Cycling UK Forum

bigjim wrote:Can you not find a bike with chrome wheels fitted as original and buy that? Sure there are pleny about like this. Do they have to be rigida. The 60s Rigida wheels I have in the shed are aluminium.

True there are some about. But few and far between. Those I've seen are mostly badly rusted.

bovlomov wrote:

james01 wrote:I'm not sure about this, but I recall hearing that steel rims are now illegal owing to their poor wet weather braking performance.

I've been riding around on the same Rigida rims (27") for over 25 years. It's true that the brakes don't work in the rain, but one learns to ride a bit slower and look a bit further along the road. I've not crashed yet. In fact, when I've ridden bikes with working brakes I find myself skidding or nearly going over the handlebars.

A tip for steel rims: tighten the brakes (a turn or two) when it's wet so that the blocks rub a bit. It may be bad for your knees but it's good for the soul.

Good luck with your project.. ..and don't let anyone persuade you to use aluminium rims. They're not even shiny!

Yeah well I have to say I like the look of steel and chrome. Nothing else on the market comes anywhere near close. And you're right about the braking. I've been riding them for forty years. All you have to do is make allowances as you say.

If you are lucky to find some, let me know - I'd love to have some for my 80's restoration. Alu is great and has it's place, but it ain't shiny and it ain't period correct.

gsdavies wrote:If you are lucky to find some, let me know - I'd love to have some for my 80's restoration. Alu is great and has it's place, but it ain't shiny and it ain't period correct.

Sure. It looks like Rigida still sell them but the problem is finding someone in this country that imports them. So far I've drawn a blank. I've emailed Rigida and after sending sending another follow up email asking why they dont reply to emails I got a reply saying nothing in answer to my question about the rims but letting me know they dont answer emails in France in August as they are all on holiday.

the *()&%&* FRENCH...............Arrrrgggggggg.

When I was looking for an obsolete rim in an obscure size, I phoned Raleigh (who made the bike) and they recommended that I tried:

Chandos Hub & Rim Co.

01279 758718 Tue, Fri & Sat.

They apparently buy up bankrupt or closing down stock from wheelbuilders and if they don't have it, you're probably looking at getting it made.

They had what I was looking for (rigida chromed steel 550A [ISO 19-490]).

Phil_Lee wrote:When I was looking for an obsolete rim in an obscure size, I phoned Raleigh (who made the bike) and they recommended that I tried:

Chandos Hub & Rim Co.

01279 758718 Tue, Fri & Sat.

They apparently buy up bankrupt or closing down stock from wheelbuilders and if they don't have it, you're probably looking at getting it made.

They had what I was looking for (rigida chromed steel 550A [ISO 19-490]).

Thanks Phil. I'll give that a try

You have PM

MikewsMITH2 wrote:You have PM

Private Message? Very mysterious!

Steel rims being traded like contraband, after dark, under the counter, and through private messaging. Has MikewsMITH2 found some crates of them washed up on a beach? Did he lure the ship onto the rocks just to get his hands on the Rigida rims?

And don't try telling us that he's just found a pair in his shed, that he's willing to part with.

Come on! Tell us what it's all about. We all want a piece of the action.

Last time I had a bike with chromed steel rims was my Viscount Aerospace circa 1980, probably 27" diamond pattern Rigidas. I remember the wet braking issue with steel rims and one solution was 'leather' brake blocks: I suppose these were a compound with leather fibres in? They did work better than 'normal' blocks in the wet, but alloy rims were a revelation to me when I bought the next bike, a Dawes Windsor, in 1983. At the time I was growing up in Suffolk, would not fancy steel rims and caliper brakes on a wet day in my current location in Cornwall, alloy rims and vee brakes need a fair amount of squeezing at times on fast twisty down hills.

