All,

I have another Fuji (duh! ) inbound, a 1984 Touring Series V. This one will be a bit of a challenge cosmetically but I believe as long as I get a good paint match I'll be just fine. New decal set too but VeloCals has them ready to go. Anyway...

There is an issue with the front wheel. Seller states that it's a little less than an inch out of lateral true. He believes that the rim might be toast, I believe that if the wheel is untensioned that it will come back close to straight...maybe a little muscle and it will be good enough to true. Being the front wheel makes it a little more forgiving than a rear.

The rims are a Ukai 40H rear/36H front set that are unusual as they're anodized black on the top but the braking surfaces are bare. Little different for a Ukai road rim. IF I'm unable to recover the existing front rim I believe these are my scenarios:

1. Find a replacement 36h rim, probably very difficult.
2. Replace both rims, finding a 27" 40h and 36h match. 40h 27" rim are pretty tough though apparently.
3. Switch the rear hub to a 36h (and I happen to have a Gyromaster hubshell, EXACT replacement already that I stole the axle assembly from for my Fuji America wheels) and replace both rims with 36h.
4. Switch to 700c if there's enough room with the cantis. Replace two rims, either 40h/36h or 36h/36h...wouldn't matter at that point. And that opens up 700c tires and rim choices.
5. Keep the 40H Ukai rim, deanodize it (remove the black), polish, get a 36H polished rim to match.
6. Get a 36H rim and carefully mask and paint the upper surface black to match the rear.

I'd really like to keep the 40H rear given that's what the bike was provided with. However, a switch to 36H isn't horrible.

So, anyone want to offer an opinion as to which option may be better and why? Perhaps you see another scenario I haven't thought of?

And, if anyone happens to have a 36H front Ukai rim from an 84-86 Touring Series V you might become my very favoritest friend.

Far from it. All six of those scenarios have merit. I'm not up to contemplating the variables (time/labor, money and scarcity) after the day I've had.

Play it cool and the scenario will present itself, man.

If the front rim is toast I would probably relace w new rim on both hubs. 40/36h 27" rims might be tough, but a few companies make them in 700c such as Sun, Velocity and Mavic.

I would take some time with the toasted rim, and try to untoast it. Tom described a method where you draw a perfect circle on a perfectly flat surface, and check your rim against that. The rim has to be completely unbuilt. Find the flat spot and bend by hand (or use some scrap lumber &c) until it matches the circle and lies perfectly flat. Hammer out any dings and dents. Then build the wheel up. It's certainly worth a prolonged try!

Cool? I can't be cool! If there's something I need to search for I need to git 'er done! Hahaha, but seriously, I want to turn this around, or at least know what to do quickly as I'll need to sell the Touring Series III and good bike selling weather is fast approaching here.

Yeah, I've been perusing. First thing I'm gonna do is try some 700c wheels on he frame and see if that road is even an option. Hopefully it is if it comes to that.

Oh believe me, I plan to. Sliding glass doors are also good to see if rims are flat, just hold them up. You can find wavers in the sidewall that way too. The circle method sounds interesting, I'll ping Tom. Thanks.

The Bay has a NOS set of 27" x 1.25 Ukai 36H on right now.

Saw that, they're on the watch list.

The bike arrives tomorrow if FedEx isn't lying...unlacing the front wheel is the first priority.