Hah, a gay gag.

Quote from: funkychicken9000Maxey, what you reckon to these?  Theyll be an extra Ã,£15-Ã,£20ish over the R500s with delivery I think...

I dont know those rims, but the photo is deceptive. They list the hubs as being 2200, which is Sora level or a little worse, pretty much horrid hubs unless you rebuild them first thing. In the pic, though, they show the wheel built up with Tiagra level hubs, according to what the dust seals look like.

2200

Tiagra

So I dont know the rim or what hub youll be getting, so probably sketchy at best.

Quote from: funkychicken9000Hah, a gay gag.

Only if you push it in too far. :mrgreen:

Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£Ã,£

This is a good price on a shimano 105 wheel set.  Since Ive got to order the brakes from them anyway, figured the extra Ã,£20 for a altogether more pimp set of wheels might be worth it?  Sooooo, tektro long reach callis, 105 wheelset, sensible 25mm tyres, tubes and rimtapes for Ã,£118inc.  Gulp  :shock:

...or Ã,£98 for the lot, with R500s instead of the R550s.  FFS why does it all have to be so complicated!  Thing is, the R550s have even less spokes!  Still get mixed reviews too (although they seem better on average than the R500).

Id save the jack and get the R500s if youre going the low spoke route anyway. Anything above Tiagra, and youre paying mainly for finish and weight, not engineering. There are a few exceptions to this of course.

On the one hand, its a pretty obscene amount to spend on an old Peugeot, but on the other, its a wheeset that can follow you around for a while.

I wouldnt say that a brake upgrade is cruicial, if you can stop fine atm. Dual pivots over a slight mechanical advantage, but my personal reason for upgrading was to have fresh kit with unfrozen barrel adjusters--and brakes that are easy to center. The fact that I can lock either end from the hoods is an added feature.

Sounds like decent used parts are rare in your neck of the woods. Even here in Butcher Holler you can wait a week and pick up a set of slightly used quality mtb wheels and tires for $50. Road wheels are a little harder to find.

EDIT:

Lets take stock. Are your wheels round and true? No, ya got spoke issues in rear. Was it the wrench that fubared it  or did you do some crazy riding? If no, then take it back and be polite and ask about the issue. They may very well tighten you up on the house with an apology or tell you that the rim is fuxored.  Hopefully its the former.

So a more fitting upgrade would be to just get some new rubber. Shop around, as 27" tires should cost peanuts.

That would leave plenty of money for some bling brakes. I like the cheapie Tektros as theyre functionally A+, but there might be a better choice in the UK, or even something used. If youre feeling very cheap but want mackdaddiness, then buy a cheap buffing wheel for your bench grinder and shine up the current set.

Its easy to get carried away and get a pile of shiny stuff you dont really need. Ride the bike as is a few weeks and see what really bugs you. Fix that, as youve already dealt with the primary aesthetics of the beast.

Too bad youll miss the end of this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pair-of-27-36-spoke-Wheels-Campagnola-Wobler_W0QQitemZ140013438754QQihZ004QQcategoryZ56197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah, I pretty much came to similar conclusions when I went to bed last night.  R550s are out, but R500s are still a possible on my list.

Thing is, my current rims are steel and hence the braking is balls whatever pads I use (switching to koolstop continentals certainly didnt improve things on my last peugeot, and the breaking felt like it might have even been a little less meaty).  As such it seems silly to keep pouring money into them when theyre always going to be poo.  I had already seen those wolbers you linked to, but going from 700C to 27" seems superficially to be a bit of a downgrade.  Either way, they went for more than they were worth to me, as Id have to spend another Ã,£12 getting them undished.  I think the best solution at the moment is to go out and get splendid with the spoke wrench, see if I can improve the situation any.  If not, Ill then make the decision about whether to leave it until I get back to uni to get the shop to take a look at it again, or whether to shell out on new wheels and spread the frame.

