Rear spacing question

[eak12]

I have a 3Rensho with a rear dropout spaced at 125mm. I'd like to use a 130mm spaced wheel on it. Is it necessary to have a framebuilder coldset it at 130mm? Could your average shop do it? Could I sort of force it in myself? Not sure what to do. Don't want to mess up a pretty nice frame.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Eugene

[Fixed]

use your thumb and put the wheel in
imho some times you need a spacer like a washer if you are using 9 -10 speed if you get chain rub( dropout ) in the big gear
cheers :beer:

[weaponsgrade]

use your thumb and put the wheel in
imho some times you need a spacer like a washer if you are using 9 -10 speed if you get chain rub( dropout ) in the big gear
cheers :beer:

+1, 5mm isn't too much. I wouldn't bother with cold-setting. Also, if the tubing is heat-treated, then it might not be amenable to cold-setting either.

[rustychisel]

It's probably 126mm.

Slim shim the wheel instead and thank me later. (my clever term for slimming down the spacers to alter OLN measurement).

[shinomaster]

I think Beyonce is spaced just right in the back.

[Peter P.]

It's an older frame, so it's not heat treated steel. Therefore, you can cold set it to the new, 130mm dimension with no harm.

Go here and follow the directions:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

[sspielman]

Take the frame to a good shop and have them respace the dropouts. It will save so much frustration when fitting the rear wheel. Also....when you jam a wheel that is spaced too wide in a frame, the dropout faces are slightly out of parallel...when you clamp that down, it *can* stress the axle/bearings of the rear hub and lead to excessive wear and failure...It's a nice bike...might as well do it right...

[YO!!!]

If you often remove the rear wheel for transport,it might be
worthwhile. However if not...why bother. If the wrong person
does the reset you might open up an unneeded can o worms.

[eak12]

Thanks to all for the advice. It's a frame that I'm planning to keep for the long haul, so I'd rather err on the side of caution. I think I'm going to have it coldset. Probably by Bilenky.

All the best,
Eugene

[thwart]

St. Sheldon (come on... you know, as well as I do, that he already has St. Peter on a fixie...) minimized the misalignment results of going from 126 to 130:

Spreading the frame will cause a slight change in the angles of the fork ends, so they will no longer be exactly parallel to one another (assuming they started that way.)
For higher-quality frames with forged fork ends, this can theoretically lead to problems if the fork ends aren't re-aligned. In the case of older/cheaper frames with thin, stamped dropouts, the dropouts are flexible enough that it's not a problem.

Moderate spacing changes make only small changes in the fork-end angles. For instance, spreading a 120 mm frame to 126 mm only changes the angle by half a degree. Spreading a 126 mm frame to 130 only changes the angle by one-third of a degree.

Problems attributed to misaligned fork ends include bent/broken axles. As it happens, the direction that the alignment changes when you spread the rear triangle is such that the alignment error is unlikely to cause this, because the stress it puts on the axle is opposite the stress created by the chain drive. Alignment errors in the opposite direction would be much more likely to cause problems.
There's no easy "home-mechanic" tool for fork end alignment, except for a big adjustable wrench and a good eye. I would advise, if in doubt about the alignment, that you take it to a shop for this purpose, even if you do the frame spreading yourself.

[englishbob]

Take the frame to a good shop and have them respace the dropouts. It will save so much frustration when fitting the rear wheel. Also....when you jam a wheel that is spaced too wide in a frame, the dropout faces are slightly out of parallel...when you clamp that down, it *can* stress the axle/bearings of the rear hub and lead to excessive wear and failure...It's a nice bike...might as well do it right...

I agree with this. With taking it to a shop instead of doing it yourself, they will be responsible if anything goes wrong. At least, it would seem that they would be.