tgrssn

I recently became the proud owner of an 83/84 Schwinn Super Sport. It's awesome and rides amazingly. It has a lot of totally decent part upgrades including 105 derailleurs and Dura-ace cranks. The wheelset is a combo of fh-1055 hubs and matrix iso c-ii rims. I can tell already that the rims are gonna be a bummer, though. They seem fragile and don't like to stay true. Also, they have no flat "braking surface" to speak of, machined or otherwise, and it seems to make the brakes less effective. So anyway, eventually, I'd like to rebuild the wheels with better rims. Two questions...

1. Is it worth it, in your opinion, to pay to rebuild this wheelset with these older hubs?

2. Are these hubs serviceable? They seem tight and smooth now, but if I ever need to rebuild them, can it be done without a hassle?

lopek77

I'm not an expert in wheel building, but as far as I heard from folks who are doing it for a living, building a new wheel using an old hub is just not a good idea. I have few old hubs laying around, and all of them have stretched metal around each spoke hole.

rpenmanparker 

I disagree except in the one case you cite of actually damaged hubs. If the hubs are sound, rebuilding them with new rims, spokes and nipples is a time-honored plan. OP's hubs are rebuildable and should give many more years of good service.

FastJake

Uhh... what? I've rebuilt many used hubs and never had a problem. I've haven't heard of a hub failing unless you do something really stupid like a 36h low-flange front wheel radial with 2.0 straight gauge spokes and super high tension, and some other rare cases.

Also, the wheels staying true is not the rim's fault. It's the build quality. I've rebuilt a few wheelsets, keeping the hubs and rims and throwing all the spokes in the trash because they were way undertensionsed and nipples were seized up. Not worth saving the straight gauge spokes anyway. So that's an option too. Unless you're really unhappy with the braking surface, then get some different rims and sell the old ones.

RandomTroll

I've built new wheels with old hubs for years. On the other hand they aren't expensive compared to the time it takes to build a wheel.

hueyhoolihan

i, for once , agree with every body. yeah!

i googled them, seeing as how i didn't know their quality.
anyway, should be good for quite a while, with proper care.

be sure to clean and regrease bearings while you have easy access to them.

reptilezs

open the hubs, inspect races and overhaul. if the races are in good shape lace the hub to a new rim

reptilezs

a bad idea is relacing old rims, no thanks. been there, i just say no now

lopek77

And that's why I'm not taking my bike to LBS anymore...tired of all the BS coming from their mouth, and lousy service.
Believe it or not, but one year I invested a lot of time and money to visit 11 LBS just to find the one I trust. All of them did bunch of newbie mistakes but one. Most issues were with not tightening QC, grease on the rotors, wrong chain, not keeping promises and stuff like that.
The one that did everything perfectly is run by older guy /world wide known person in cycling, boxing and healthy body technics/. His mechanic is also "veteran" of bicycle mechanics. They are proud of their work, and they provide excellent and the best service around. They are also known to "refuse" the sale if they know that your choice is not what is good for you. Its a shame that only 1 store in 11 can do stuff right...

HillRider

First, yes, 1055 hubs have standard cup-and-cone bearings and are easily rebuildable. They are also fine hubs and, if not damaged from abuse or neglect, are well worth building around.

Second, Matrix Iso CII rims were one of Trek's house brand rims and were OEM on many of their bikes in the late 80's and early 90's. My 1992 Trek 1420 came with them and they were both durable and held true very well. The lack of a machined braking surface isn't a detriment as their braking performance is fine with decent brakes and pads. My rear wheel lasted 18,000 miles of all-weather use before the brake track cracked from abrasion.

So, your bad experience with them tells me yours weren't built with adequate and proper tension. Before you have them replaced, try having a good wheel builder set the spokes with adequate tension. I bet that will make them very satisfactory.

Retro Grouch 

Got any 40 hole hubs laying around?

rpenmanparker 

It is common for the spoke to deform the hole in the hub where it rubs against it. If the hole isn't actuly pulled into an oval shape (necer seen that) then no harm done. The hubs are still perfectly functional. Just relace them the same way as originally so that the marks don't show and new ones aren't created.

lopek77

Nope. I only use 36h. 36 and 40s are getting harder and harder to find. Are bicycle manufacturers forgetting about heavier riders and touring guys?

Retro Grouch 

I've got some 40 hole road bike rims and some mountain rims with 24/28 hole drilling. It would be easy enough to buy new (though expensive) hubsets if I needed the wheelsets but I don't.

lopek77

I would be happy with 4h wheelset if it came with "slim fast" plan and a solid guarantee ;-)

rpenmanparker 

I think they have learned that for any rider and any use 40 holes is overkill. Maybe 36 too.

lopek77

Less spokes on a wheel is a huge money saver for bike manufacturers. Its about them, not us lol
I think 32h is a standard now for "heavy duty" wheelset according to what is easily available at LBS and even most online places. Its just not enough to build a good, dependable wheel for heavy use, heavy rider or touring purposes.

bobotech

I also agree that the OP's wheels were not tensioned properly from the get-go resulting in wheels that are acting substandard.

I also agree with others that the one component that is MOST able to be reused are the hubs, they are able to be rebuilt onto new wheels almost every time unless they suffer from some rare mechanical breakdown. Rims and spokes? A lot won't reuse them however I will. I see no issue with reusing parts that aren't obviously damaged.

But yeah, go for it all day long on rebuilding new wheels on old properly maintained hubs. My latest wheels are a set of new Mavic touring rims on a set of new wheelsmith spokes on old Shimano disc brake hubs that I rebuilt. Wheels came out beautifully.

Gonzo Bob

A few years ago I built up a pair of wheels using some NOS Matrix Iso C's I got cheap on ebay. I've had no problem with them staying true or with braking. My brother also has a 1986 Trek 1500 that came with Matrix Iso C's and he's had no problems with the rims. I don't remember what they changed for the Iso C-II but I can't imagine that it's a whole lot different. If you keep having trueness issues, then it probably makes sense to rebuild. Otherwise just ride them. If you want better braking, look into getting some Koolstop salmon brake shoes.

bobotech

Oh wow, I just looked at the Matrix rims on one of my cross bikes, a Giant TCX that I rode since summer until I started riding my Motobecane. It has a set of Matrix ISO C rims on it and those things are DURABLE!! The wheels haven't come untrue in the whole time I rode it and mind you, I'm 350+ pound behemoth. Very sturdy rims.

I am more convinced than ever that the OP's wheels were originally built with very low tension allowing them to not hold up well.

tgrssn

Thanks. Will do that.

tgrssn

Word. Thanks.

tgrssn

Some great advice from all, as usual. Thanks so very much. Will take the wheels to a guy a trust to have them properly tensioned. Then I'll do my best to wear them out. If they're still acting up, then I'll rebuild new wheels with the same hubs.

Retro Grouch 

I suspect that the biggest difference is in the rims. Many modern wheels get a lot of their strength from a deep section rim.

FastJake

Yes, new rims (in general) are quite a bit heavier than most old rims. It's quite unfortunate IMO, especially with virtually every other part of the bike becoming lighter. I wish I could still get 270g tubular rims new for a reasonable price. But there are plenty of old used ones on the market still so I won't make a big fuss just yet.