Hi am new to the forum but have been lurking for a few months now. Can anyone advise me on my first fixed build?
Just received a set of Ambrosio wheels for a fixed build however I am having a few problems. The front hub spacing (10mm) is too big for my forks (9.5ml spacing) the wheel will fit with a bit of a struggle but I am worried I am stretching the fork a bit much. Spacing on the rear of the frame is ok however I am having problems fitting the rear axel into the rear horizontal dropouts (dropouts are 11 mm wide). Do I have a funny sized frame? It is a fillet brazed Dawes circa early 1960’s. This is my first fixed and road frame build and any solutions or advice will be appreciated.
Cheers

Yes, you have a funny size frame. Your hub, 10mm is like as wide as my pinky finger and your fork is in fluid measurments 9.5ml. Same deal with your rear measurments. Do you mean these measurements in cm?

those measurement must be in cm. if thats the case, your old steel frame will have no trouble at all "bending" a little to fit the wheels. slide them it, tighten the bolts down and youre good to go.

If it is all steel you should be able so spring the for the 5 mm an dsimiarly the rear the 5 mm by hand no need to cold set or anything.

Note mm = millimeter milli means *10^(-3) so one thousandth of a meter

ml = milli liter one thousandth of a liter the volume measurement 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm

Opps! yes I mean mm not ml. Obviously my typing is not very fluid!
With regards to the rear dropouts i mean that the slot where you slide the axel is 11mm not the space between the dropouts. I had the frame powdercoated and think that it has added a couple of mil to the surface of the dropout ether that of the axel is to thick. Thanks for your advice.

if the axle is too thick, get a flat bastard file and open up the slot a little. If there is a "thicker side" (meaning top or bottom) try to remove more material from there. I think you are trying to say that the axle fit before you p-coat, and if thats the case, you will have very little work to do. 60's lugs should be plenty beefy enough to remove a little material and still be totally strong enough. I had to do this on my old Raleight and never had a problem.

use a dremel if you're feeling lazy.

Thanks
Dont know if axel fited before powdercoat as didnt have the wheels then. Will take a file to the dropouts.

The beauty of steel!