Another misconception ?
>
> 3) Is it all right to use 14-17 gauge and alloy nipples for restorations of
> 1960's bike,
> although there was not such spokes were available then??
>
According to the Brown Bros. trade catalogues 16g/18g, 15g/17g, 14/16g &
13g/15g Spokes were commonly available pre & post-WWII in stainless,
rustless, black enamelled (for that austerity look - and now very much in
vogue) or chrome-plated. Stainless seems to have taken a dive post-war but
perhaps only initially because of post-war shortages.
My own Flying Scot came equipped in 1951 with 16g/18g rustless, so thin they make modern DT spokes look positively agricultural. Sapim (if I remember correctly) make the nearest equivelant, in length of the thicker section and gauge to those earlier spokes.in stainless and without a doubt ten times more reliable than the old stainless or chrome-plated spokes.
Bob Reid
Stonehaven
Scotland