PRESS RELEASE
=============

MR MIKE SMITH OF POOLE DORSET HAS DESCRIBED THE REPORTED EXISTENCE OF RIGIDA CHROMED STEEL RIMS IN DORSET AS "FANCIFUL". HE ADMITS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN OCCASIONAL SIGHTINGS OF THIS INCREASINGLY SOUGHT AFTER AND VALUABLE COMMODITY IN THE POOLE AREA SINCE THE LATE 1970'S, BUT DESCRIBES CLAIMS OF A SECRET CACHE OF THESE ITEMS IN HIS SHED AS "UNSUBSTANTIATED MEDIA HYPE". HE HAS ASKED FOR THE PRIVACY OF HIS FAMILY TO BE RESPECTED AFTER JOURNALISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS TRIED TO STORM HIS PREMISES IN POOLE DORSET LATE LAST NIGHT. HE DESCRIBED THE MEDIA ATTENTION AS "VERY STRESSFUL" AND SAID THAT "ONE OF MY CATS HAS BECOME QUITE UPSET BY THE HORDES OF PAPPARAZZI OUTSIDE MY HOME".

OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS THERE HAS BEEN INCREASING INTEREST IN STEEL BICYCLE RIMS FROM THE 70S AND 80S. KNOWN AS "DEATH RIMS" BECAUSE OF THE INABILITY OF BRAKING SYSTEMS OF THE PERIOD TO WORK SUCCESSFULLY WITH THEM IN THE WET, THEY ARE NOW SAID BY SOME TO BE "ILLEGAL" AND TRADING IN THEM AS "CONTRABAND". IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CYCLING HERALD, MR SMITH WHO IS MARRIED WITH 2 CHILDREN SAID THAT "THE RIGIDA RIMS HAD A UNIQUE PATTERN ON THE BRAKING SURFACES WHICH MADE THEM AT LEAST 5% MORE EFFECTIVE IN THE WET. WHEN ASKED IF HE HAD ANY OF THESE RIMS IN HIS POSSESSION, HE GOT INCREASINGLY AGITATED AND REFERRED REPORTERS TO HIS SOLICITOR".

HIS LAWYER, MISS SUE EMALL SAID "MR SMITH HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG. SIGHTINGS OF HIM CRAWLING OVER ROCKS IN KIMMERIDGE BAY WITH BICYCLE WHEELS STRAPPED TO HIS BACK ARE A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY". AS A HEAVY DOWNPOUR COMMENCED, MISS EMALL PLACED HER BRIEFCASE INTO A SINGLE PANNIER AND LEFT THE SCENE ON A GLEAMING PEUGEOT BICYCLE WITH VERY SHINEY CROME WHEELS, NARROWLY AVOIDING ANOTHER VEHICLE AS SHE ATTEMPTED TO STOP AT THE END OF THE STREET.

ENDS

...and Mike Smith is obviously a made up name.

Now tell us where they're buried.

Steel Rigida rims? Seriously?
I have a 36(?) hole 622 one on a SS wheel and a 32(?) on a 630 front wheel. Both in good condition. Can't say that they would be worth selling though, as cost would have to cover replacement rim and a rebuild to replace it - about 30-40 quid, surely an old steel rim can't be worth that? If you're seriously obsessed then you can PM me, but give it a week as I'm off to Italy!

WARNING ADULT CONTENT!

Cor! Look at the way it sparkles.

I hear that they've found that lost container ship, off the west coast of Africa. Was it loaded with timber? Or uranium? Not likely. Rigida steel rims, actually.

belgiangoth wrote:Steel Rigida rims? Seriously?
I have a 36(?) hole 622 one on a SS wheel and a 32(?) on a 630 front wheel. Both in good condition. Can't say that they would be worth selling though, as cost would have to cover replacement rim and a rebuild to replace it - about 30-40 quid, surely an old steel rim can't be worth that? If you're seriously obsessed then you can PM me, but give it a week as I'm off to Italy!

Thanks belgiangoth. Tempted but I'm after 700's