Rear spacing concerns...

Rsmith

Old School Hero
A friend of mine is selling a cyclocross frameset and the rear spacing is 120mm. Are hubs sold at that width any more and would I be able to squeeze a 130mm hub in the back? It's aluminium. Would my 8-speed cassette fit on an older hub?
Thanks in advance, Rob
 
The only 120mm hubs I've seen recently have been track hubs.
If it was steel frame then re-setting it to 130mm wouldn't be much of a problem - I can't speak with any authority about doing this with an aluminium frame though.

I would have thought it was possible - however, re-setting the stays isn't the problem, it's the fact that the dropouts have to be realigned so that they are parallel again - aluminium dropouts are usually pretty hefty items and wouldn't be easy to manipulate.
 
Bending alu is not usually a good idea - you should be able to get a 7 speed screw-on freewheel to fit into a 126mm dropout. But for 120 I think you are in difficulties.

Sadly I think that the frame is only really suitable these days for conversion to a fixie..but this is fashionable!

For your purposes (assuming it's general road use) I'd look elsewhere.
 
Thanks for the replies. It is an Alan Frameset but I'm not sure what year it is from. All aluminium tubing. I took 120mm to be track frame width. It seems strange for a 'cross frameset though, don't you think? Can anybody shed any light on this, do you think he may have measured it incorrectly. It is an absolutely stunning looking frame and would be a shame not to get it working. :? If you couldn't even get a 7-spd freewheel in there what would have been used when the frame was new?
Rob
 
Rsmith":3986mvee said:
Thanks for the replies. It is an Alan Frameset but I'm not sure what year it is from. All aluminium tubing. I took 120mm to be track frame width. It seems strange for a 'cross frameset though, don't you think? Can anybody shed any light on this, do you think he may have measured it incorrectly. It is an absolutely stunning looking frame and would be a shame not to get it working. :? If you couldn't even get a 7-spd freewheel in there what would have been used when the frame was new?
5-speed and Ultra-6 freewheels used 120mm spacing. It wasn't that unusual for roadies to run older gear during the cross season, so maybe a '70s-'80s date would make sense for the frame.

If the frame's cheap it would make a great excuse for a singlespeed, fixed gear, or you could even fit one of the narrower hub gears in there.

Personally I don't think I'd try to spring it wider, but if it is 126mm you have a more options with 7-speed cassette hubs.
 
I have a 80's Alan. It is a road frame though. I will measure the dropouts later. I assume it is one of the bonded frames? Check the joints under load. Mine has been retired as first the fork crown, then the bottom bracket area started to move. The frame still looks pretty good, the glue has sarted to fail though.
 
Failed bonding can be repaired. It requires specialist attention, but aeronautical engineering firms can do it. There's a guy on eBay who bought a failed Dynatech frame from me, had it fixed and was delighted with it.

Other people have dug out the old glue, lined the lug with the best epoxy resin type stuff they can find and pressed it all back together.
 
Back
Top