changing rear wheel hollow axle to get more gears

wikey

hi there
i have two old bikes but just want to talk about one to start with
i have gone as far as i think i can upgrading the one

it is a 1960s falcon 531 frame

i have changed the gearing from 5 speed campag to 12 speed, with a 14 28 freewheel at the back and initially a 52 42 on the front on a 120mm QR rear hollow axle , this had the sprockets pretty near the frame, about as good as they could be. i am 65 and recovering from serious illness and living in peak district so lots of hills. so i recently fitted an alloy generic 50 34 on the front. i have gone from a120 mm bb to a 110mm bb as recommended by the online shop i bought the crankset from, but chainrings were too far away from frame, so then I have fitted a 103mm bb (square taper). still the chainrings could be 3 or 4mm nearer the frame to improve the chainline. but crank now cannot go any closer to the BB . so i am looking at what i can do on the back wheel. i have a couple of more 27 inch rear wheels and i might play around with one and see if i can set up a 7 speed freewheel on one, move spacers to drive side etc, but my attempts so far has the smallest cog rubbing on the frame. so i was thinking of getting a slightly longer hollow axle and rebuilding the hub of the back wheel with a longer axle and move spacers to drive side to get enough clearance on the drive side to allow the 7 speed freewheel to work properly. has any one done this sort of thing and got any tips..... i can supply some pics if folks interested...
wikey mikey

wikey

here is a picture of it taken yesterday at carsington reservoir after a combined road and trail ride....

Garry H

Sorry i can't help, but would just like to say what a lovely looking bike you have, with a proper pump as well.

rolf_f

For what it is worth, I had this problem when I converted my Dawes from 7 speed freewheel to 7 speed cassette. The smallest cog didn't leave enough clearance for the chain and seat stay. Solution was simply to put the spacer on the outside of the cassette rather than the inside. Despite the lack of knurled surfaces between the cassette and the lockring, it was never any problem.

One thing to be careful of - Shimano, in their infinite wisdom (ie just to change things for the sake of being irritating) started making some cassettes with blind smallest sprockets - ie the splines were captive against the smallest sprocket. This means you can't thread it all the way on to the freehub.

I think HG50 is OK but worth double checking.

And yes, lovely bike!

wikey

thanks for the replies guys
at the moment i am just trying to get more gears on a freewheel on an old wheel which just has a thread for the freewheel to screw onto; and not change the wheel to a freehub wheel with cassette

hence the idea of a longer hollow axle, more spaces on drive side and cold set the frame a little wider. 5 to 10 mm will do it and then i can go to 7 cogs on back and get up to a megarange 34T large cog. got 28 at moment but 30 rear with 34 front will get me up most hills. i have found i can buy a hollow axle for around 10 to 15 pounds so could get a 130 or 140 one and cut it to required size to do the job. a bit of fiddling but could be worth it....

as you like the bike pic here is another of mine , a 1953 king of mercia, stripped back to metal, frame oiled and bike rebuilt from single speed track bike to 12 speed road bike with bar end shifters... and brookes saddle. will powder coat it sometime when i have put dual pivot brakes on it and better gears. also need a new BB as kerb side cup works loose, might get it retapped or fit one of these self gripping ones

wikey

well i have done another upgrade to the old falcon dawes red feather bike.
i have taken another rear wheel and rebuilt it with a longer hollow axle. i have put an extra locknut on the chain side to get the amount of axle protruding about right to fit in frame nicely. i have cold set the rear fork stays (bent them!) to allow the longer axle to fit in the frame without needing about 5 hands to do it! then i have fitted a 7 speed megarange freewheel 13 to 34, then i have fitted a MTB rear derailleur changer - bracket fit, and adjusted it all, so together with the compact chainring crankset i now have a 34/34 bottom gear and a 13/50 top. just tried a very short hard hill with it today and no problem. so i am a bit chuffed with a bike i can ride all the hills in the peak district, with bell and mudguards etc etc. ideal winter bad weather bike for an old codger like me 66 in august ....
you can see the old wheel (well, both wheels are about 40 years old) leaning against the bike

wikey

dgunthor

if you fit a shimano hollowtech II bottom bracket and crankset the chainline should be as intended - have a look at a bike in a shop if you want to see the default distance of the chainrings from the frame

(hollowtech II has just one bottom bracket width as opposed to the different square taper axle widths of old)

wikey

thanks for the idea dgunthor, shall note it in my iphone and check it out

bill57

Since the only square taper BB (that I'm aware of) with a shorter spindle is the Campagnolo 102mm one, it would suggest you have a JIS/ISO taper mismatch? That is, your chainset is ISO and your BB is JIS, or vice-versa.

This is a risk you run with unknown chainsets - if you buy something (even old ones) like a Shimano 105, Campag Veloce, Stronglight etc etc, the correct spindle length and taper type will be documented somewhere.

wikey

thanks bill57
i am happy with the way it is now, did 25 miles yesterday . climbed 3500 feet, new gears setup was fine, but had a problem with my 55 plus years old saddle with the leather giving way behind the rivets at the front.... still it gave me 50 years of service so cant complain, might try and find a way to repair it and just keep it for looking at!!
mikey wikey

keef66

If you want a decent leather saddle but the price of a new Brooks makes you wince and reach for your GTN spray, you could do worse than one of Spa Cycles own leather saddles. Originally they sold the Aire, Wharfe and Nidd, which closely resemble Brooks' Swallow, Swift and B17 respectively.

http://road.cc/content/review/67184-spa ... her-saddle

Now I gather the choice is more bewildering

wikey

thanks for that keef, will have a look

Moonbiker

I have a falcon. Its similar model to this one but with a black piant job & covered in rust


http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 3&t=261696


Pump on mine is same one as you have. Reminds me must get round to doing the headset on it.