Hub spacing
 

I have a rear wheel that is a 6sp Suntour winner on Suntour Cyclone 7000 hubs. I assume that hub spacing is 126mm and the dropouts on my frame is 126mm. But when i put the wheel on to the dropout, there seem to be about 4 mm of play. I was wondering if this is okay or should i get spacers for the axle. Does anyone know if the Cyclone 7000 hubs are 126mm?

The hub may be 126 but are the frame dropouts 130? It sounds like that's what you have.

It's relatively easy to space out the axle, go to your lbs/hardware store and grab a couple of spacers equalling up to 4mm.

You'll need a cone wrenches and regular wrenches to readjust the hub after you respace.

No the dropout is 126, I'd measured it. I was thinking maybe the hub is a 120 hub with one of those Suntour winner ultra freewheel. but my regular chain works on it so i guess its not an Ultra freewheel. I am really not sure. Will it be okay to just use it as it is without spacers, its only 4 mm or so and the QR clamps down on it tight and secure.

Well if you measured your dropouts at 126 and there's play then there's your answer.

But it is not 6mm of play, and it has a 6 speed freewheel on it which means the hub should be 126mm

Yes, as long as it will tighten up and is secure, it should be fine. I've got a '72 Raleigh International that has dropout spacing of 124mm (an oddity), and it was used with a 5 speed 120mm hub for years and years without problems-

If you physically measured your spacing between the dropouts to be 126mm, then you have a 6spd frame.
The hub must be 5 spd.

Bear in mind, some frame makers produced spacings in between 120-126mm to accommodate both types of hubs.
I have a frame with a 124mm triangle.

But the hub has a 6 sp freewheel on it.

Sometimes 1 measurement is worth 1,000 guesses. Take a C-clamp or something similar and fit it to the locknuts on your hub. Then you can mesure with an ordinary ruler against the C-clamp.

Incidentally, if it was my bike, I'd stick a washer or 2 on the hub axle to make up the difference. If the 4mm or so of play bothers you enough to ask the question, that's significant enough to fix.

The fact your current chain works is not a reason to think the freewheel isn't an Ultra 6. Chains have been "narrow" for 20+ years now so any chain bought since the late '80's is likely to be narrow enough to fit.

Summary of the facts:

You measured your dropouts at 126 mm.
The hub is noticably narrower than the dropouts.
The freewheel is a 6-speed.
Your chain works on the freewheel.

Conclusions:

The hub is 120-122 mm
The freewheel is an Ultra.
The chain is narrow.

Recommendation:

Respace the hub to match the dropouts.

I would expect the hub to be 120. Space the axle; finding the spacers is sometimes iffy. You need an LBS that works on a lot of older bikes or does SS conversions. BIketoolsetc. sells individual spacers, but they're pricey. Or maybe loosescrews. I can't remember.

A pack of 10 1mm washers is cheap. Just use four or five of them.

Probably u dont even need washers. in old bikes u can do a lot of odd stuff.

thanks

Okay so I just rode around today without washers and everything fits tight and secure. But after riding for a while, the rear wheel becomes off center. The wheel gets close to rubbing the left stay. So will the spacers fix this? It seems like the tension on the freewheel from pedaling causes the wheel to shift to the left. It has a toe to the left. I have to loosen the QR and re-center it again and tighten it, but it happens again...

It wasn't cranked down enough. I'd space it out.

Space the hub correctly. It isn't that difficult.