Internal hub gear for track rear spacing

Looking to create a bit of an all rounder bike and am trying to find an internal gear hub with 5+ gears to match a suitable frame I have on order with 120 dropout width.

A quick google search didnt reveal a whole lot except for the SA 8 speed which can be bought in 120 OLD.

Ideally I would like to use a Shimano Nexus/Alfine (not sure which one is the most current) but I am not sure whether these can be respaced to suit the 120 width.

So.... I seek the infinite wisdom of the forum. Does anyone have any recommendations for a gear hub that might be suitable or any experience respacing the shimano offerings?

EDIT: Not really interested in re-spacing the frame as I would like to be able to swap wheels with fixed set depending on what I am doing.

you do not need to respace the frame if it's just 5mm difference

Its 15mm difference. Which is 7.5mm per side. Which is too much without respacing.

Nexus can be re-spaced to around 125mm relatively simply - Alfine can't unless you have an appetite for fairly serious modding. But if you have a dremmel drill, are an expert at calculating spoke lengths and dishing, and are happy trying to get spare parts from shimano getting it down to about 125mm is possible.

You may even be able to simply ping your drop outs open and drop a nexus in, depending on how flexible your frame is. If you do consider a nexus go for a Red Band which is pretty much an alfine hub anyway.

The comments on Hubstripping are quite useful for this stuff:

http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/alfine-shimano/

The SA 8 isn't really suitable due to it's wierd gearing. IIRC the lowest gear is direct drive, meaning a pretty exotic sprocket and crank are required, and then the force this applies to hub when using 700c wheels eventually mangles it's reportedly weak internals.

^this

= 5mm difference

Furry muff.

I have a 135 spaced hub in a 130 spaced alu frame myself. Thats not a problem at all. Providing you shorten the hub spacing by 5mm on each side you wont need to alter any spoke calcs either.

You could respace to 130 and use track hubs with that width on your swap-out wheels.

You could respace to 130 and use track hubs with that width on your swap-out wheels.

So simple, its nearly annoying.

Loads of track hubs/wheels availible in 130mm.

bangs head against wall

Thanks for the advice.

Seems like the Nexus might be an option. Could see how accommodating the frame is with the extra 2.5mm each side.

I'm not experienced with wheel building, dishing etc. If I were able to respace the nexus to 125 would anything specific need doing when the wheel is built up?

An interesting photo guide of respacing the nexus. It looks like this one is the roller break version which I would not need but the logic may still stand true.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juddparco/sets/72157613358920756/with/3253912912/

So simple, its nearly annoying.

Loads of track hubs/wheels availible in 130mm.

bangs head against wall

That would be my number one option except for the fact the two other sets of wheels I am planning to use are 120mm.

All you need is more/thicker washers (and quite possibly a longer axle)

All you need is more/thicker washers (and quite possibly a longer axle)

This^

Easier to space out a 120 track wheel, Then reduce a Nexus. Plus it gives you more hub gear options, which is what I would want most.

BQ is todays voice of reason.

Well there had to be a first time.

Of course what I did was put the nexus on the bike, then buy/build 3 more track bikes.
That's an alternative you might consider.

Of course what I did was put the nexus on the bike, then buy/build 3 more track bikes.
That's an alternative you might consider.

Seems inevitable - although getting dangerously close to breaking the N-1 rule with the number of bikes at home already.

The real kicker is that the frame on order is an On-one Pompino which I could of course ordered in 135mm spacing in the form of the Pompetimo or whatever it's called. Didn't fancy the disk brakes though to enable swapping bits between bikes.

Hmmm - a bit of cold setting ala Sheldon coming my way I think. Anyone used this method? I feel like it would put a lot of stress on the welds?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

cold set my frame from 120 to 135 to accomodate alfine, no problems.

Then buy a goldtec hub 135 for the fixed wheelset. Easy peasy

The real kicker is that the frame on order is an On-one Pompino which I could of course ordered in 135mm spacing in the form of the Pompetimo or whatever it's called. Didn't fancy the disk brakes though to enable swapping bits between bikes.

Hmmm - a bit of cold setting ala Sheldon coming my way I think. Anyone used this method? I feel like it would put a lot of stress on the welds?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

Ordered by path of least resistance I'd:

1) Change the frame - consider a RoadRat, CrossCheck etc. This obviously doesn't help if you like the On-one or have taken delivery of it.

2) Re-space a Nexus Red Band to 125mm then ping it in. IIRC you need thinner lock nuts, and that's it, and unlike Alfine lock nuts, they are a standard size, so getting hold of them should be easy. You also don't need to remove the dust cap, like in the Flickr Stream you linked to. I'm not sure if you can reduce both sides of the hub, so you'll need to re-dish the wheel.

3) Cold Set. Yeah, OK, it's supposed to be easy, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it (and nobody volunteered to do it for me...)

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Sturmey Archers can be adjusted by removing washers etc.

^Indeed - I put in a Sturmey SRF5(w) when rebuilding an old mixte. A couple of washers on each side of the axle and it fits the 126 dropouts a treat. Would fit 120mm spacing.

5 Speed ranging, as I remember, from about 38 to 96 GI (with 42 or 44T x 19T) with direct drive sensibly in 3rd gear. Far far easier to set up than the shimano alfine which I have on another bike. And much less of a pig if you puncture (because the cable is easy to detach from the hub, unlike the alfine).