135mm or 150mm hub

[dhingle]

i have a 98 beast and am putting new wheels on it what is the difference in 135mm hub and 150mm hub other than 15mm?  is it the width of the hub.  i have the bike set up as a nine speed now and am wondering whichi should go with.  i am looking at a set of red azonic outlaws.

thanks,

darrell

[fyrstormer]

The difference is one will fit and the other won't. You need a 135mm rear hub.

[Thunderchild]

I would never recommend spreading a frame.  Especially aluminum.  I have an all aluminum Nishiki Alien with 130mm rear spacing.  I asked the question of spreading the rear dropouts to fit a 135 hub on the, now defunct, hard core bicycle forum.  Keith Bontrager, Gary Klein, Jobst Brandt and many others use to frequent the forum.  I posed the question to none other than Keith Bontrager.  He replied with many typical disclaimers and seriously suggested that I not spread the aluminum rear the small 5mm.  
Here is a bit of info. on rear dropout spacing and a take on spreading a frame.  Note that you can only do this on steel frames.   
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html


Thunderchild

[fyrstormer]

I've bought two replacement rear wheels for my 756 over the years, and ordered 135mm hubs without giving it a second thought. I looked at the sizes of hubs offered by www.universalcycles.com and concluded 135mm must be the right size, because most of the 130mm rear hubs they offered were labeled as "road", "track", or "internal-gear" hubs, whereas the hubs I wanted (Shimano Deore XT) were always 135mm. Not sure why you'd think any stretching is necessary to fit a hub that size; they drop right into place on my bike.

[Thunderchild]

concluded 135mm must be the right size, because most of the 130mm rear hubs they offered were labeled as "road", "track", or "internal-gear" hubs, whereas the hubs I wanted (Shimano Deore XT) were always 135mm. Not sure why you'd think any stretching is necessary to fit a hub that size; they drop right into place on my bike.

Don't be such an engineer; some might try and spread a frame to fit a rear hub.  A 150mm rear hub is only 7.5mm wider per side than a 135mm rear hub   Did you read any of Sheldon's words of wisdom from this link?  http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html 
130mm is considered a road bike spacing now, but wasn't always.  Older bikes often have narrower OLDs (Over Locknut Dimension).  http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_n-o.html#old
Here is the table data from the link:
91 mm   Low-end front hubs.
96 mm   Older front hubs, especially French.
100 mm   Modern front hubs.
110 mm   Rear older track, coaster brake and other single-speed hubs. Also, front hubs for Downhill bikes with 20 mm axles.
114 mm   Rear 3-4-speed .
120 mm   Rear 5-speed, Ultra 6, newer track hubs.
126 mm   Rear 6- and 7-speed (road).
130 mm   Rear 7-speed (MTB) and 8- 9- and 10-speed (road).
135 mm   Rear 7- 8- and 9-speed (MTB)
140 mm   Rear tandem.
145 mm   Rear tandem (newer models.)
150 mm   Retro-Choppers, some Downhill and Freeride models.
160 mm   Rear tandem (new Santana proposed standard.)

Example:  My 92 Nishiki Alien which takes a 130mm hub as indicated in the previous post.  If I wanted to go to a 9-speed cassette, I would have to go to a 135 mm hub.  Not so amazing that I twisted the drive side flange on the original Deore 130 mm hub on my Alien.  The Alien now rolls a modified (130 mm OLD with an 8-speed free hub with spacer and 7-speed cassette) Pulstar hub for the rear wheel.  My 1989 Miyata Terra Runner (A high end bike it in its day) has its original Shimano Deore II FH-MT62 (Shimano Mountain Componet Group) at 130mm.  Rode that bike on Monday     Here is a picture and spec site.  http://velobase.com/ViewSingleComponent.aspx?ID=886D2256-D623-4582-9446-F5EC4C0011F7&Enum=110&AbsPos=3  Cool site by-the-way. 

Hope that answered everyone's questions that they did not know they were going to ask. 
 
Thunderchild

[w2zero]

Back in the day, when I worked in a bike shop......  We would coldset steel forks and rear triangles pretty regularly.  We did use the correct tools for the job so as to keep the dropouts square and aligned.

Forgot to mention, I wouldn't do that to aluminum though.

[fyrstormer]

Don't be such an engineer;

If I'd been thinking/acting like an engineer, I would've used my digital vernier caliper to measure the locknut-to-locknut width and axle width before ordering, instead of using inductive logic to guess correctly.

some might try and spread a frame to fit a rear hub.  A 150mm rear hub is only 7.5mm wider per side than a 135mm rear hub

7.5mm per-side is a hell of a lot; it's wider than the metal the dropouts are made from! I'd be amazed if I found out anyone thought the big manly swingarm on a Pro-Flex could bend that much.

Did you read any of Sheldon's words of wisdom from this link?  http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html 
130mm is considered a road bike spacing now, but wasn't always.  Older bikes often have narrower OLDs (Over Locknut Dimension).  http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_n-o.html#old

No, I didn't, but I'm not surprised to find out the Late Great Sheldon Brown (RIP) had something to say about hub fitment, since he was an expert in pretty much everything else remotely bike-related, up to and including helmet decoration.

[orange]

RIP

[fyrstormer]

Race In Pelotons?

Why did he tape over the vents in his helmet, again?