New wheels for 7 speed sora

Mad Mat

My much loved 7 speed Claud Butler San Remo is now in need of new wheels after my 15+ stone frame has mashed the the standard ones after only 20,000 miles. All the wheels on the market now are for 8,9 and 10 speed bikes, can or will these wheels with the aid of the a spacer fit my old 7 speed Sora gear?
Many thanks
Mad Mat

PS. I cannot fault the Claud butler San Remo, it's the dogs ding dongs as far as a starter bike goes and it just makes the best winter hack that is ruff and ready to ride

aracer

The only issue you'd have with 8/9/20 speed wheels is rear spacing of your bike. Depending how old it is, it may be 126mm wide between the dropouts, whereas 8/9/10 speed bikes (and newer 7-speed ones), and wheels are 130. This means you'd either have to spring the back end apart to get a 8/9/10 speed wheel in, or assuming it's steel get it permanently reset to that width (which isn't a big job - shouldn't cost much down your LBS). Otherwise an 8/9/10 speed wheel would work fine - you just need a spacer to put behind the cassette.

Smokin Joe

Assuming the hubs are ok why not get the wheels re-built with decent rims? My wife has a San Remo and though I can't think what rims it came with they are poor quality cheapos. Open Pros or similar with stainless steel spokes would make a massive improvement.