Changing a Sturmey Archer 5 speed wheel

[Phil_Hart]

Hey all,

I made the foolish mistake of leaving my Vintage Raleigh Courier bike locked-up at a train station over the weekend and it unfortunately became the target of vandalism and now has a rear wheel bent at an impressive 90 degree angle.

So basically the whole back wheel needs to be replaced, with the old wheel housing a 5 speed strumey Archer S5-2 Hub. Being an absolute novice/dunce to the area of bike restoration, I was hoping to get some advice on whether or not I would be able to just replace the whole thing (hub and wheel) with another sturmey archer wheel i've found on e-bay.

The one i'm looking at is: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260926490781&category=58089&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_815wt_1163

They're both a close match, with my buggered wheel being 26" X 1 3/8th but just wanted to check that it really would be a simple case of taking the old wheel off and putting this new one on.

Apologies if it's a really amateur question but like I said, i'm clueless!

Many thanks in advance for any advice given,
Phil

[trevgbb]

No, this is a 26" x 1.75" rim, more suitable for a mountain bike, the only usable part for you is the hub, and you already have one of those!
Suggest you find an old style bike shop, who will be able to build a new rim onto your existing hub, subject to availability of rims, as this size is getting scarce and has several variants.

[Phil_Hart]

(01-10-2012, 05:59 AM)trevgbb Wrote:  No, this is a 26" x 1.75" rim, more suitable for a mountain bike, the only usable part for you is the hub, and you already have one of those!
Suggest you find an old style bike shop, who will be able to build a new rim onto your existing hub, subject to availability of rims, as this size is getting scarce and has several variants.

Thanks for your reply Trevgbb, I was wondering how important that 1.75 / 1 3/8 difference would be! I'll take your advice and start searching for local old bike shops.

Many thanks again,
Phil

[Bill]

Yes I would have to agree with trev. 50.00 umm Pounds? is quite a bit of currency to spend on a consumable item. Fortunately that's an awesome hub to have rebuilt into the wheel you need. Anyways I took sometime and looked up your hub and found this..... http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/index.php?page=history-detail&id=131 .

Noticed by the picture there is a clickable document. Just figured it may be some use to you in the future.

Happy Riding,
Bill

[Phil_Hart]

Thanks for that Bill,

This has made what i'm dealing with a bit clearer so hopefully i'll just need to find a shop capable of supplying the correct rim!

Cheers again guys, i'll let you know the outcome!

[Bill]

You are welcome. Depending on your location I think there are a few members over your way that are pretty good with wheel rebuilding. I have not been on here for a while so not to sure of the last statement.

Cheers to you too,
Bill

[nfmisso]

Hi Phil;

You need an ISO 590 rim, with the same number of spoke holes as your current hub - could be 32, 36 or 40 spokes - count them.

Sun offers the CR18 in the size you need:
[broken_link]
it is a good rim. Now you just need to get the correct length spokes and build the wheel.

I have to disagree with Phil on ISO590 rims getting scarce, they are quite widely available.

References:
http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#iso