I did it. Bought the rims, spokes and nipples and built my own wheels for my old Raleigh Trent Sports; a.k.a. the everyday person's Lenton Clubman. I used Sun CR18 (32H front and 36H rear) rims with WheelSmith spokes. Got a Raleigh front hub from another vintage Raleigh friend and used a Sturmey-Archer FW-4 gear-hub for the rear wheel. The bike came with the once popular 597bsd/26 X 1 1/4" wheel and tire combination. Wheels and rims are hard to come by these days and the selection of tires is not too good either. After researching my options, I decided to switch to 700c wheels with Panaracer Paesella Tour Guard tires and new Kool Stop brake shoes. With the information I got from Sheldon Brown's site, Jobst Brandt's book and the numberous posts here on BikeForums, I felt confident to tackle the job. Assembling the wheels was no problem. Adjusting and truing the wheels took me some time but I did well as I had my LBS check the wheels prior to use. After a few local rides of 25-30 miles the new wheels and tires run great. Smooth and comfy. It still surprises me how a 31 year old bike can ride so well. Anyway, attached is a pic of my efforts. Am planning on adding a leather mud-flap to the front fender, new-old-stock cable clamps in place of the few wire ties I used and a more fitting tire pump when I find one. Thx for looking....PG.

Nice bike, and congrats on your success with wheel-building! Any problems with your brakes after changing the wheel size?

Excellent results. Glad to see you resisted the skinny wheel/tire bandwagon, and went with something very sensible.

Dumb question for the OP. Is your screen name a tribute to your heritage, or commentary on your ability to make things shiny?

Engo-Thx for the kind words. The front brakes fit at the top of the calipers but are easily adjusted to the rims. The rear wheel presented no problems at all. Most of these bikes, at least the one's I've seen, can take a 27" wheel/tire combo. For that size, filing work will be required.

USAZorro- A big thx to you also. I am from Polish/Russian, Hungarian/Austrian heritage, hence my screen name. I'm also real good a shinning things up.

PG.