I've been cleaning out the parts box again and found a hub I’ll likely never use. It has a 126 mm spacing and takes a freewheel. Were these for early MTBs or is this a road spacing?
It's road spacing, from mid 80'2-ish to early 90's. I'm not sure it MTBs were ever built with 126mm - it's quite possible that early ones were, as they often used road dimensions for parts, I think. Someone else will know for sure
Some of the 80's mtbs were built with 126mm OLN hubs as that was what was available. My Bridgestone MB3 circa 1988 seems to be 126mm but gets equipped with 130mm as the frames got plenty flex.
OK thanks for that. I’ll make a rare appearance later in the Road bike section to see if it is of value to anyone. Do either of you need a 126 mm rear hub?.