Originally Posted by
Craptacular8
You'd have to pull the old rear wheel out to verify that your rear stays aren't actually 128. I've got 85, 88, and 89 STs, all of them took modern 130 OLD hubs without any special preparation...they just popped right in. Like others mentioned, I had no problem mounting 700 x 32 Pasela's on one. The others are running either Compass 700 x 26 that measure out to 700 x 28, and one gp4000 that measure out to 30...these last two look there is still a ton of room....at the fork. For our ST's the fit portion that would be problematic going larger is the rear stays. They can handle a tire that mounts up "taller," just not a heck of a lot wider. These are the frames that would most closely measure out as a 52, so may be due to their smaller frame size....those rear stays are surely long enough, lol
I started out with Mavic Open Pro rims laced to 105 hubs. It's certainly a decent using wheel, but have a set of Hope Pro hubs waiting to be laced to something....so am thinking of going with DT Swiss TK540 rims. A little sturdier rim, we don't get too crazy about carrying a ton on our tours.
Thanks, I did remove the wheel and measure with digital calipers and they were 126 on the dot. I think what someone said about the hand-built nature of these frames must be true, because even the 700x32 I test fit was a little too close for comfort between the stays. I could see 700x30 fitting fine.
I'm thinking of getting a 130 OLD freehub and removing 2mm from the spacer and axle on the non-drive side. I'm gonna hold off on buying the rest of the wheels until I get the freehub sorted. And until then I'll have fun swapping out the derailleurs and brake calipers with Deore DX/LX and Tektro R539's.