135 mm wheel spacing?

as long as the rear triangle is steel, just squeeze the dropouts when you mount 130mm rear wheels.

I was able to find a set of pre-built wheels without much problem for my salsa that also has 135mm - salsa delgado rims laced to XT hubs. I'm using disks but the place I bought them also had the same build-up for non-disks.

I say why bother if you don't need to, the wheels won't fit any of your other bikes and you will always have a very limited choice. There is no advantage to them. Buying a brand new bike and cold setting the rear end down to 130 is not a great idea, either, just my opinion.

I didn't have too much trouble getting wheels with MTB hubs on eBay. I also had a rear wheel with a 105 hub converted to 135 by using a longer axle and some spacers; parts and labor were about $30 and it worked perfectly. I started out with an advantage, though, since my first 'cross bikes were both VooDoo Wazoos, and I could swap out the wheelsets between them.

The Walrus said:

I also had a rear wheel with a 105 hub converted to 135 by using a longer axle and some spacers; parts and labor were about $30 and it worked perfectly.

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Respacing works only if you aren't planning on running discs ...

LetsGoOutside said:

I am frame shopping already for next season and have noticed more than a few cross bikes are coming with 135mm rear spacing (Planet X, Kelly, Mtn. Cycle). My question is are there readily available pre-built wheels to work with this or would I need to get a mountain hub laced to a road rim? I have no need to run disk brakes, and will have multiple wheelsets for this bike but am kind of afraid everything I have now will be incompatiblle.

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I would say to get a 130mm frame unless you have a real attachment to a frame that happens to have 135mm spacing. You're right: the selection of pre-built wheels is much much smaller for 135mm. You can use a 130mm hub in a 135mm frame if it's steel or Ti (and maybe aluminum too), but why go through the trouble if you don't have to?

There is one advantage to 135mm spacing: it's easier to find better-sealed hubs. For example, Shimano's MTB hubs have better seals than their corresponding road hubs, which makes a noticeable difference if you ride in the wet a lot. But this probably shouldn't be a big factor in your decision...

Thanks for all the great replies. I have been able to find a few sources for affordable 135mm spaced road wheels. I guess when it comes down to it the rear spacing is not going to dictate whether I buy a frame or not, I'll just see what comes up.