busted wheel - upgrade

Sorry for such a long intro, but . . .

After 15 years and about 5000 miles of hauling my 180# bod around my wonderful mavic rim/Shimano 105 rear wheel, with 7spd freewheel gave out. The spokes just ripped out of the rim.

My local wrench, who has helped me upgrade my Miyata 712 from a double to triple and replaced my indexed downtube shifters with Sora SIS, and new front and rear derailleurs suggested Alex aerodynamic rims with some noname sealed hub and 8 spd cassette. I let him put them on for trial.

I got about six miles from home when the wheel pulled out of the drops. It was then I discovered that he had had to pry the drops apart to get the wheel on and had probably not set the QR tight enough.

I have seen other chats re: spreading the drops and I guess I will have to visit my LBS and have the drops set. The wrench says no problem just leaving things as is, he does it all the time. True or wishful thinking?

Also, the new back wheel seems to have much higher friction (binding) than my wonderful 105's, and I miss that melodic clicking when the bike is freewheeling. Don'cassettes have pawls? The wheel rotates well enough on my truing stand until I crank down the QR, then it rolls maybe 5 cycles before it stops. The wrench says sealed hubs do that and need 100 miles breakin. True or BS?

Thanks

spreading the dropouts . . . you're probably going from 126mm to 130mm. if it's a steel frame, you're golden. other materials, i wouldn't do it.

most every cassette and freewheel should have pawls. some are definitely quieter than others. i seem to recall some "silent drive" thing, can't remember what kinda technology that had inside.

as far as the sealed bearings, i'm not sure. the bearing pre-load may be too-high. clamping in on any hub will tighten the bearings somewhat. get something in writing that premature bearing failure will be replaced for free!!

You can get by without cold setting the frame, but if you do it, it will make things easier each time you remove and replace the rear wheel. Check Sheldon Brown's site at URL:
http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html
Your no-name replacement hub may be OK, but it sounds like bearing preload needs adjustment. Shimano hubs and cassette bodies are refined and hard to beat for the money. Most hubs still use pawls or some other form of ratcheting mechanism.
Seals do wear in and tend to give less resistance after 5 to 10 hours of riding. I wouldn't worry about a little extra resistance unless it is accompanied with bearings that are too tight.
From you question, it sounds like you would be more satisfied with a Shimano 105 hubbed rear wheel.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA