upgrading wheels advice

[pompy]

I have recently bought a mint Peugeot PH8M. It is a lovely bike but the wheels are really heavy and the brakes are rubbish!
I can upgrade the front easily enough but the rear might be a little harder! The rear spacing is 120mm and the hub has a 5 speed block on it.
I can't seem to source any modern equivalent, is my only choice to refurb the hub and lace it back up with a new rim and spokes?

 

[bm0p700f]

Rebuilding with a new rims and spokes is probably the best way. The only 120mm hubsa around are track ones and that wont work with a 5 speed freewheel. Also if its a 27" rim then the Alewx Ap18 36H is still available new. Not much else about really now.

 

[grilla]

I don't know whether you'd want to do it to the frame but if proving to source a 120 hub is proving a pain or the old hub is shot you could always consider spreading the rear stays to accommodate a 126 rear, thus giving you much more flexibility in terms of what hub and number of gears you could take. As ever the excellent Mr Brown has written extensively on the subject
http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html