As for brakes, its the centering that really pisses me off.  Whatever I do, the brakes will only hold position for a few minutes before eventually I find myself leaning behind me while I ride and pulling the cali over to stop it grazing the rim.  Ive fully dissassembled and greased them and its still a problem, so I cant see any other way round it for now.  But that said, theres no point buying brakes until I know where Im at with the wheels.  So Ill see how my spoke wrenchin goes.

I keep forgetting that you have 700c steelies. We never saw them stateside. North American bikes all got 27" wheels back in the early 80s save a few upper end bikes.

Youll LOVE centering dual-pivots. Theres a tiny 2-3mm hex screw up top of the calipers that will fine tune centering. Takes seconds. They walk over single pivots on that strength alone.

As far as wheels go, just keep your eyes peeled for a deal, though the low spoke Tiagra wheels are a dang good deal despite the stoopid proprietary spokes.

Yeah, Ive got mirage DPs on my ribble and the 2mm centering screw is an absolute boon.  Pleased to hear the tektros have them too

Everything but the finish on the Tektros is spectacular--especially considering the money. The finish is blah. I might have to get a buffing wheel and shine mine up. Its funny, they make brakes for Cane Creek, and the $120 dollar calipers for CC are functionally identical to the ones that cost $40, except for the finish. $80 buys a lot of polishing compound.

Rock on!  Sensible, strong wheels that have barely been used for a sensible price.      

Also, do I want one of these?  Theres loads of them on fleabay and they seem to go for on or around the start price.  Make sense?

36H OpenPros on Tiagra. Now THAT is a set of mothercopulating wheels, my friend. No gimmicks, that set will last you till the 110 y/o Emperor George nukes the UK in a freak age related accident in the year 2056.

The conversion kits main draw is that it comes with a chain tensioner. As you have dropouts that allow for this, its not really needed. However, sourcing the cog, spacers, and lockring may cost more. Your call. You can also use 1 1/2" inside diameter PVC plumbing pipe as a spacer. Cut to size, and spray your choice of color.

Again, nice wheels, you just cant get more reliable than socketed non-anodized Openpros.

You are going to have to spring the rear drops out by 4mm, if thats difficult, you will have to cold set the frame. Youll probably want a shop to align your dropouts to parallel with the special Park tool after than if you dont feel like eyeballing it wit a huge crescent wrench.

Dunno if that link is fubared, but Im not seeing a chain tensioner.  Just a lockring, 3 spacers and 18t and 16t cogs.  Anyway, Ill probably get one as its not too expensive and Im not sure if the wheels come with a lockring.

As for bending the frame, Ill give the more friendly of the local bike shops a ring tomorrow and ask them if theyll do it cheap.  I wouldnt have thought the dropout alignment will be too critical tbh, as theyre pretty bendy anyway but Ill see how it goes.

Yay!  Time to get some brakes and tyres.  Spend spend spend!  Oh btw, 13mm or 17mm rimtapes for the OP?  What you reckon?

Oops, they always come with a tensioner over here. Made in Taiwan by the Pyramid brand, comes in a baggie and costs $15-20.

Get it, unless you can bum a lockring and some spacers from your LBS.

Well, you might be spending, but youre getting wheels that can be used on the Ribble if you tire of the Peugeot or dont want to be arsed fixing a flat. You can just adjust the Ribbles rear mech to ride on the single cog and use it as a tensioner.

Those wheels would have cost 100 squid + spokes and labor to have built. About 130 total with the way things are priced over here. :shock: Feel better now?

And heres the real funny part: they weigh pabout 100 stinkeen grams more than some "high end" Shimano or Cane Creek kit. 100g. OMG.

Finally got hold of the wheels, and theyre lovely.  Double butted spokes, and 100% true.  And, seems that I can just spring the frame and forks apart and they go in fine  

Tomorrow I drill for the brakes and pump the tyres up, and its finally 100% complete