Hubs for a 1973 Schwinn Continental?

[cvs1998]

hey I'm trying to build a bike for the first time and I would like to build one in its entirety (including putting together the wheels). I am fairly smart, and am confident that I will be ok assembling everything, but I just need help finding what parts I need.

so, I have a 1973 Schwinn Continental frame and fork, and I am currently working on comverting it to a fixie. As I dont have any wheels as a reference (I only have the frame and fork that I bought off of eBay), I was wondering what hubs I should choose for this bike.

thanks for any help!

-cvs1998

[cny-man]

Buy whatever fixed gear hub that you fancy, but best to go 27" rims and be sure to match number of holes. Need to make sure your front chainwheel lines up with the rear cog (Google chainline). Plenty of guidance for bike work on sheldonbrown.com and parktool.com/blog.

[cvs1998]

(12-31-2014, 05:38 PM)cny-man Wrote:  Buy whatever fixed gear hub that you fancy, but best to go 27" rims and be sure to match number of holes. Need to make sure your front chainwheel lines up with the rear cog (Google chainline). Plenty of guidance for bike work on sheldonbrown.com and parktool.com/blog.

thank you very much for the answer, and yeah I was planning on 27 x 1 1/4" rims. but is there a certain size for a hub that I need to find, or will any fixed gear hub work?

[cny-man]

I would not worry about it - flange size not that important in this case - fixie wheels are strong and nothing will make the bike light.

[cvs1998]

(12-31-2014, 05:50 PM)cny-man Wrote:  I would not worry about it - flange size not that important in this case - fixie wheels are strong and nothing will make the bike light.

ok cool, thanks a lot! and also is axle length important?

[cny-man]

Look up Over Locknut Distance (OLD) and its relationship to dropout spacing. Also look up chainline. I know that's more work initially, but if I give you all the answers directly you will just waste a lot of time coming back with more questions.

[cvs1998]

(12-31-2014, 07:26 PM)cny-man Wrote:  Look up Over Locknut Distance (OLD) and its relationship to dropout spacing. Also look up chainline. I know that's more work initially, but if I give you all the answers directly you will just waste a lot of time coming back with more questions.

ok thanks a lot, I will take a look. appreciate your help!

[igorroza]

I would highly recommend getting a set of new (or used) track wheels and not wasting time on building them or figuring out all parts and sizes. For $108 on amazon you can get brand new wheelset with spokes, hubs, axels, tires, tubes, fixed cog and freewheel. If you add prices of all of this, you get the wheels almost for free. And if you never built a wheel, I bet that those cheap wheels are better than those you will build. Track wheels (often called fixie) are narrower than geared wheels so they fit nicely in old frames. One more very important hint, you mentioned 27" wheels. Don't do it, 700c fit exactly the same and choices of tires are unlimited. And you can put them on a newer frame in the future. It's ok to recycle old 27" wheels but buying a set of new ones in 21st century doesn't make sense unless you are restoring and old vintage bike with a lot of class and value.

[nfmisso]

(01-19-2015, 04:34 AM)igorroza Wrote:  ..... 700c fit exactly the same and choices of tires are unlimited. ......

NOT true. 700c has a bead seat diameter of 622mm; 27" has a bead seat diameter of 630mm. There is a very large selection of tires for both sizes, especially if you order over the internet. Tire selection should not be a governing factor.

The OP mention that he want to build the wheels, so it is not a short term economics based decision. If the OP had said cost was a major driver, I would totally agree with a kit off Amazon.

CVS1998: either ETRTO630 or ETRTO622 rims will work fine. Assuming you are less than 250lbs and ride "light" 32 spokes in the rear wheels is enough. This hub is a great deal: http://www.amazon.com/Miche-Track-rear-120mm-fixed/dp/B001GSMO0Y/

For the front wheel, 24 or more spokes is enough.

Alex R450 rims are a nice low cost choice available for 28, 32 and 36 spokes - and maybe 24.

Brakes - you will need longer reach brakes to work with ETRTO622 rims - 4mm longer to be exact.

Where are you located? I have a couple of Alex R19 ETRTO630 36H rims you can have. Not worth shipping them.

http://bikeride.com

http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-4963-post-32295.html#pid32295