Cutting down 130mm hubs for 126 spacing?

Carr

Dirt Disciple
Hi everyone,

Here's the deal...
I've got an old alloy frame with 126mm spacing, so spreading is out of the question.
I want to go 8 speed with this one.
Sheldon's '8 of 9' work around doesn't seem worth it.

Speaking to the guys down the bike shop, they seemed convinced its easy enough to shave down 2mm off each locknut.
Has anyone tried this? It sounds like a far easier option than cold setting or the '8 of 9' option... it makes me wonder why I can't find any info about this online!

Would love to hear from someone who has tried this. (Hoping this forum is good enough to avoid the classic response of 'don't bother' or 'why would you want to do that'! :LOL: )

Cheers
 
You only need to remove or change some of the spacers on the NDS, to reduce the OLN by 4mm. It's difficult to remove anything from the DS, since the cassette lockring is probably already very close to the dropout. Don't forget to redish the wheel after changing the spacers (unless you do manage to remove 2mm from each side).
Depending on the dropout width, you might need to either cut down the axle, or change it for a 126mm one, to avoid the ends sticking out past the dropouts and preventing the QR from clamping properly.

The downside to this is having to redish the wheel, which makes the tension on the DS even greater, making it a little weaker and probably more prone to spoke breakage. The reason the changing from 126 to 130mm was to go from 7 to 8 speed, so obviously 8s in 126mm isn't the best idea.
 
Thanks a lot for your response foz.
I didn't consider the lockring on the DS.
Perhaps a happy medium would work, taking off 1mm DS and 3mm NDS...
Otherwise I should probably just put up with downtube shifters.
 
What Foz says should work in theory but only if you remove spacers from the non drive side. Remember that the standard spacing was increased to 130 to accommodate 8 speed cassettes precisely because manufactures did not find it wise to shoe horn the extra gear into a 126 frame. As a result the clearance will be quite tight on the drive side and the wheel will be weakened somewhat.

A side note, I ran 9 speed on a 126 oln titanium frame for years by simply spreading the drops every time I installed the wheel. certainly there is enough flex in an alloy frame to allow the 2mm per side? worth a shot for a few rides before going through the hassle of respace/redish.


Steven
 
You may be able to thin out the drive side with thinner washers and get away with it depending on the smallest sprocket on the amount of metal around the drop out. Does save on a wheel true if you can get 2mm off each size. You may also be able to lose a bit of the drop out with a file if there is enough metal there.
 
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