WTB Rear Wheel 26" X 126 Spacing

As I revert from old school to prehistoric and refurbish my 1985 Mt Fuji, the subject wheel is the missing component. Anyone in the Santa Ana/Tustin area have one for sale? Alternatively, has anybody stretched a frame from 126 - 135?

 

I cold set a frame from 126 to 130, so nearly there! I think the extra 5mm would be fine.
YMMV of course...

 

Thanks, I spread the frame, which is heavy and built like the famous brick structure, to 140 mm, but when I removed the axle (with two nuts, three counting me used to spread it), it went right back to 126. Guess I'll move it further.

Update; Spread to 150 mm, and will leave overnight to see what it returns to.

 

I did this same type of project a few years ago, but I ended up buying a 126 wheel from...?!?! The memory just failed me, but it was a shop on the east coast that had a boatload of older style parts.

I have put all of 5 miles on that bike since...

 

Maybe Niagara Cycle; thanks for the reminder. Problem is, as new supplies became exhausted, old followed suit.

update: out of business

 

It wasn't Niagara... I've actually been to that one. It was a smaller shop... A guy's name. I tried digging through my email, but I couldn't find it.

 

Harris Cyclery!

The memory is slowing down, but eventually works…

If you were looking for a 700c in 126mm, I’d be able to help you out…

 

Thanks, Sheldon Brown's old haunt; no 26" wheels at all.

 

I have a Mavic 819 laced to a Hope Pro II hanging in the garage, but I’m pretty sure it’s 135mm spacing. Let me know if think it may work and we can figure something out.

 

Thank you and it's almost certainly 135. You can't imagine how difficult it is to wrestle into a 126 frame. I have a 135 also which may fit after I've finished stretching the frame. Have spread it past 150 so far. Tomorrow I'll find out how much it relaxes.

 

It has been a long time since I coldset a frame and mostly those were some version of cro-mo up through the branded Columbus and Reynolds. I recall having to bend and flex them quite a ways past the desired end point before the steel would actually deform and set without springing back to the starting point. Simply spreading to 150 does not seem to be enough by a long shot.

I recall using a 8 or 10 foot long something to do the bending with one side of the rear triangle at a time. Bit of an art form trying to nail it on the first one or two bends. Best would be if you have the tools to verify the triangle is equidistant from the center line and lined up with the rest of the frame (can use a string) and the dropouts are aligned with each other.

Hi-ten steel you just grabbed and went. Amazing how soft that stuff is.

 

Thanks, I don't think 155 mm is going to be enough. I cold set a Mongoose Dolomite from 190 mm to 135 mm once because the rear wheel had that configuration, then needed to apace the disc brake and freewheel accordingly. As you stated, Hi-ten is very malleable. Note: The "sidecar" was designed to carry a specific wheelchair for my friend's granddaughter. The rear flap was dropped down in order to roll the wheelchair in, then encapsulated it when it was closed. If this doesn't work, I'll just shelve the project until I locate a wheel someday.

 

Bill was correct; stretched it out about 40 mm (from 25 to 165 or so) and it bounced right back to 125. The 125 was used for MTB's from the dawn to 1985 or so; probably either need to go to a vintage bike swap meet if they ever have them again or buy a bike from that era to use for parts.

 

You have my attention. I have a 1985 Bridgestone that is nearly complete besides the rear wheel. I was going to try and find a match for the front one of these days (I think the front was an Araya). I ran it with a modern setup (130 and modern Sram) for about a year, that frame was smooth.

 

It’s not a high end wheel… I picked it up from Harris a couple years ago. But it’s straight and has no miles on it… Even has a new tire.

It’s just hanging on the wall…

 

If you're in no particular hurry and can source something fairly strong and stiff 8 or 10 feet long that will fit from the inside of the rear triangle at the dropouts to bear on the seat tube we could bend it. I found my dropout alignment tools to realign the dropouts if needed.

Disclaimer, may break/fold, risk with any frame failing in some way during the operation as we will be applying a lot of force and bending the frame way past any intended use to get it past the yield strength. I don't recall any frames ever breaking or folding but always figured one would someday.

 

Thanks, Bill; I'l try to get the proper sized wheel first. Not in a hurry; this was a project to ease the boredom.

 

If anyone is interested, I resolved this issue by purchasing a circa 1985 bike with a wheel that fit my bike perfectly. Now I have a project to find a wheel for this cute bike (this will be much easier since the bike frame is mild steel). The bike was located on craigslist; just put "1980" in the sorting for bikes. Big problem: the young lady who sold it was so breathtakingly beautiful and congenial I wanted to spend about four hours making the purchase.