​​​​https://www.somafab.com/archives/pro...00c-rear-wheel

alcjphil

If you want to rebuild your wheels, the best current choice would be 650B which are pretty close at 584 mm BCD to your current wheels. Actually, your front wheel is probably not worth rebuilding, but the 3 speed rear hub is probably worth salvaging if it is working well. The smaller diameter 650B rim would require that you move the brake pads downward by 3 mm so you would have to check to see if your brakes have that much adjustment. 650B tires are much more readily available than 26 x 1 3/8

alcjphil

Which 650 wheel are you referring to? 650A, 650B, or 650C?

ClydeClydeson

I would say lacing a new set of wheels with 650B (584BSD) rims would be the best solution. Plenty of tire choices, and should fit the bike without any major mods.

Second choice IMO is to find a set of 650A (26 x 1 3/8, 590BSD, same size as current) alloy rims and relace those on the current hubs.

As mentioned above, the front hub may not be worth the effort of re-lacing, but it may be difficult to find pre-laced wheels in either size... 650B is becoming more common but generally only with disc brakes and not with rim-brake compatible rims. Also, the front is the rim I would swap for aluminum first because the biggest improvement you'll see is in the braking (esp. in the wet) of aluminum braking surface vs chrome steel braking surface. An aluminum rim on the front and some nice new brake pads and a new cable and housing will give the bike reasonable brakes.

You can de-uglify the chrome rims very quickly with steel wool.