Originally Posted by reverborama
This summer I saw a rod-braked Raleigh that had a 7-speed Shimano hub in it. He installed it when the original hub failed and said it made the bike WAY more rideable. And it didn't look horribly out of place. Of course I expect there will be some people spitting on him at the All British show this weekend...
If the Raleigh was a steel frame (and at that vintage, it couldn't be anything else) it could have been cold set to take the wider hub. The OP's Al frams can't be.