Ok, so I have a group of older 7 Speed Parts laying around (Who doesn't?) My dream would be to find a decent cyclocross frame to put them on. It would need 126mm spacing, accept 700c wheels and be compatible with cantilever brakes. Does anyone know what I should be looking for? I can't even seem to find anything on ebay. Does this frame exist? Please help. Steve

I was in the same situation, and I found an old steel Bianchi cross frame on ebay. It took a while, though.

If I were to do it again, I would buy a modern 130mm spacing frame, and a new rear hub and rebuild the rear wheel. Even with the 126mm hub and frame, I ended up spending money anyway - little things add up whenever you build up an old frame.

Also, my 126mm rear hub has a tendancy to break axles, especially offroad, because it is a freewheel and not a freehub.

Provided you have a steel frame I don't think it would be a problem to squeeze the stays together to fit a narrower hub. Sheldon's website has an article on cold setting the stays.
http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html
I think the Surly Crosscheck bike has 132 spaced dropouts to take both 130 and 135 hubs so it might be an easier frame to cold set to 126. You could also just use an older touring or 'sport' bike and have the canti bosses brazed on.

i would just buy a 130mm spaced frame then get a new axle for you rear hub and respace it to 130mm. problem solved. or you could take the lazy/more expensive route and buy a 8/9 speed wheel and use the 7 speed cassette on it with a spacer.

i would just buy a 130mm spaced frame then get a new axle for you rear hub and respace it to 130mm. problem solved. or you could take the lazy/more expensive route and buy a 8/9 speed wheel and use the 7 speed cassette on it with a spacer.

This is what I would do. For a cyclecross frame I would choose aluminum as it won't rust. With aluminum you can't coldset stays so I would pick 130 spacing.

i would just buy a 130mm spaced frame then get a new axle for you rear hub and respace it to 130mm. problem solved. or you could take the lazy/more expensive route and buy a 8/9 speed wheel and use the 7 speed cassette on it with a spacer.

I'm running a nine speed wheel with a seven speed and a spacer and it works great. You can use the spacer on the inside or out whichever gives you the beast chainline.

The other thing you can do wiht the 126 wheel is to have the rear hub spaced to 130mm and get the rear wheel redished in the process. I rode a set of 105/Open pros the past year like that. It did not cost that much for the LBS to do.

Actually, I have an old steel Nishiki frame/fork that would work fine. It takes cantis and wider 700c tires, I can even throw in some 7-speed wheels/hubs. It's not exactly "state of the art" ('93 model year), but I have set it up for 'cross and it works fine. I have 2 of them, a small and a medium, both with compact cranks and Ritchey wheels. Let me know if you're interested.

I have several sets of Open Pro/Shimano (ultrega) 600 wheels that i have converted to 8/9 speed.
Got the wheels for free to 10 bucks off of some older roadies who learned that somebody was willing to take the stuff of their hands. Another $20-30 bucks on a new shimano 9 speed freehub (I chose XT because of the better seals).

Look it up on Sheldon Brown's site. Pretty much all shimano freehub bodies are interchangeable. The existing axle will be long enough.

Often these wheels were peoples race wheels so have shockingly low mileage.