I'm looking for some alloy rims to replace the steel ones on one of my bikes. For some reason people on ebay seem to think old 27" wheels are worth some money - so looking elsewhere I noticed that Niagra sells a variety of 27" rims for comparatively (read surprisingly) low prices.

I wanted to know if anybody has got a set of Weinmann 219, or Alex X404 rims. I can't imagine them being any worse than the steel wheels I have on the bike right now, but if I'm going through the bother of lacing up wheels, I'd hope that they're better.

Any insight is appreciated.

Alex 404 is a very tough and reliable rim. It is on the wide side (about 1 & 1/8") but will do the trick in most applications. I used them to upgrade the wheels on my tandem and Continental.

For about $10 more per rim you could go double wall with something like the Weinmann LP18.

And now you are advertising for a set. Of course, you do not want to pay much and neither does anyone else, except the person who does not think the way that you and I do. That person will pay lots for the wheel set because he or she does not know any better. And the price goes up. And this is happening pretty quickly these days.

Want a good vintage 27" set of rims? Then we should have purchased them in the good old days and these, incidentally, are today's good old days. The wheels will cost more tomorrow. JMHO

I hope not, or I'd be out of the listing money. Nobody seems to want to buy them.

Do they make them for 36 spokes? I'll have to take a second look.

Mos...put up an ad on your local Craigslist that says WTB: 27' rims. I got a set of classic, alloy Super Champion gentleman rims for $5 that way.

Niagara also has some pretty nice new 27 inch FW wheelsets in alloy that are under $60 a pair and their shipping is cheap. I've used them on a few frame builds and they are actually a good deal for the price. You could strip the rims out and sell the hubs to make back part of your investment if you have a really nice set of hubs you intend to lace up.

unless you want a certain brand or style of rim and hub, which IMHO makes price less of an issue. for decent inexpensive 27" wheels your better off buying prebuilt. if $60 is base price at Niagara then perhaps other places have something a bit nicer for 100

although they are priced seperatly these wheels look nice. I have had lots of good luck with this company.

https://www.ebikestop.com/search.php?...=&sprice=&pg=1

Now I'm curious...can't 700C wheels be used as substitutes since they are just a bit smaller?

Sometimes yes, mostly no. the 700c rims are ~4mm smaller than the 27" rims, so your brake arms might not be long enough. I have built several sets of rims using the Alex 404s without any issues, btw. THey work well with the Normandy hubs

best,

john

I would have said that the answer was mostly yes. Most brakes have plenty of adjustability to accomodate a rim that is 4mm smaller in radius. Sometimes touring bikes with narrow bosses are fussy to convert however.

jim

Also, with taller bikes the brake pads may already at their maximum reach to begin with.

Sun CR-18's or MK-13's are some of the best 27 inch rims out now and they are 25-30 bucks a piece depending on which website you get them from. Alloy triple box construction with pinned holes. They are also both available in 32 or 36 hole as well as 700c if you want to "upgrade". Here are some links...

https://aebike.com/page.cfm?pageid=30...ils&sku=RM8486

https://smartbikeparts.com/search_details.php?itm=RM8486

The cheapest route continues to be the donor bike. I picked up a $30 donor a couple of weeks ago: nice alloy wheelset, nice alloy crankset, alloy bars, stem and seat post, nice DT shifters and decent derailleurs, good brakes and levers, crap frame.

+1

When you can find them.

got ride of a bike with really sweet steel wheels last night. I miss them already. a nice wheel is a thing of beauty, especially if it is tried and true and carried you fun places and still run true and look clean and smooth.

interesting drivetrain pasterbob,