Originally Posted by
crandress
The new Atala bike I received this week has 126mm rear spacing. I was surprised to see the rear hub has 130mm spacing. The wheel goes on fine as long a you spread the frame a little, but I was wondering if this is an issue in any way? Also, does this mean I can switch to a 7 speed freewheel instead of the 6 spped it came with? Or am I missing something here? Would an 84 bike have come with a hub that has 130mm spacing, or was this maybe an upgrade?
Thanks in advance! Chris
I doubt the 130mm hub is stock. 126mm was pretty standard until the advent of 8-speed and higher which occurred in the late-80's or thereabouts. A 130mm hub should be able to fit a seven-speed without issue. You can even get it to fit a 126mm hub by adding a couple washers and spacing it out a bit to around 128mm. Spreading the rear to force fit a 130mm in a 126mm is commonly done but not ideal. You can cold set the frame if it is steel, but read up about the techniques and pitfalls.
- Mark