135mm (MTB) hub in a 130mm (road) frame?
 

Hello everyone,

Is it possible to use a rear wheel built on a 135mm mountain bike hub in an aluminium road bike frame spaced for a standard 130mm road hub?

The hub in question is an aftermarket item similar to a Shimano Deore 8/9 speed hub, and the bike is equipped with 9 speed Ultegra, if that makes a difference. I'd also like to put a 9 speed Ultegra cassette on the wheel.

It's possible if your thumbs are strong but a better solution is to change the axle and respace the hub to 130mm.

You can get a 141 mm axle (standard for 130 mm spacing) and install it or shorten the current 146 mm axle to 141 mm. You can't keep the current axle and just remove spacers as the axle ends will stick out beyond the dropout faces.

Thanks for the info.

What's the deal with freehub bodies? Will an 8/9 speed mountain bike freehub work on the shorter axle with a 9 speed road (Ultegra) cassette?

Excuse me if these questions are basic, but this is my first wrenching foray on anything but pure road weenie stuff. :D

The 9 speed ultegra cassette will work fine on the 8/9 speed moutain hub.

The length of the axle needs to match up with the outside of the dropouts so that the quick release will work; it won't affect the cassette at all. But like Hillrider said, you have to also adjust the spacers to fit the 130 spacing too. That won't affect the cassette either. Good luck. I like Saabs too.

Ok, last one.

Are axles pretty much universal? i.e. can I pull one that's the right length out of a "similar" hub and put it in? This brand/model of hub isn't available in 130mm spacing, so I don't think there is a direct replacement 141mm axle available.

Worst case, I suppose I could have a machine shop cut the axle by 5mm, correct? Or just hacksaw it myself I suppose. . .

Most rear axles are 10 mm diameter by 1.0 mm thread pitch but there is some variation in thread configuration. The safest bet is to take the current axle and cones to an LBS and see if the cones thread properly onto the shorter axle.

If they don't match, you could have the current axle cut down and I'm pretty sure a good, sharp hacksaw will do the job or a Dremel with a cut off wheel will certainly work. Just be sure the axle is threaded far enough in to allow the cones to screw in the extra distance if you cut it down.

Ok - I lied, here's another question: Either way I go (new axle or cut the existing one), when I shorten it and remove spacers, should I bias things to one side or the other? My thought is to remove spacers/axle length from one side only, to recude the amount of dish required in the wheel build. Does this make sense? If so, can someone confirm that it would be the drive-side that I'd want to shorten? This would move the flanges towards the drive side in relation to the bike frame, thus reducing the amount of dish and building a stronger wheel. Or am I just loosing it?

This is true. You can ruin a hub by putting the wrong-threaded axle into one. (Uh, a friend of a friend told me he did this, that's the ticket!)

Remove as many spacers from the drive side as you can without having the small cog hit the dropout or crowding the chain. That will minimize the dish needed with the narrower hub.

the flanges are closer together on a mountain hub -- i.e, you'll have more dish if you respace to 130mm and therefore a weaker wheel.

ed rader