Pace RC200 rear dropouts question

trek_y

Gold Trader
Feedback
View
I'm building up an old RC200 F2 frame which has sat in my shed for several years into a more road going bike in preparation for this years Dartmoor Classic ride in the summer and bought some lighter wheels to suit which came off of Ebay in new condition with Tiagra hubs on Mavic 717 rims with skinny Schwalbe slicks - all looked great until today I offered them up to the frame and then discovered the rear axle ends weren't even touching the sides of the dropouts. :?
Now I've found out that the Tiagra hubs are 130mm OD which is normal for a road hub but MTB frames are typically spaced for 135mm axles - :facepalm: !
However on measuring the gap it seems my Pace has a 140mm width and I don't fancy an aluminium frame can be persuaded that far without serious issue :shock:
I'm hoping I can get a replacement Shimano axle (146mm seems the common part) and simply replace the short one in the rear hub and then use a few spacers but this will only leave 2~3mm of axle end for each side.
Is that safe ? And why has my frame got such what seems to be an odd size - did Pace make them in this spec - and how best to fix this problem ?
Thanks.
 
Re:

That's bizarre, my F2 has standard 135mm drop outs

Since the drop outs are only bolt on flat plates could you get some replacements cut to fit 130mm ?

Interested in seeing where this goes
 
Re:

Here's a picture ....



and the dropouts themselves ... are these normal ?



Why or how my frame has come to have this rear end ?
Fitting a standard MTB rear 146mm axle means I have to either pull in the stays by 5mm to fit the 135mm OD (this is a bit worrying with an aluminium frame of this age !) or use spacers either side to make it fit as it should but then this means there's only 2mm of axle ends sitting in the dropout which is somewhat of on a knife edge especially with my rear end loading them.
As you say getting some custom made dropouts to bolt in is the solution but that might not be easy / cheap or finding a 150mm replacement axle suitable for the hub I have (unlikely !)
 

Attachments

  • rc200-width.JPG
    rc200-width.JPG
    63.7 KB · Views: 680
  • rc200-dropouts.JPG
    rc200-dropouts.JPG
    49.3 KB · Views: 681
Should be 135mm.

However, RC200s (and certainly my F6) are built with non standard asymmetric stays. This shifts the centreline over somewhat — the theory being that having less dishing on the drive side (and being more equal to the non drive side) creates a stronger wheel. Makes it a pain trying to swap a wheel from another bike to use!

I have frigged it with mine using spacers. Not ideal as I had to re-index the gears.

Have a look in the RB archive for a manual. Or the post I'm about to write asking about spoke lengths!
 
Re:

What you have there is the "Long Wheelbase" version designed to give more stability at speed...
As for the 140mm spacing, no idea on that, can only guess it's been "forced" at an earlier point in it's life :?
 
Re:

Bear with me here... as the stays angle out from the bottom bracket, lengthening the wheelbase (I assume using longer bolt-in dropouts) would result in a wider OLN? But probably not by 4 to 5mm over that distance.
 
Re:

Thanks everyone - that makes some sense now about the asymmetric stays and centreline as with the standard 135mm rear wheel in there its definitely off a bit which I originally put down to the odd spacing but now appears I'm going to need perhaps the rear wheel re-dished once I sort out this axle length and to that end I've found a 158mm Shimano q/r axle is available so hoping this might be the answer.

I do believe as you say that it has been forced at some point in its life for some reason - I don't know the history of the frame at all but was acquired several years ago on a bit of a whim and been a decoration really since then so I'm pleased to be trying to get somewhere with it now despite this issue.

I like the idea of Pace offering a long wheelbase version - + all of about 1/2 inch - should make all the difference ?! lol.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks again.
 
A shimano tandem rear axle could be sourced if you wanted to build a 140mm oln hub.
Do not squeeze the stays closed over a narrower axle however, almost definite frame failure will result.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top