Hello!

I own an old school raleigh road bike, probably from the 1970s. The ball bearings from the real wheel fell out and now the wheel won't spin freely. On top of that, for some reason after i tried putting the ball bearings back the wheel won't fit back onto the bike? My LBS said they could fix it for $15 + labor but my rims are well overdue so im thinking about a new wheelset, maybe even converting to a fixed gear. My rim size is 27x1 1/4 so does anyone know if i HAVE to buy a 27x1 1/4 fixed wheelset or could go for 27in. I have a pair of alexrims(700) sitting in my garage but they dont fit on my bike. Anyone know what size wheelset i could use for a fixie conversion?

You need to see if the 700C wheels will fit - first off. And check the brakes - can you adjust the break-pads so they will fit the 700C rim? If they can't, you either need to replace the brakes - or find some 27" wheels that will fit your bike. They're out there and 27" rims are still with us new-in-a-box.

If the wheels fit and the brakes have enough reach to work on the 700C rims - you'll be fine. Though I imagine you will have many more questions. There are many very helpful videos on bicycle-mechanics here:

https://bicycletutor.com/

Note - there are 5 pages.