115mm Rear Drop outs

pk64 · September 2010

I recently aquired a 1976 Eddy Merckx road bike, which my uncle and I have stripped down and re-sprayed. Almost all the components I took off it are ready for scrap apart from the handlebars and stem. I have most of the components sorted, however the width between the rear drop outs is 115mm, and I don't seem to be able to find any wheels on the internet of that size, most of them appear to be 130mm. The bike is 5 speed and the wheel diameter is 27 x 1 1/4". Does anyone know where I would be able to buy a rear wheel that would fit my frame? Thanks in advance, Peter.

HebdenBiker · September 2010

Might be better to cold-set the frame. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

Smokin Joe · September 2010

Sure you haven't got a damaged frame? 115mm seems a rather odd size as even single speed track bikes have 120mm dropouts.

Monty Dog · September 2010

Agree - anything narrower than 120mm would be far older so suggests that it has been 'modified' in some way. You should be able to have it reset to the right width, but I'd also make sure that it was checked for alignment to make sure it's still 'true'. The fact that it has 27" wheels suggests it's a Coventry Eagle who sold an 'Eddy Merckx' branded bike in the UK rather than a genuine Eddy from Belgium - a photo would easily identify which one.

Monty Dog · September 2010

FWIW Eddy Merckx didn't start making bikes until around 1980, which would confirm my earlier comment about Coventry Eagle

schweiz · September 2010

My Singlespeed conversion (see SS in sig) has 117mm rear and 95mm front. As far as I can work out from its history, the frame is about 45-50 years old.

I bought some HALO track hubs and had a couple of mm taken off each side front and rear (by my dad as it happens as he's a tool maker) and I've not had to worry about damaging the frame by cold forming (aka bending!). The hubs have to have sealed cartridge bearings as on a traditional cup and cone hub then you would be milling the race which is not a good idea. Basically you unscrew the 'cone' take off a couple of mm of material (of which there's plenty) from the inside face and then screw it back in. This way you keep the serrated faces which grip the drop out. The 'cone' is no longer flush with the hub, but that's just aesthetics.

If you know anyone who's got a lathe and can do this for you as a foreigner then it'll be a relatively simple task. Although if you need to make a warranty claim then you'll struggle!!

pk64 · September 2010

Hi, Thanks for all your input. It was my uncle that measured the frame for me as I am in the Western Isles of Scotland at the moment and the frame is with my uncle back home in Southport. He may have measured it wrong, I can't be sure. I am also unsure as to the year of the bike but when I removed the brakes they had a date stamp of August 1976 on them.

pk64 · September 2010

This is before it was shipped back from France:

This was just before it was re-sprayed:

And finally this was after it was re-sprayed:

The frame has definitely not been modified in the past as it was my Grandad's and I know that he never had any major work done to it

Thanks again, Peter.

schweiz · September 2010

This is how mine started and ended up...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15867689

pk64 · September 2010

Well done, that looks fantastic and thanks for the inspiration. I was on the verge of giving up having just added up the cost of all the components! Thanks again, Peter.

schweiz · September 2010

Yeah, I nearly canned the whole project when I sat and worked out the costs. I could have bought a new Specialized Langster for £450 or less but when I think about things like how I taught myself how to build wheels and how that alone has saved me a fair few francs by having the confidence to properly true buckled wheels rather than just dropping them off at the bike shop, then that helps justify the cost. Also, I'm a lot more confident when working on my other bikes and will attempt pretty much any job now again saving me at least £100 in the last year alone.

I could have saved £100 or more by buying a cheaper crankset, BB and tyres and not bothering with stickers, but I and others put lots of time and effort in and I wouldn't have been happy with doing half a job.

pk64 · September 2010

Hi, Thanks for you help, I have decided to cold set the frame and have ordered a set of the 130mm (rear) 100mm (front) wheels. I have another slight problem though, I ordered a set of tyres that came with tubes (Continental Ultra Sport 27 x 1 1/4") the company I ordered them from have sent 27 x 1 1/4" tyres but 700c tubes, does anyone know if the 700c tubes will fit the rims and tyres OK?

schweiz · September 2010

Are they standard Conti Race 28 tubes?

They are good for 700C and 27". On the box it says 700x18/25C and 27x3/4 - 1 which means a 700C diameter wheel with 18 to 25 mm wide tyres or a 27" diameter wheel with 3/4" to 1" wide tyres.

So in your 1.25" tyres they will be stretched thin and you may have puncture problems.

pk64 · September 2010

the tubes are Schwalbe and have "28/32-622/630" embossed on them, the box looks a bit like this:

but in the red circle is says "SV 16" on my box as opposed to "SV 17" on this picture

schweiz · September 2010

they're fine

your tubes are good for 32-630 (metric tyre size) and it says that is 27 x 1 1/4 on the box which is the tyres you have.

pk64 · September 2010

Great, thanks again for your help, Peter.

pk64 · January 2011

Hi, My project is finally finished, and here's how it looks:

I haven't covered that many miles on it yet, but one of the original components I kept was the headset, but I think its past its sell by date so I am going to replace it however I can't find a headset that is the same size as the original one. I measured the fork's steerer tube and it is 22mm, would a standard 1" headset fit, or is it another odd-ball size? Thanks again, Peter.

pk64 · January 2011

Hi, My project is finally finished, and here's how it looks:

I haven't covered that many miles on it yet, but one of the original components I kept was the headset, but I think its past its sell by date so I am going to replace it however I can't find a headset that is the same size as the original one. I measured the fork's steerer tube and it is 22mm, would a standard 1" headset fit, or is it another odd-ball size? Thanks again, Peter.

Monty Dog · January 2011

Should be standard 1" headset - assuming the 22mm dimension is the internal diameter of the fork steerer (actually 22.2mm). Sheldon Brown has all the details:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ha-i.html#headset

schweiz · January 2011

That looks really good Peter.

Headset will be a standard one inch for, i imagine, a threaded fork.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=1%22+threaded+headset&scoring=p

pk64 · January 2011

Thankyou!

Yes it is a threaded fork, I'll order a 1" headset, it sound like it should be ok, I just thought that with other parts of the bike being odd sizes, maybe the headtube was the same.

Thanks for everyone's help, Peter.

115mm Rear Drop outs

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