Need help with my vintage road bike?

[1776ftw]

Hello, I am hoping you help me out. I recently just got an early 1970s Columbia Dream Machine road bike. Now the problem I am having is that the rear is bent and was un-rideable. I went to the local bike shop to have them replace the rear rim and put on a new tire. Well it went downhill from there. They told me that the bike I had had a really weird rim size and that they don't care it and don't know if they could order it. So silly me I told them just to fix the problem. Well with that being said they put a 26" rim on the back and the tire they put on it is 26 x 1.50 and it's a Specialized Nimbus. When I went to go pick the bike up it looked totally different. I hated the way it looked. The tires seemed wide and tall. I still had the original tire and rim in the front and the front actually looked like a road bike with big spoke wheels and gumwall tire. So here is my question. Do you think you could help me out by telling me my rim size ( original ) and what tire size would be good and actually have a road tire and not some hybrid looking thing?. All I know is that it's early 70s Colubmia Dream Machine. Any help would be great OR at least help me in knowing what size rims I can put on the bike if I just put 2 new rims and tires on it. I know nothing about the bike as I can't find much on it.

 

[scott k]

My guess is that the rims/tires meant to be on the bike were 27.25 inches. Most road bikes these days are 700 mm, meaning that the choices to fix your bike are either going with one an inch and a quarter too small or 5/16 inches too small. Obviously the 700 mm tires/rims would be a better idea, I don't know what the techs were thinking. But still, they should have probably told you what the results of their fix were going to be. My suggestion would be to actually measure the old rim and then hunt for a replacement on ebay or amazon or wherever. Take the bike back to the shop and tell them you want your money back. After they're done laughing, give up and go on. From the picture I am assuming that it's a 27.25 in. wheel. That should be easy to find. I'm kind of amazed that you received the service you did.