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Old 10-15-10 | 08:27 AM
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JunkYardBike
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From: Northwestern NJ
Or you just shoehorn the 130mm hub between the 126 spaced dropouts, no big deal. This may cause issues with derailleur hanger alignment, which would most affect modern indexed systems, but lots of people do this rather than cold setting.

I'll second rothenfield1's advice, though, that the Specialized is a fine bike. It can be a costly and time consuming process to transfer it all to a steel frame only to find out you preferred the ride of the Specialized frame. You're probably better off finding a complete Italian steel bike and riding it alongside the Specialized. Often a complete bike only costs a few hundred more than a bare frame and you can sell the parts off for a small 'profit' to offset your initial investment if they are decent components. Or just keep the Italian bike complete as your sunny day 'dream bike'.

Some other thoughts: a carbon fiber fork on a classic Italian bike? Why? 1" carbon forks are available, but the selection is not great. And no, most Italian race frames were built for 700c wheels, not 27". As rothenfield1 points out, fender clearance is specific to a particular frame, but there were Italian racing frames with fender eyelets prior to the 80's. These are generally highly collectible, however, and it would be sacrilege to retrofit with a carbon fork in my opinion.
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