localtalent

Backstory: I bought a Miyata 610 touring frame to build up for a friend. I thought I had measured the rear spacing at 130mm, but I believe I made an error and it's actually 126mm. Friction shifters. I went out yesterday and found a decent wheel, Campagnolo hub to a Fir 60A rim with a 7sp Shimano freewheel.

I was still under the impression that 6 and 7 speed wheels usually fit right in to 126mm. I have other 6sp wheels on other bikes that fit in this frame, and this wheel does not fit in the other frames I have. I have cursed at it a whole lot in the past two hours and now I have questions.

The wheel doesn't fit by about this much, roughly the width of the dropout itself (probably 3-4mm):


I would rather not cram it into the dropouts. I know I can get it respaced, but I'll probably just try and find a 6sp wheel - I've owned this one for about 5 hours now and have no real attachment to it. However:

These locknuts seem quite large - can I replace them with smaller ones?



Here's the axle - there is a spacer of some variety in there (actually a couple, but the one next to the silver spacer seems to have a smaller diameter), is that normal? Can I take it out if I move the cones a little so the wheel sits in the center of the dropouts?



Much appreciated - if it's not going to work, I can just cram the wheel in there, although I'd rather do it right (which probably means going to find another wheel - not equipped to cold set the frame myself and I'm on a fairly tight budget here).

demoncyclist

It looks like someone respaced that wheel for 130mm by adding that silver spacer to the axle. Try fitting it into your dropouts without that spacer in place and see what happens. If it fits, and the ends of the axle don't protrude past the dropouts (which would foul up the QR function), then re-align the cones and finish your build.