Originally Posted by
VinceInSeattle
Are you resizing the spacers or just jamming the 130mm in there? Are you changing the whole drive train or just sticking a 6 or 7 speed cassette on there with the same derailleur, chain, and shifters? I would be perfectly happy to stay with 6 or 7 gears if I could get away with not having to change everything.
It’s not even that much of “jamming”. 2mm...or even 4mm, for that matter...isn’t that much to move a frame, even an aluminum one. 1mm is a 1/16” of an inch. 4mm is thickness of about 2 US nickels. Sizing the frame to accept 2 different hubs wides was a common practice during transition periods. I have two Cannondale touring bikes that both have 132.5mm frame widths so that they can take a 135 or 130mm hub without doing anything other than putting the hub in the frame. Putting a 135mm hub into your frame would (probably) be too much to ask but a 130mm hub should be fairly easy.
By the way, I have put 140mm hubs in to an aluminum mountain bike frame without damaging the frame. It’s not easy to remove and install the wheel but it does work. That same hub now lives in a much springier titanium frame and has thousands of miles on it.