Wheel set shimano 7 speed compatability issues?

BrandonParry said:

I have an older Cannondale r500 7 speed and am wanting to upgrade the wheelset, most newer wheel sets will only accept a 8,9, or 10 speed shimano cassette is there a spacer I can get that will allow me to use the 7 speed off my R500?

Yeah, just use a 12 cog of an old cassette you should have lying around. Thats what i used on my nine speed hubs with a 7 speed cassette. Put the 12 cog on first then tha cassette.

BrandonParry said:

I have an older Cannondale r500 7 speed and am wanting to upgrade the wheelset, most newer wheel sets will only accept a 8,9, or 10 speed shimano cassette is there a spacer I can get that will allow me to use the 7 speed off my R500?

The 12 cog suggestion will work but looks rather inelegant. Go to your lcoal bike shop and ask for the 4.5mm spacer to put a 7s cassette on a 8,9s freehub. It mounts between the freehub body and the largest cassette cog. Lock out the rear derailleur inner stop so that it can't shift past the largest cog as usual.

One other caveat is that your 7s cassette needs to be of the hyperglide type that attaches with a lockring, rather than the even older Uniglide which affixes with a threaded small cog. (I am pretty sure that you probably have a hyperglide cassette).