narrow rear wheel spacing.

videojetman · Jun 29, 2013

i have just taken apart an old bike i bought.
found out the frame is for 122mm rear wheel spacing.
my other bikes use 130mm spacing.
is it still possible to buy rear wheels with the narrow spacing ?

Elysarian · Jun 29, 2013

122 seems awfully narrow for anything that is set up for gears (narrowest I know of is 126mm)...

But to answer your question - as long as the frame is steel there should be no issues springing the stays apart enough to accomodate a 130mm hub.

lewisfoto · Jun 29, 2013

Rear spacing of 120mm was the standard in the 50s and 60s when 5 speed freewheels were common. Any freewheel type hub can be re-spaced to 120 (or 122) by removing some of the spacers and re-dishing the wheel. Re-dishing can be tricky and requires a truing stand. Alternately you can cold set the frame, assuming it is made of steel, but then the drops will not be perfectly aligned. (probably not a huge problem) If there are sufficient spacers on both sides of the hub then that is by far the easiest solution just make sure to remove equal amounts from each side so the wheel will still be in the middle of the stays.

I am so tired from all of that typing...

xerxes · Jun 29, 2013

Here's Sheldon' page about cold setting: http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

narrow rear wheel spacing.

videojetman

Elysarian

Retro Guru

lewisfoto

xerxes

Old School Grand Master

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