My new Trek (Elance 400) has malliard 600 hubs which spin great and seem to work quite well so I have no interest in ditching them. The rear hub is currently set up w/ a 5spd HG freewheel that functions well but on downhills I spin out. Can I put a 6spd HG freewheel on there or is there some sort of hidden issue that I don't know about?

Second question; Can I run 700x 32 tires on a 14mm wide rim or is that pushing it? I think that is it for now. Thanks!

If you can fit the 6 sp. FW on the wheel, and it doesn't hit the stay, you can use it. The tire will work OK if it also doesn't hit the stay.

Your main issue is rear triangle clearance. If it's currently spaced at 120mm, you'll likely not be able to get a 6-speed HG freewheel on there w/ clearance from smallest cog to the dropout. You'd need a longer axle and to cold set the rear end just a bit to 126mm.

Neal

The bike is currently set to 126mm (I'd imagine stock). I just wanted to make sure about the axle length, spacers etc.... I'm still new at this and have much too learn.

About the tires.... would it create too much "bulge"? I think I have the clearance in the triangle but I will double check

I'm running 35mm Panaracer Paselas and 37mm Vittoria Randonneur tires on a couple of different sets of old Super Champion 700c rims. They're narrow rims though I don't know the exact measurement off-hand, but I haven't had a problem. The Vittorias have a wire bead, which gives me some degree of comfort that they won't blow off, but I also keep them at fairly low pressure (about 60 psi).

Neal

Thanks for the info gents. Neal, your pictures of all your bikes just fuels my fire for something old and British. Nice bikes!

Thanks, Rob. I rode my '71 International today on a grocery store run with a large saddle bag for storage and thought, "Why do I need all of these other bikes when this one suits me so well?" Of course, I've had that same thought riding lots of the others, too.

Neal

I think I might try out a 7spd w/ the mega range 34T for my Elance and a 7spd 13-28 for my 610. I am currently using an 11-28 cassette on an Exage hub but, I really like having matching hubs especially when they are as smooth as mine currently are. The Elance is a long cage D/R and the 610 is a short cage so I shouldn't have any issues hopefully. Any reason NOT to go 7spd F/W?

Nope. A 7spd is slightly wider than a 6 so you may have to add a little more spacer to the drive side, but since you're starting from 5 speed you'll be doing that anyway.