I'm bout to buy a new set of wheels for my 1987 Bianchi strada LX. Currently it has a set of 27" inch wheels and a 6 speed cassette on the rear. I have tried a set of 700s on the bike and they fit fine and the brakes are able to reach. It seems like all of the 700 wheels that I find are compatible with 7-8-9 speed cassettes but not 6. What are my options here?

Buy a pair of 700C rims (Mavic Open Pro, Sun CR 18, etc.) with the same number of spoke holes as your existing hubs, then relace your existing hubs to the new rims.

I'm going through the same thing right now and I've pretty much decided that the way to go is to buy the rims and hubs and either build the wheels yourself or have your LBS build them.

My LBS charges 40 bux a wheel and around 1$ apiece for double butted spokes...so around 150 to build up a set of wheels if you provide the hubs and rims.


...on the other hand you can get a truing stand for about 75bux and build em yourself.

I am going to buy the whole wheel set. I don't want to deal with getting things relaced. Could I just run a 7 speed cassette with the derailleur that is on the bike? It is shimano light action.

You should be able to run 7-8-9 speeds in friction mode with your current setup. If you want indexed shifting with cassette wheels, you can buy new shifters. 8 and 9 speed shifters are available new for around $50 and 7 and 8 speed shifters show up regularly on ebay. A final option is to buy a 700c wheel that will take a 6 speed thread-on freewheel. These come up regularly on ebay and can be bought new online or through your LBS.

You've got lots of options.