Schweinhund

That is so funny and true.
Brings to mind a kerfuffle I caused on Slack because I had the temerity to admit and even tell other people that 12v impact wrenches are just as effective at tightening axel nuts way past spec as 18/20v impact drivers.
Probably more so.

WT160

I got the new wheels on yesterday. The gears seem to shift fine.
I'm still a little confused by the rear axle dimension. The 130mm rear wheel went on okay, but there was a little resistance. Could the original 126mm wheel have been right and the frame sloppily set up (too wide)?

soyabean

It doesn't matter when it comes to old vintage crap.

Everything is eyeballed to make it work, when the rider is happy, the job is done.

That's how they built everything in the last century.

If I wanted something that was NASA precision, I'd buy a S-works.

Bill Kapaun

Your stays are pretty "spindly", so I wouldn't think 4mm would offer much resistance.
How did you measure?

WT160

I measured in between, as you've shown. I'm smack on 130mm.

Bill Kapaun

That is a rather cool looking bike.

One issue that you "might possibly" run into is the chain not wanting to come back off the smallest cog because of clearance issues.
That can usually be easily remedied by putting a thin washer under the lock nut of the DS cone.
I think it tends to manifest itself, it's when going to a smaller end cog than "stock". Like 14T to 12T.

WT160

I was back at this, riding the bike a few days ago, trying to fine tune. It looks like seven speeds isn't going to work well. The geometry of the chain is angled too far out on the outer cogs. I can't get it adjusted so that it doesn't rub. Back to six speeds, it seems.

Kontact

Are you not trimming the FD when you shift the rear to the far ends? I've never had a downtube friction bike rub.

JohnDThompson 

It can happen; short chainstays and wide chainring jump exacerbate the issue.

Kontact

Given what we know about the OPs bike, I doubt some radical gear steps are involved.

maddog34

i ran into a similar problem when i tried a 7 sp suntour frewwheel on my '82 trek... the freewheel cleared the frame,but as soon as the chain shifted to the small cog, it began rubbing the dropout.... the venerable old trek remains a 6 speed.
i didn't try putting a narrower chain on... it seemed that it wouldn't give enough clearance anyway, and i'm not about to tear up the Imron paint.

maddog34

you can shift the axle over about 2mm with some spacer/washer trickery, then redish the wheel to compensate... but if you're like me,you looked at the "advantage" of one more choice, and decided to just ride the bike as is.

and 6 sp. freewheels are just about free in my Co-op, so there is that factor...
Nice bike, BTW .. the bike i had just before getting the Trek was a Puch touring bike.. that frame was Copper plated, and the paint was trashed, so... Paint remover then Steel wool had it shining like a new penny.. I clear coated it after painting the Lugs black and adding a gold pinstripe around them...

WT160

Yes, I am. The main issue is the geometry across the smallest cog while on the small chain ring, as the chain rubs on the large chain ring at that angle.

Kontact

That's normal. We don't use that gear combination under normal circumstances, and if you have to use it, the rubbing noise isn't going to break anything.

cny-bikeman

The small-small combination is a bad choice for 3 reasons:
1. There is a large angle in the chain, which is more stressful, as well as creating the problem you are having.
2. It is a relatively high gear with the minimum number of total teeth engaged, which increases chain and small cog wear.
3. There are one or two large chain combinations that duplicate or bracket that gear ratio and offer both lower wear and better chainline.