Originally Posted by
masi61
By not cold setting the frame and forcing the wider axle between the dropouts you are putting a lot of stress on the axle. The dropouts are not going to be parallel. This will cause the bearings to bind up potentially making the rear wheel spin less smoothly.
Is this just conjecture or do you have evidence to support your statement? 126mm spaced frames are cold set everyday without re-setting the angle of the dropouts. We're talking about 2mm per side. How much does that angle change? We're talking about a bicycle, not a space shuttle.
Originally Posted by
masi61
Freewheel hubs will be at risk of bending or even breaking an axle due to the stress.
Why would you place a 130mm freewheel hub in a frame spaced to 126mm? Most folks would use a cassette hub in this instance.
Originally Posted by
khatfull
If I was looking at 130 in 126 I'd cold set...flatted out on the road is the last place I want to be forcing stuff.
I use a 130 hub in my bike that is spaced at 126mm. My LBS used a homemade spreader and left the bike with the spreader installed for a week. It sprung right back to 126mm. I decided I'd probably do more harm than good by using a 2x4 to space it to 130mm. It is not difficult to fit a 130mm hub into a 126mm spaced frame. That said, I use Kevlar belted tires because there is no instance in where I wish to change a tire on the side of the road.
Is it best to cold set a frame to 130mm and use the Park tool to realign the dropouts? Certainly, but it's not your only option.