I emailed Pat O'brian about some kidney bean wheels and he got back to me saying the wheels are not in stock. Now I hear he hasn't filled any orders for a couple of years. Web site is still up .
Pat may be history? Go to guy for what your looking for is American Rebel. Excellent quality, good service. Family owned. Chris is busting his ass to produce wheels.
For a while RR Wheels were the only kid on the block for Halibrand Sprint style wheels. The Kansas guys were reorganizing and a couple others seemed to be gearing up but nothing ever materialized. My pal in Bakersfield wanted to change the wheels on his deuce 3W but wasn't sure what he wanted so he asked me to decide for him, I knew exactly what HE wanted. Called and talked to Pat at length a handful of times, he seemed real friendly but I got the feeling he was using potential customers as a "sounding board" to see what people might want, this was when Pat was just getting started and wasn't in full production yet. The 15x4" front wheels were one of his first production runs planned if I remember correctly and the rear sizes were to follow shortly but he was still trying to get ideas on various widths and front/back spacings people might want. I told him my plan was to use 15x10 ET Fuelers for the rear and he became a little snarky and just couldn't grasp why a person would want to mix/match brands. Ended up getting the fronts from him, nice wheels but it did take quite a while, the ET's were pretty much in stock, just needed bolt pattern drilled. Good call I think!
Hopefully it was just supply chain issues being the primary reason he isn't producing any thing. A lot of small operations in all phases of manufacturing are SOL because of supply chain issues and can't get either material or special made pieces to have a product to produce and sell. All too often that puts you out of business.
The last set I was able to actually buy from Pat was in 2013. Since then no such luck. A few conversations, some promises, but no wheels. I have been putting American Rebels on everything since. They are made in the USA and if they say you will have them in three weeks, you will have them in 3 weeks. Rebels on my old '33. -Abone.
Interestingly, that's a new website. Different design from previously (2020/21 era) and has a (c)2023 down at the bottom. If he's not been shipping for years I wonder why he's bothered with the website. Unfortunately, American Rebel doesn't manufacture as wide of a variety as what Real Rodders (used) to offer.
The Jalopy Journal
