130mm hub in 135mm frame?

[Double-E F]

Hi,

It's probably been discussed before, but is it bad/unwise to fit a rear wheel with a 130 mm axis in a steel 135 mm frame..?
And what about the other way round?

Thanks, have a good Sunday!

 

[mk one]

Ive had 135 wheels in 130 frames before with no issue, those times on a bullworker when i was younger helped. Never tried a 130 in a 135 frame before, though wouldn't a spacer/washer sort that?

 

[hookooekoo]

The frame may fail eventually, typically where the seat-stay joins the seat-tube. That was the failure that happened to my friend's brazed Reynolds frame years ago when he fitted a wheel that didn't match the frame spacing. If it's a steel frame it's better to re-space the dropouts, although you're going narrower, so a longer spindle and some spacers may make more sense.. I recommend reading Sheldon's article.

 

[Double-E F]

Cheers, guys! I'll re-think the strategy

 

[Tootyred]

130 hubs respaced to 135 are fine....imo. ive run them for 30 years on one bike with no issues. Just leave the drive side spacing standard, replace the axle with one made for 135mm (146 axle) and add 5mm of spacers to the non drive side to make up the gap. If its an existing wheel you will need to adjust the dish over a bit.

You could argue that you have less distance between the bearings, so more unsupported axle, but the trade off is slightly less dish on the non drive side......so the wheels slightly stronger one way but slightly weaker the other.

Like i said, no issues with years of abuse....

As for wedging 135 in 130 frame....if its steel, why not just cold set it to 135 and have the advantage of more hubs available.

 

[hookooekoo]

If you own a vernier caliper gauge and a set of metric and imperial thread pitch gauges, it's fairly easy to find out the thread of the existing spindle. Once you know that, you can obtain a longer spindle with the correct thread.

 

[hookooekoo]

These are the thread pitch gauges I bought for measuring bike parts:

Metric will be in Millimetres per Tooth (spacing from one tooth to the next). Clarke part number 1700332.


Imperial will be in Teeth Per Inch (TPI). Clarke part number 1700333.