Where to find 27" rear wheel for fixed conversion.
 

My old Schwinn's drive train is totally toast. Have decided to convert it to fixed. I have searched, and the cheapest 27" rear wheel (27" because I don't want to have to buy two...) I could find is $80 + $20 shipping (Harris cyclery). $100 is the quote I got from the LBS, and I was sure I could find something cheaper online, although maybe shipping will be the culprit here.

Anyone know of anywhere online that would be good for this?

What sort of Schwinn is it? If it's an older model with a freewheel instead of cassette, you could take the freewheel off, put on a single freewheel, shorten the chain, and ride it as a one-speed. Fixed gears are OK- but I see plenty of people walking them when they could be riding. Poser hipsters!

It's an old LeTour. The deraileur, chainrings, and freewheel are all shot, and the rear wheel is a POS and out of true. I thought I could kill all the birds by making it fixed, and it would be something different to ride (I still have my nice road bike). Not trying to be a hipster. I actually ride my bikes. I would still run a front brake.

OK- A LeTour is still from the freewheel era. If the rear wheel's shot, then replace it, and throw on a single freewheel. As far as I know, a 27" rim on a fixed-gear hub would be a custom build. That means $$$. A replacement rear wheel should be about $25 if you stay with a steel rim, $35 if you go to an aluminum rim.

FWIW: I have a LeTour from the Mississippi Schwinn era: http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/letour/index.htm . I recently re-converted it to single-speed using a set of 700C wheels from another project. It's a good go-to-coffee bike.

If I were in your boat, I would just get a 700c wheel and a new tire. If you get the wheel used, you might actually save money over the 27 inch fixed. Then, when you have money, or happen on a great bargain, you can swap the front wheel as well.

Build one, or pay someone to do it for you., need a 36 hole track hub,
because you need the left hand threaded lock-ring to keep the sprocket on
when you submit counterforces on the pedals to stop.

I have retensioned spokes, and shifted axle spacers
to turn a 5 speed freewheel hub into a single speed wheel ,
but that is a single freewheel gear, fixed gears need the lockring.

If you intend to run a front brake (where the most effective braking is done anyhow) then you aren't missing much even if throwing on a 700C rear means that your current rim brakes won't reach.

you can get fixed hubs built up with 27" rims. But I'd be surprised if you find them much cheaper than $100. I got one online for $80, but the spoke tension was woefully wack, and the amount of labor I put in to optimize this was worth at least $20.
http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike.../27_flip-flop/

I got one for $50 from bikepartsusa. It was built up with the rather distinctive Weinmann 219 so it doesn't really match the front rim, but it is a 27.

You should be able to pick up an older 27" Road Bike off of Craig list or at a weekend garage sale for a lot less than 100.00 Just for the wheels.
many of the GS deals were barely ridden

I'd just switch the bike over to 700c unless you have some really expensive tires - most 27" rims are single-wall plated steel, which really aren't as good as the more modern alternatives. You can get a good set of 700c wheels - front and back - for a little over $100 these days, and that price gets you a decent set of hubs and heavy-duty "aero" style rims which can take a lot of abuse.

Before you switch from 27 to 700c make sure you have enough room in your brake pad slots to hit the side of the rms. 27" has a beaddiameter of 630mm. 700c has a bead diameter of 622mm. That's an 8mm differences in diameter or a 4mm radius difference. That means you need at least 4mm additional room below your current brake pad location.

From memory, most Schwinns from the 70's and early 80's should have room in the brake calipers to do that front and rear. But measure your bike to make sure.

700c wheels are much more abundant, especially for fixed. You can even get fancy colors.

There is an online present wheelbuilder out there who builds 27 x 1 1/4 single wall alloy rims onto sealed cartridge bearing track hubs for about 120.00 - 130.00 per set depending upon whether you want silver rims / silver spokes or black rims / black spokes. Hubs are black.

Don't recall any sidewall treatment on the black rims - old school finish.

=8-)

Single-wall, yes. Steel, no. Tons of single-wall aluminum 27" rims out there (although chromed steel used to be common too).
The wheel I'd purchased (linked above) has Sun M13II double-wall rim.