trail_monkey

I don't need definite answers just asking advice. This old Panasonic tourist that I have been working on for my wife appears to be in pretty solid shape on the frame. There was some light surface rust inside the seat tube that I cleaned out but otherwise it seems fine. The wheels on the other hand are a different story. I have taken every 27-in wheel I can find from that boneyard and they are all rusted terrible under the dry rotted tires. The rims are so rusty in the rim channel they're absolutely not worth saving. So now I can't decide if I should buy a real cheap set of wheels for a hundred bucks (or less) and end up having maybe a couple hundred bucks in this bike when it's done? I know it was one of their lower end models and I'm trying to not spend more than it's worth. It is still a decent bike and much better than going and buying her a huffy from Walmart. How many of you would spend up to $200 to fix a bike like this up to enjoy?

And for what it's worth I live in a rural area where there's not a lot of bikes and I don't live anywhere near a bike co-op. I have no bike shops close to me either.

Murray Missile 

For a "keeper" I'd spend the money but I'd opt for 700c, more tire choices. Even if you have to get different brake calipers ( and I doubt you will ) it will be worth it in the long run.

trail_monkey

So 700c is a little bit bigger diameter than 27 correct? That means I just have to get shorter brake calipers or would there be enough adjustment up and down with the brake pads to compensate?

branko_76 

Do you have a camera?

trail_monkey

Yes why?

rgvg

The other way. 27" > 700c. 4mm adjustment is required between those two.

tpadul 

They would like to see pictures of the bike post pictures, lots of pictures

rgvg

Makes it easier for people to get an idea of what they'd pay for it and how much they think it would cost to rehab the bike.

trail_monkey

Here is several pictures. I've already thrown away the free wheeling bottom bracket and put in a standard English threaded square taper bottom bracket from one of the other bikes. I have several good crank sets. I have two brand new 700 inner tubes with Schrader valves. what I would basically need to do to complete this bike would be to buy a set of wheels, a couple tires, new brake shoes (most likely they are hard), new cable housings and I should have enough brake cables hanging on the wall, and depending on what I do for the drivetrain maybe a free wheel cog and a chain ring? If I make it into a single speed cruiser for her I'm going to use a nice pair of Sakae cranks that I have on the wall with a 110 BCD which would mean I would need to buy a chain ring for those. I would also need to buy a rear free wheel. If I decide to leave it geared I've already got the free wheel cluster and the derailleur and I would just need to figure out what I wanted to do for a shifter. I would also need to buy a brand new chain. That's about what it would take to finish this project.

Murray Missile 

Other way around, and 700c will give a bit more clearance for a little fatter tire. If the brake pads haven't been moved from where they were for the 27" wheels I'd say from the picture you have enough adjustment room to handle the swap to 700c wheels.

branko_76 

If wheels are the only major component that you need to buy, then I would say go for it. Those rusty steel rims are, well, steel, so get aluminum rims.

Kobe 

If your brake pads are in the same position on the front and back it looks like you have room to move down to 700c wheels. You should be able to find a cheap set for under $100, definitely worth it.

Murray Missile 

Go for it! 😎

trail_monkey

That's exactly what I was thinking but the trouble is on all these 27-in wheel bikes I have laying around the brake pads aren't evenly adjusted from side to side lol. So I have no way of knowing what the proper adjustment was to hit a 27. I'm going to guess that if it's only a 4 mm difference I would have plenty of room.

curbtender

I see you have other rims laying around. One of them has to be 700. Try a front one on with the calipers and see where you are at.

trail_monkey

Those are 27-in rims too. I do have a 700c bike that's modern with disc brakes. The hub spacing won't line up but maybe I could temporarily squeeze those rims in just to get a rough idea of where the brake shoes would sit on that size rim.

trail_monkey

I just compared measurements to the 700C wheel set that's on my modern bike and I feel really embarrassed right now because these are 700c wheels that were on this bike as well as the other two parts bikes. All along I thought they all had 27-in. I could have swore on one of these old dry rotted tires I saw the numbers 27x 1. So yeah I need to find some 700c wheels.

cb400bill

Thread moved to Appraisals forum from C&V.

Murray Missile 

Are you sure? I've never seen chrome steel 700c wheels.

trail_monkey

Well I did it pretty rough. I used a tape measure and I measured from the center of the axle to the outside lip of each rim and they were both measuring about 12 3/4". Then I measured as best I could across the center of the rim and I was getting roughly 25-25 1/4" full rim diameter on my new set and on these older sets. I know the math doesn't add up but those are approximate measurements. I didn't get too detail but they are in the ballpark so I'm pretty sure they are. I'll have to take more careful measurements when I get home today

Vintage Schwinn

If you find that you need longer reach calipers, the ancient WEINMANN side pull on 26"(597mm bead seat diameter) SCHWINN COLLEGIATES are marked L.S. 2.8 on 1969 onward, and marked Weinmann 810 on 1968 and earlier. THEY ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. You should be able to find a good used set for next to nothing in cost. Remember the L.S. 2.8 & Weinmann 810 are the longer reach units fitted to the COLLEGIATE and other 26" (597mm) wheel Schwinn lightweights with handbrakes like 3 speed versions of Breeze, Speedster and others...............COLLEGIATE will be easiest to locate since there were no coaster brake versions in the sixties or seventies. Again remember that the L.S. 2.8 is from COLLEGIATE etc, and the shorter reach L.S. 2.4 is from the VARSITY & SUBURBAN with 27" (630mm) wheels.

trail_monkey

Touche. Yeah my measurements were off these are 27-in wheels.

trail_monkey

Thank you for that info! I'm not sure if I'm going to need them or not but if I do I will start looking for some

Miele Man

Any alloy wheel will give MUCH better braking when wet including just riding through a puddle. 700C wheels also give more room for fender clearance and tires are available virtually anywhere now. 27" tires are not stocked by any bike shops or department stores in my neck of the woods. YMMV

Cheers

trail_monkey

So when I Google search 700c rims of course I've get lots of results. But I'm looking for cheap/budget.... Not a hundred plus dollars for a pair. This is an old bike that wasn't exactly high-end in its day lol. I also noticed that all the 700c rims I see for sale have quick release. That's probably not a major deal actually although I may end up running this bike single speed I just don't know yet. Also are there 700c rim brake wheel sets available that have threaded freewheel bodies and the old 126 spacing on the rear? so far everything I have found in my search results have been for more modern bikes with an eight-speed cassette. I don't want to spend a whole bunch of money modernizing this bike. I just want a good set of wheels that don't cost much for my wife to ride around town.

honestly for what I'm trying to achieve out of this bike I'm beginning to wonder if just buying a dirt cheap set of 27-in rims off Amazon won't be the best way to go. I just want a decent bike for my wife to ride around once in a while. It will probably spend more time in the garage than it will on the road but when she does want to go with me I want her to have something that she can depend on.