Where do I find wheels for 3.0 Road?

[Paul E Parker]

Hiya,
The bearings on the wheels of my 3.0 Series Road bike are bad. Two local shops agreed, but said I'd have to find specific wheels for this bike because the frame is not flexible enough to accommodate new wheels.
Where do I find new wheels for this bike??
Also, where is the serial number or some other identification? I bought this bike used about 10 years ago, and I don't remember what year it is.

Thanks,

 

[black lightning 1987]

Serial number on my '88 (one year prior to the 3.0 series) is on the underside of the right seat stay, just above where it connects to the dropout. Some years may have it on the underside of the chainstay.

https://vintagecannondale.com/info/serial_numbers/

Most bikes in this age bracket have replaceable loose ball bearings. I would take the hubs apart and examine the races. If they are not badly pitted, just replace with the correct size balls and repack with grease. If just the cones are pitted, you may be able to find new replacements, for Shimano at least.

You should have pretty common wheels, most likely with a 126 spaced 7 speed freewheel hub in the rear. Some late (1993-4) frames were 130 spaced and came with cassette hubs. These would be very easy to find on the used market and there are lots of new options.

As for the frame being too stiff to take modern wheels: that indicates to me that your frame is 126 spaced. While it's better to stick with that hub width, I ran a 130 spaced rear hub on my '97 R600 for years with no problems.

 

[Paul E Parker]

Thank you!

 

[Paul E Parker]

A year later and I finally have time to reorganize and get this going again. I found the serial #, it's a 58 frame, built on Sept. 14, 1989, #082.
So it has the 126 spaced hub.

 

[black lightning 1987]

What brand/model are the hubs?

 

[Paul E Parker]

What brand/model are the hubs?

Sachs Maillard 7 speed

I don't know how to tell what model.

 

[black lightning 1987]

A lot of Sachs hubs (New Success, Rival) used cartridge bearings. They are usually common electric motor bearings, easily replaced. Other Sachs hubs used loose ball bearings. I have a NOS Rival here that uses loose balls. It's freewheel hub, 32 holes. It's 130 mm over lock nuts but could be narrowed down to 126 mm. I think your hubs are probably model 400CX but I haven't been able to find any pictures of them.