Un-Hooked to Hooked Rims
 

Got tired of 65-70psi on my commuter with 27" chromed steel un-hooked rims, but I love the high polish look of those rims.

Finally swapped the rims with Sun M13 II polished alloy 36h, 27", eyelets, double-walled. Easy project, one evening and a morning while watching TV in the garage, used original spokes and nipples. Trued up nicely, no drama whatsoever.

Wow, they actually look great. The polished alloy looks very much like chromed steel, though not as boxy. More of a Araya a20 aero look. Pumping to 90 psi is a real treat, and I don't need to check pressure every morning.

A week of riding, a touch of truing fine tune, feels like a new bike. I wish I had done this years ago. I can't discard those chromed rims though, they're beautiful. You think anyone would pop for them on eBay?

You were able to use the same spokes with a different rim? Did you calculate this first or just wing it? Either way, that's lucky.

I did the exact same conversion. I sold my Rigida chrome rims but didn't get all that much for them. Still, there are folks looking for the old chromed steel rims.

+1

Regarding the used steel rims. I doubt that you would be able to sell them on eBay due to the high cost of shipping rims, but you never know. (If you get lucky, you may even be able to post free on one of their promo's).

The Sun M13 II's are very nice new rims. I just built a pair and agree with your assessment.

Size is size, unless you are dealing with offsets or hub flanges... something unusual ...compatability hasn't been much of an issue for me...but I was using long nipples. These Sun rims were darn close in radial size, I wasn't worried about too much variance.

Bad spokes or nipples is an issue, but I inspected the wheels closely before I started the teardown. On a few 700 swaps I have kept spare spokes and nipples on hand.

Easy peasy. Tensioning, dishing and truing, that requires a little focus.

There must be something cool to do with these old rims, ... a mirror, clock...something. Maybe a Christmas wreath frame...