Originally Posted by
whitemist
I have a Victory or Triumphe rear with 126 mm spacing, could I fit a 7 speed Shimano freewheel and use 8 speed ergo brifters?
Technically yes. See
Sheldon Brown's Crib Sheet.
There's a few problems which might come up. The ergos might not be pulling the right amount of cable for the RD. J-Tek thingy can fix this, as can respacing the cogs (pain in the rear).
If you have to move the rear hub lock nuts then the wheel might need to be re-dished.
If the hub is threaded for French threads it's a no-go.
If the hub is threaded for Italian freewheels it's fine but you should probably stick with ISO threaded freewheels once you change.