# 10 Speed Rear Wheel for Commuting



## danimal1 (Jul 9, 2005)

*Know of a Tough 10 Speed Rear Wheel for Commuting?*

Hi, does anyone know of a solid commuting wheel for a late 1970's Fuji Sports 10 ten speed road bike (2 cogs front x 5 rear)? The current 27 x 1 1/4" wheel is all bent out of true from commuting and instead of replacing it with another standard wheel I was wondering if anyone knew of a wheel that can withstand the potholes, curbs, etc of an urban commute better than a standard wheel.

-Dan


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*Minor terminology problem here...*

What you need is a FIVE-speed rear wheel--the bike overall is a 10-speed, with two chainrings in front and five cogs on the freewheel in back, right? These days, "10-speed rear wheel" refers to one with TEN cogs in back. Which is about four more than most people really need, but we'll save that rant for another day.
27-inch wheels are getting hard to find---they've been replaced by a size called 700 (in millimeters) that's close to the same but not interchangeable. You may stumble across a decent 27 in a shop, or find some on ebay. Thrift shops often have them on donated bikes, too--I saw a couple of good ones recently in a Salvation Army store for $20 for the whole bike.
If you start shopping around for replacements, you need to know the space between your rear dropouts (the parts of the frame where the axles rest when the wheel's installed). Road bike standard these days is 130mm, but yours is probably less--I can't recall what it was on five-speeds, but maybe 126mm. You can wedge a 130mm wheel into a 126mm frame on some bikes, but it may cause chainline and shifting issues.
Have you had the wheel trued by a pro? Assuming the hub and rim are in decent shape, it might be worth taking it to a shop and telling them what your problem is. A good job of truing makes a wheel a lot stronger.


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## danimal1 (Jul 9, 2005)

Cory said:


> What you need is a FIVE-speed rear wheel--the bike overall is a 10-speed, with two chainrings in front and five cogs on the freewheel in back, right?


Yes. I'll try to get it trued but...I've had problems before. Thanks for your info though. You're not a fan of many gears, eh? You think bikes should only have 2 front x 5 rear cogs?

-Dan


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*No, don't misunderstand--I LOVE gears...*



danimal1 said:


> You're not a fan of many gears, eh? You think bikes should only have 2 front x 5 rear cogs?
> 
> No, no--I have triples on all my road bikes except a singlespeed. I live in the Sierra, and I've swapped the standard 30-tooth grannies for 24s or 26s, and I use them often.
> For general riding, though, what matters most to merely average riders like me is the RANGE of gears, not necessarily the number of increments between high and low. Lance can probably benefit from a one- or two-tooth difference, to maintain his cadence, but I can barely feel it and the close spacing invites shifting problems. I need something low enough to climb the 8,000-9,000 foot passes. The high end is less of a problem. Any time I can turn a 53-11, I'm going to be coasting, not pedaling. For the kind of riding I do, I've settled on a 46-36-26 triple with 11/28 cassette as close to ideal. It gives me the low I need, and I almost never need anything higher than the 46/11.


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## danimal1 (Jul 9, 2005)

Cory said:


> danimal1 said:
> 
> 
> > ...For general riding, though, what matters most to merely average riders like me is the RANGE of gears, not necessarily the number of increments between high and low. Lance can probably benefit from a one- or two-tooth difference, to maintain his cadence, but I can barely feel it and the close spacing invites shifting problems.
> ...


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Balancing value*

Your problem is that you can probably find a better used BIKE for less than you could buy replacement wheels for your Fuji. Consider the classifieds, eBay, pawn shops, etc. May be a source of old wheels as well. Your wheels may indeed be past the repairable point, but the cost to replace them would probably not be worthwhile on this bike.


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