bikebikebike

Changing a tire for a seldom riding friend who has all her work done by the LBS on her Trek 7000 7-speed 700c hybrid from ~2005
I had trouble with the rear skewer. Coming back to it I noted that it has a 126mm rear wheel on the 135mm dropout.
I didnt get the hub name and wheel brand but the tires and cassette were not original. She has had prior flats changed by the shop
This is an AL frame.
Other than being seriously wrong and dangerous ,
? How horrible is this really?
Is this a big frame stress? I understand one can't cold set AL , but that usually requires overbending usually stretching the welds.
I just never saw a stunt like this before.
The bike is really just a step up from a Wally world hybrid (eg,her flats are mostly from the single wall rim stretching nipples through the tube),
So the bike is not worth the price of a store bought wheel or much upgrading, and she is an exercise rider, fairly insensate to anything beyond cost.
A bike is jut a bike , right? If it rolls , it works
Any tips , warnings or ideas to keep her safely rolling?

EDIT:
Apparently both wheels were replaced for unknown reasons. I am trying to see if there was a Trek recall or if this was from another cause (aggressive sales?)

HillRider

I recommend buying the proper length axle and spacers, rebuilding the rear hub to 135 mm OLD and redishing it. The cost will be minimal and it will save the frame from further insult. I'd also ask the LBS what they were thinking.

3alarmer 

...since it appears your friend will never fix a flat tyre on the road, this is a good candidate for replacing the rear axle with a longer, solid, nutted one. This gives you a break on price and if you are willing to spend a little time experimenting with the additional spacers so that 4.5 mm is added to each side, you might get away with not having to redish the wheel. Assuming it was dished correctly in the first place.

It doesn't sound like the sort of thing that will result in a catastrophic failure without prior warning.

Wilfred Laurier

I'll add to the above, get a longer axle and leave the spacing on the drive side the same as it was, and add a 4mm spacer to the non drive side, then re-dish the wheel. The result will be a wheel with less tension difference between the DS and NDS spokes, and thus a stronger wheel.

HillRider

The OP will need 9 mms of spacers on the NDS as he is going from 126 to 135 OLD. Otherwise your advice is spot-on.

Wilfred Laurier

Oops, yeah, 9mm. My mistake.

bikebikebike

Thanks. I Haven't made the reverse swap to nutted axle before, just cause it isn't the norm , but If the rear set will allow it , that sounds like the best option if a 135mm rear doesn't pop up in a garage sale.
She apparently had the rear replaced for a reason she can't recall, and I'll see if there was a trek recall , before casting asparagus on the LBS.
I'm comfortable with redishing and have rebuilt/serviced hubs.
It's amusing trying to figure out what folks were thinking when they do weird repairs like this.
I have never had a frame failure, just crunched frames from collisions, but the warnings of AL failures wanted me to court the opinion of the tribe.
I can see how any over stressed members might fail in a non catastrophic fashion in a rear triangle, with its redundancies, and will make sure she has warnings to inspect and to get off at the first suggestion of squirrleyness.
Again thanks

Miele Man

Do you have a bicycle co-op in your area? Those can be a great source for a new or lightly used axle at a good price plus they can show you how to do the switch and the redishing of the wheel if redishing is needed.

Cheers

Wilfred Laurier

I spent over half my working life (so far) in the back of bike shops, so I am sympathetic to them. However, I also know that mistakes are common - often a result of inexperience, which is common due to the high staff turnover int eh retail bike industry.

If Trek issued a recall of rear wheels, then one of two things would happen - either Trek would send replacement wheels to the shop, or the shop would replace with a wheel they had in stock and then received a credit for the value of the wheel from Trek..

As far as I know, Trek has not had any 126mm spaced frames in their lineup for years and years - I'm guessing at least ten years before the bike in question was manufactured. so it is very unlikely that the wheel came from Trek.

So the wheel most likely came out of LBS stock. Whether it was a Trek recall or not, in this case, is irrelevant. The LBS had a wheel that did not fit and installed it. They should have known better. This is an LBS mistake.

ramzilla

Wow. I'm pretty sure that 126mm spacing is obsolete & disappeared back in the day with 6 speed freewheels and uniglide cassettes. Now, I've simply stretched old 126mm steel frames to install 130mm rear wheels. (2mm on either side is usually OK). But, I can't imagine putting a 126mm wheel on a 135mm OLD frame. Especially an aluminum frame. 9mm is a tad bit too much to fudge. It sounds dangerous to me.

Wilfred Laurier

126mm survived on some 7 speed road bikes into the early '90s.

HillRider

My 1992 bonded aluminum frame Trek 1420 was 7-speed and came spaced 128 since my version came with a 126 mm hub. A higher line version of the same frame was 8-speed and used a 130 mm hub so the 128 mm allowed both.