rear dropout width

I've been checking this forum out for awhile and really
like it, so thought I'd post my first ? I've been thinking
about converting my old Schwinn 594 fron 7 to 9speed.
Since I'm at work and not anywhere near my bike I was
wondering what the rear dropout width is and if it will
accept a 9 speed hub, which I think is 130 mm?

 

Hi,
it is possible to spread the rear end to accept the new hub. But I am not sure if it makes sense to do it. If you want shifting on the handlebars, you can switch to bar end shifters for under a hundred bucks. If you want to go with the fancy new shifters, for the about the same money you can get a whole new bike. If you have some patience, you can also consider 8 speed, 8 speed was very nice. You'd have to spend some serious time on Ebay scrounging all the parts.

 

if your schwinn is steel then the rear drop-outs can we widened (cold-set they call it). Get a framebuilder to do it for you so that you know everything will still be straight afterwards.

If its aluminium then you're in for a new frame, as this cannot be bent without damaging the structural integrity of the frame.