Bent frame - sell, repair, adapt, live with?

[Ugo51]

Hello everyone,

A while ago I bought a beautiful Orbit bike with a nice 531 frame. I thought it had 130 rear spacing, as it was fitted with a modern hub, but it became clear as soon as I took the wheel off that the frame had been stretched.
Not cold set. In fact, with the wheel off, the spacing is 124mm.
It was also slightly off centre. With the wheel off, not so much, but if I squeezed a 130mm wheel into the frame, it was noticeably off.
I managed to stretch it so that, without wheel, is centred, but I didn't try to also cold set it at 130mm.

I could:
- sell it for someone who is happy to run it with a vintage hub.
- try and cold set it
- Adapt to it. I could build a wheel around a modern hub, take off the left hand side spacing from the hub and dish the wheel appropriately. A bit of a monstrosity, but it would work. It's not exactly a cheap solution, but not a hugely expensive one either.
- Use a vintage hub and live with it.

I know it's ultimately a personal choice, but does any of these option stand out, either in a good or a bad way?

 

[mdvineng]

nothing wrong with a vintage hub

 

[Glug]

I'm going to say make a rear wheel with 126 OLD and 6 or 7 speed freewheel.

I'm mainly riding two vintage frames with 120 OLD and SunTour New Winner ultra 6 freewheels.
Sunrace MFM30 7CS is 13-28 7 speed chrome plated freewheel for around £15.
Sunrace also make 13-34 but the 34 is black.

I've also made an 8 speed cassette 126 OLD wheel using a RX100 FH-A551 hub.

In my slightly limited experience 6 or 7 speeds work fine for me.

 

[Ugo51]

nothing wrong with a vintage hub

True.

But I'd like to run 8 speeds

 

[Ugo51]

I'm going to say make a rear wheel with 126 OLD and 6 or 7 speed freewheel.

I'm mainly riding two vintage frames with 120 OLD and SunTour New Winner ultra 6 freewheels.
Sunrace MFM30 7CS is 13-28 7 speed chrome plated freewheel for around £15.
Sunrace also make 13-34 but the 34 is black.

I've also made an 8 speed cassette 126 OLD wheel using a RX100 FH-A551 hub.

In my slightly limited experience 6 or 7 speeds work fine for me.

I just let a paid of RX100 hubs escape me on eBay.

So you confirm they run modern cassettes?

 

[grantoury]

I would have it cold set. Redishing the wheel is not a bad option either.

 

[Glug]

True.

But I'd like to run 8 speeds

How to run a 10 speed cassette in 126 OLD
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/591501-10-speeds-126mm-hub-success.html

 

[Glug]

I just let a paid of RX100 hubs escape me on eBay.

So you confirm they run modern cassettes?

There are two versions of RX100 hub - 7 speed (FH-A550) and 8 speed (FH-A551).
I made a wheel with the 8 speed version and fitted a new SRAM PG-850 11-32 (11-13-15-17-20-23-26-32).
Works fine but it's on a 1982 bike so a bit modern for me.

Edit: That "10 speeds on 126" thread discusses which hubs to use.

 

[winjohn]

I'd cold set it if you want to run eight speeds. It's quite straightforward.

 

[Spinner]

I have cold set an old Orbit from 126 to 130mm and it's been fine. Alternatively, you could build a wheel on a 7 speed hub with 126mm OLD. Use a 9 speed cassette and lose a sprocket, usually the smallest, and you will have 8 speeds. Quite a common hack.