Options for 700c wheels on old french bike with narrow frame spacing
 

Hi there ,

I have an old perugeot , carbolite steel ,made for 27 x 1 1/4 inch wheels , it has 125 spacing at rear and something like 98 or so up front.

Id like to put a modern wheelset in there to run as a singlespeed but I'd like to avoid coldsetting the frame.

What are my options ? Could I play around with spacers , dishing and shorten axles and source QR levers to achieve this ?

Thanks ,

J

98/125 to 100/126 is close enough to not need cold setting...it'll just fit... and probably 100/126 was the original spec anyway.

But wait. If by "modern wheelset" you're referring to 700c...you might have a problem with rim brakes. A 700c wheel has a smaller circumference than a 27" wheel. If the frame was constructed for 27" wheels and you put a 700c on it...the brake arms may not be long enough to adjust the pads out far enough to reach the rims. Check that before you purchase the wheels. There are brake calipers available with longer arms specifically for this situation. But just pointing out that you may be setting yourself up for a purchase of new calipers with this rework.

Dan

A carbolite Peugeot is not rare or collectible enough to be worried about something as trivial as re-spacing the frame and fork a couple millimeters. Or, as Scott said, just ease the new wheels in there. It'll work fine.

If you have a good mechanic do the work it's a nice opportunity to make sure the frame and fork are both straight, and have the dropouts aligned if necessary.

The pads only have to move down 4mm and there is almost always enough adjustment in them. But it's still a good idea to check.

Dan thanks for the heads up , I have special long arm calipers as you suggested to get around this issue.

Do you mean try put a 135 or 130mm rear wheel in there ? or do you mean try find a rare 125mm 700 c axled wheel ? Thanks

You likely do not need special brakes assuming you have the original center pull brakes (likely weinmann but maybe Mafac if an older Peugeot). Either of those brakes have sufficient reach for a 700c conversion.

Different Scott here: there are quite a few 126mm-spaced freewheel rear wheels available, get one of those. :thumb:

Check out Velomine. Plenty of good 126(rear) wheelsets, and great service.

Again it's almost certainly supposed to be 100/126, and regardless that'll fit effortlessly anyways. You might be able to space a 120mm single speed wheel to 126 with spacers assuming the axle is long enough, or order a longer axle with the same size and pitch. This is probably what I would do. Or on the cheap you could find an older 126mm freewheel wheel, which will have the slight disadvantage of being somewhat dished (as opposed to respacing a ss/fg hub).

There's also https://velo-orange.com/products/gra...fixed-hub-rear .

Yeah, that's what I meant. 126mm threaded hub and a SS freewheel. That's what practically anyone would do with your objective. Although you could go flip-flop and find out that you love fixed gear riding.

Single speeds on a cassette hub would require some fitting issues for the 130mm OLD, would almost certainly be more expensive, and would look awkward too.

https://www.singlespeedshop.com/imag...es/3639_1.webp

...your single best option is the one you have initially ruled out. At the same time the spacing is reset, you can check the alignment, which is often a little off on a bike this old. There's no good reason not to simply respace and realign the dropouts/fork ends other than perhaps a lack of access to the proper tools, or the unavailability of someone with experience to perform the work.

That said, there are many ways to achieve your objective, as already stated in many responses above. But respacing a Carbolite frame is pretty easily accomplished.