Lacing old hubs to new rims

[shawn57187]

I have a new project from RRB user HeySlugger, it's a 50's Columbia Speed Liner. I'm thinking awesome commuter since the bike was a "light weight" for its day.

The current rims take 26x1.5 tires but they are totally rusted through and unusable. I was thinking of doing a 700c rim swap with 23c tires, since I have a pair of these wheels on hand. I'm thinking of using a vintage 3 speed hub in the rear and using a Suntour XC quick release hub (or the original if that won't fit) in the front. Everything is 36H.

In the past I've laced up a few wheels, but it's always been stock hub to stock rim (Bendix hub to S7 rim, etc). In this case, I'm not sure where to get spokes and how to determine the length? Since the hubs are old and the rims are new, am I going to need custom cut spokes? What's the trick to accomplishing this lace up job?

Thanks

[socal_jack]

On my RRB07 bike I laced a KT coaster hub to a 700c rim, I had downloaded the Spocalc spreadsheet and it provided the correct spoke length. You'll just have to take a few measurements from the hub to determine the flange diameter and distance of flange from the center of the hub. It's actually easier to get the ERD (Effective Rim Diameter) on newer rims to plugin(that can be estimated following directions though). Plenty of resource on the web for all of this.

I have a new project from RRB user HeySlugger, it's a 50's Columbia Speed Liner. I'm thinking awesome commuter since the bike was a "light weight" for its day.

The current rims take 26x1.5 tires but they are totally rusted through and unusable. I was thinking of doing a 700c rim swap with 23c tires, since I have a pair of these wheels on hand. I'm thinking of using a vintage 3 speed hub in the rear and using a Suntour XC quick release hub (or the original if that won't fit) in the front. Everything is 36H.

In the past I've laced up a few wheels, but it's always been stock hub to stock rim (Bendix hub to S7 rim, etc). In this case, I'm not sure where to get spokes and how to determine the length? Since the hubs are old and the rims are new, am I going to need custom cut spokes? What's the trick to accomplishing this lace up job?

Thanks

[jackdaw]

I laced an MTB rim to a coaster brake hub. I took the hub and rim to my LBS (a one man shop) and had the guy figure the length for me, then I bought the spokes and nipples from him.