Emmelle/late 80s mtb upgrade help

db95

Dirt Disciple
Hey all, recently had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your opinion ;)) to pluck an old Emmelle Xerama out of a dumpster with the intentions of just parts bin upgrading it, and I have a few questions regarding changing out some of the components to be more modern.

It came with a 5 speed freewheel/SIS drivetrain with an RD-TY20 on the back. By my research the TY20 dates to 89/90 which seems pretty in line with everything else that was on it. I have enough spares to cobble together a 1x8 drivetrain on it but if it fits is the question; I measured the dropouts expecting it to be 125mm as per Sheldon's articles, but it's came in at 128mm. From some further research it seems some manufacturers were doing 128mm dropouts late 80s early 90s to accommodate either 126mm or 130mm hubs, I do not currently have a wheelset and 8 speed rim brake wheels are a dime a dozen on fb marketplace/ebay/etc but they'll be 135mm hubs. How bad of an idea would it be to drop in a 135mm wheel, in terms of gear alignment/chainline/etc? I have read up on cold setting/spreading and trawled various forum posts with results ranging across the spectrum from "get it professionally done" to "just throw it in" - at the end of the day it's a low effort free bike with so I'm bordering on the latter but I figured I'd ask others opinions first.

Second question would be fitting a derailleur, as the TY20 is a claw mount. From what I can tell I just need a claw hanger adapter like this (https://www.rearmechhanger.com/product/rear-gear-mech-derailleur-hanger-cc103/) unless I'm missing something. Picture of the dropout area below (and one of the frame for prosperity), any advice/pointers are appreciated :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20240827_091531.jpg
    IMG_20240827_091531.jpg
    553 KB · Views: 27
  • IMG_20240827_091618.jpg
    IMG_20240827_091618.jpg
    780.5 KB · Views: 28
You can 'cold set' the rear end to 135mm if you wish. I mean no offence, but that is a cheap old frame, not made of anything thin walled to risk harming it. Spread each side by an equal amount, but most importantly try to keep the dropouts parallel when you think you are finished, if the dropouts are inclined inwards or don't sit against the axle ends square, the clamping forces on the axle from the QR/nuts will risk excess stresses on the dropout welds. Thus risking a broken weld or on a frame as cheap as this maybe even a cracked dropout.
(Re)Set it square is what I am saying.
 
Hey all, recently had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your opinion ;)) to pluck an old Emmelle Xerama out of a dumpster with the intentions of just parts bin upgrading it, and I have a few questions regarding changing out some of the components to be more modern.

It came with a 5 speed freewheel/SIS drivetrain with an RD-TY20 on the back. By my research the TY20 dates to 89/90 which seems pretty in line with everything else that was on it. I have enough spares to cobble together a 1x8 drivetrain on it but if it fits is the question; I measured the dropouts expecting it to be 125mm as per Sheldon's articles, but it's came in at 128mm. From some further research it seems some manufacturers were doing 128mm dropouts late 80s early 90s to accommodate either 126mm or 130mm hubs, I do not currently have a wheelset and 8 speed rim brake wheels are a dime a dozen on fb marketplace/ebay/etc but they'll be 135mm hubs. How bad of an idea would it be to drop in a 135mm wheel, in terms of gear alignment/chainline/etc? I have read up on cold setting/spreading and trawled various forum posts with results ranging across the spectrum from "get it professionally done" to "just throw it in" - at the end of the day it's a low effort free bike with so I'm bordering on the latter but I figured I'd ask others opinions first.

Second question would be fitting a derailleur, as the TY20 is a claw mount. From what I can tell I just need a claw hanger adapter like this (https://www.rearmechhanger.com/product/rear-gear-mech-derailleur-hanger-cc103/) unless I'm missing something. Picture of the dropout area below (and one of the frame for prosperity), any advice/pointers are appreciated :)
Nice colours!
 
Hah yeah I wouldn't blame anyone for skipping over the thread when they saw the title! The paint job was the sole reason I took it (aside from it always being fun to have something to tinker with). Was on an early morning pre work dog walk and saw the rear end sticking out of a skip, spoke to two fellas doing a house removal who were more than happy for me to take it - very fun trying to wheel a bike home with two spaniels!

Here's a pre strip photo, I opted to remove some of the gaudier stickers in order to show the gradients. I'm sure stripping graphics would be considered sacrilege for certain bikes, but nobody's losing sleep over Emmelle :)

Will give an update once I get it running again but don't expect anything other than a completely random set of parts thrown at it to get it going again.
 

Attachments

  • xerama.jpg
    xerama.jpg
    762.8 KB · Views: 17
It's quite easy to shorten a freewheel axle. 135 to 128, just chop 7mm off the axle and take 3.5mm off the spacers each side👍
There's not enough free axle on a freehub tho'.

Basic frames handle respacing better, the metal is softer. You can probably reset it by standing on one stay and pulling on the other!
 
Back
Top