duffer1960

Long shot, I know. Any modern freehubs made that fit or can be adapted for 120/126 spacing? I know there was a brief period when Shimano's top group (?) had this, but these were never common & are scarce & expensive used, last time I looked.

Have a ~1987ish Schwinn Cruiser Supreme (tig-welded hi-ten, probably Giant-made) & I've made a decent city/commuter/utility bike out of it. Main problem is bending freewheel axles, I'm 250 lbs. Would rather get a robust wheel than start over with a new bike.

Schweinhund

Ok if I address the axle bending? When you're big, with no suspension, it's rough on your axles every time you hit a bump.
You have to make it a habit to get your rear off the seat when you hit a bump or go off of a curb, then your axle bending woes will stop.
At one point in my life I was 300+, you're not alone.
I'm not big into the modern equipment, so one of the others here will have to help you there, but axle bending I know quite well.

masi61

Look for a Shimano 7 speed cassette hub that has the uniglide/HG combo freehub body. These can be mountain spec (135mm spacing) or road spec (130mm spacing). Shimano 105, Ultegra 6208, Deore LX, Deore XT, etc.

You can obtain a 7 speed HG cassette easily then and you can cut the axle down or get a replacement axle from wheels manufacturing for your 126 mm frame spacing (I want to say axle should be 134 - take your 126 locknut to locknut dimension and add 4.5mm or 4mm per side that gives you a 134 or 135mm length hollow axle you will need.) The wheel will be perfectly strong for your use. Dura Ace 7400 7-speed cassette hubs are more scarce and are not Hyperglide compatible but sometimes you can find a clean one with the Dura Ace Uniglide cassette cheap. These have great finishes with nickel plated cassette cogs and high polish clear ano hub. These are super pretty and can be rebuilt practically forever if cared for.

pastorbobnlnh 

SunXCD makes a 120mm modern rear hub freehub body. They also make/modify the appropriately sized cassette. Unfortunately, they don't offer a 126mm spaced version.

What diameter size wheel are you running? Standard 26" MTB or something else? If so, here's a rather crusty candidate on ebay. The purchase price is on target. Shipping, not so much!

Aardwolf

My 'spare' wheels have Shimano RX100 hubs on Mavic MA2 rims and an SRAM PG-850 8 speed cassette (11-32).Rear hub is FH-A551 which is RX100 8 speed, 7 speed version is FH-A550.
All that fits in 127mm so just fits in my 126 OLD frame, but I was building the wheels myself so I just dished it right.

You can fit 10 speed in 126mm, see https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...b-success.html
I think the way it works is that if you can fit an 8 speed cassete then the 9 or 10 are the same width with the cogs closer together.

Steel Charlie

Modifying HG cogs to fit on UG hubs is way easy. I have HG cogs on both of my old 126mm DA hubs.

Hondo6

Another option: NOS Shimano Exage-level hubs. These are still available from a vendor in France on eBay. Hubsets are HB-RM50 front, FH-HG20 rear. Cost is around $45 including shipping to the US (does not include local sales taxes) if I recall correctly

Not world-beaters, but eminently serviceable and reliable. And since they're NOS, there's far less to worry about re: trashed cones/cups than used.

The hubsets still available are 100mm OLD front, 135mm OLD rear. But the rear axle can be cut down and drive-side spacers removed to yield 126mm OLD spacing (not sure 120mm is do-able). Or the axle can be replaced with a NOS Shimano 10x1x137mm axle - those are still available on eBay as well.

The rear hubs are 7-speed HG-only, but appear to be the original HG-only freehub that only accepts a 12T or larger smallest rear sprocket. Per the late Sheldon Brown, a 1mm spacer behind the cassette will allow use of an 11T smallest rear sprocket.

BradH

Shimano rear hubs with 126 spacing and hyperglide compatible 7 speed freehubs are around. A 1055 105 hub would be a good example.

beicster 

And, they are absolutely gorgeous hubs! You have me thinking thoughts about some of my bikes.

Mad Honk 

dufffer1960,
As I work through the pile of parts on my work bench, you are in luck! You may have all four of these hubs for the cost of shipping to you. The three on the left are 135, and fourth is 130. Cut the axle down a few mm and perhaps respace the hub and you should be just fine. Cost of shipping should be about $15. PM me. Smiles, MH

These are all available should duffer not want them. Hubs have been claimed 12-3-22 MH

seypat

You can also take one of the UG freehubs and swap the freehub body with a HG one. Not hard and plenty of YouTube videos that show the prcess.

noobinsf 

I'd like a couple of them if duffer does not want them all. I'll PM you...

icemilkcoffee 

3 options:
1. buy a 7 speed freehub body and 137mm axle from Ebay:

And swap it onto your typical 8 speed Shimano 600, 105, RX100, RSX, etc hub.

2. Find the 7 speed versions of the above hubs: FH6401, FH1055, FHA550, FHA410

3. If your primary concern is bending axles, you could stick with freewheels but switch to a hub with sealed bearings and thicker tubular axles: Mavic 500, 501, 550 (probably a few more in that 5** series); American Classic, Phil Wood, Hi-E, Bullseye, Kingsbery
They basically look like this:

You are not going to bend this axle.

Schweinhund

Too funny, this is what's on my desk

The far right hub is a 126 exage...
OP can have it if it suits his needs.

The 126 hub I have is an FH-HG20, not an Exage. and it's lightly used

C9H13N 

Spend $5 on an 8 foot 2x4 and spread your frame to 135mm. It’s not complicated and for sure it’s less work than lacing up a wheel with a 126mm cassette hub.

Road Fan

I think that ends up woth a lot of wheel dish so the wheel spoking and lacing need to br designed and built for a high-dish situation. I think that's the only caveat.

santa fe 2926 

The freewheel hub
Grand Bois makes some nice looking hubs, in 120,126,130, for freewheels and cassettes,


120,126,130 cassette hubs.

120,126,130 freewheel hubs, might be expensive, they seem to made to order.

duffer1960

26"/Mountain wheels. Frame is heavy hi-ten w/ 120 spacing. I force it apart to 126 so I can have 6 speeds... much improved vs 5 speeds. Single chainring, so 6 is all I get.

Wow! Quick note to Thank you all. Multiple ways to go... gotta think on this one.