Help Rear Axle Spacing

I am not a techie or racer. Ride my trek 7500fx about 2k every year. The aluminum frame has 135mm spacing between the dropouts. Not knowing any better I bought a 130mm rear wheel replacement. I pull the dropouts together with one hand and tighten the spindle with the other to make the wheel fit. Replaced the front wheel also so it looks nice. Any problems with what I am doing? It seems to work fine!

If your bike is an aluminium frame, I'd really recommend not doing that. Unlike steel, aluminium can't bend and 'cold set' like that without introducing weakness in its structure.

What you are suggesting/doing is very similar to frame "spreading", which is often done to older road bikes so that they can use newer drivetrains that need wider hub spacing.

Except instead of "spreading" you're doing the opposite. The same caveats and general procedure would apply, though.. you can read more about hub spacing, frame spreading, and the like here: http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

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Peter
Cannondale Synapse Carbon Scalpel Cyclocross Ultra

For a steel frame, probably not a problem. Not as great an idea for an aluminum frame as mentioned previously.

An easy solution is to respace the rear hub. The axle is probably long enough to accomodate this. You can add a 2.5mm hub washer to each side (readily available at any decent bicycle shop) to respace the hub to 134mm. If you can get This would require NO redishing of the wheel since you would be adding equally to each side. You would have to do a slight adjustment of the rear derailleur as the cassette would be 2.5mm farther inboard relative to the end of the right hub lock nut.

Alternatively, you could put a 5mm spacer on the left side and redish the wheel. This would technically make the wheel a little stronger as less dish would be required on the drive (right side), but this would be substantially more work than just putting 2.5 on each side.

Thanks for the advice. Even though I put about 50 miles on the wheels, Performance took them back with a full refund no problems. They stated it was their problem and they should not have sold that wheelset to me. A 700c wheel to fit 135mm droupouts is a special order. Decided to go with the same Bontrager Select rear wheel that was on the bike. Ordered through my LSB and recieved it the next day. I like the double spoke design; easier to keep true. Do my own repairs that are necessary for the 2000 miles of pedaling each year. Zinn, Sheldon Brown, and Cycling Forum help get it done. Performance and LSB will get more of my business.