What are these rims and where can I find some NOS ones?

[7ven]

Hello,
I have these rims on my Pashley Ladyback Tandem. It probably dates from the 70's or 80's at a guess.
Theyre 26 x 1" 3/8. Does anyone know what they're called and where I might find some NOS ones?
Thanks

 

[retrocomeback]

I can't help you myself but I do know the folks at Pashley are very friendly helpful people who if you email them your enquiry to hello@pashley.co.uk will likely point you in the right direction. All the best, Rich

 

[GasPipeWarrior]

The pattern on the edge of the rim looks like Rigida Superchromix, but usually that's etched into the surface of the rim.

You can still get 590 rims from SJS Cycles.

 

[David B]

The pattern on the edge of the rim looks like Rigida Superchromix, but usually that's etched into the surface of the rim.

You can still get 590 rims from SJS Cycles.

I remember those rims - they were on an old Puch road bike that my Dad built up and restored for me when I was about 12! I used to take that bike round woods and bridleways when all the other kids had mountain bikes (the latest "in thing" back then), which may be partly to blame for my CX addiction....

David

 

[hamster]

The look like steel rims. They will be ghastly in the wet on a solo, so must be truly alarming on a tandem. :shock:

Replace with some aluminium ones as said above. 26x1 3/8" are an obsolete size, so consider shifting to something like 650b at the same time.

 

[7ven]

Ha ha, yes stopping does leave a little to be desired however it has Weinmann 750 centre pull brakes on both the front and rear as well as a hefty drum brake on the rear wheel.
The rims definitely look to be Rigida Superchromix'esque.
I mainly use it to take my daughter to school (she's 5 and rests her feet on the top tube) as well as weekend pub rides. I leave it at home if it's raining
It's also great for riding as a training bike one up. After you've covered some serious distance on this thing, you fly on anything much lighter.

 

[half cog]

As hamster says put alloy ones on.We ride tandems all the time now and I know how much hammer the brakes get. On a long steep hill the hands get quite sore with the lever pressure and that is with modern brakes and alloy rims. Steel rims are useless in the wet even with multicondition blocks.We lost a friend a number of years back when his bike picked up speed in the wet and dumped him over a bridge . That had steel rims. Faithful restoration is fine but there are some things that are simply not worth preserving
Regards
Peter

 

[7ven]

Thanks for the advice chaps, looks like I'll be changing my plans and going alloy now.

 

[g eisler]

Years ago i ran around on a 1939 Viking tandem , brakes were cantilever and rims were rusty, it sort of stopped OK, but a long hill meant the rusty rims ate the brake blocks, they were kept for emergency use only!.
If i was running a tandem now i would want a disc on the front.

 

[hamster]

Magura rim brakes work well enough on my Dawes MTB tandem - stopped a loaded touring tandem with a child trailer during a torrential downpour on a 1:4 Devon lane.

However, not so simple if you don't have canti bosses.

What I would advise is getting the heaviest Alu rims possible. We run Rigida Rally, althougy Sun Rhynos would a good alternative. There is nothing as good as plenty of mass to soak up the heat. Incidentally, many disc systems are also not up to tandems - there was a very nasty incident on the Exmoor beast a year or two ago with a tandem that completely wore out its disc pads within 70 miles. :shock: