[GueroAZ]

Just got one of those new Tange-Prestige steel Somas. I am in the middle of the buildup and when placing the rear wheel which has a DT Swiss 240 hub, the distance between the dropouts is a full 5-6mm too narrow for the rear wheel to fit. It will fit but only after I spread the tubes apart. The dropouts clear the rotor by only about 1-2mm.

Forgive me, but this is my first build. Is this normal and the rear fork tubing will just conform to the distance of the rear hub or is the frame messed up and requires either re-welding or whatever? Kind of frustrated about this since the buildup was going pretty well up until that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[PeanutButterBreath]

The Soma Juice has 132.5 mm spacing:

"Dropouts will accomadate MTB or road hubs, in case you want to throw a set of road/cross wheels on." (http://www.somafab.com/juice29.html)

I have a Soma Double Cross with the same design, and I have been running it with 135 mm hubs for a couple years. No issues with the frame.

 

[bikerboy]

Just got one of those new Tange-Prestige steel Somas. I am in the middle of the buildup and when placing the rear wheel which has a DT Swiss 240 hub, the distance between the dropouts is a full 5-6mm too narrow for the rear wheel to fit. It will fit but only after I spread the tubes apart. The dropouts clear the rotor by only about 1-2mm.

Forgive me, but this is my first build. Is this normal and the rear fork tubing will just conform to the distance of the rear hub or is the frame messed up and requires either re-welding or whatever? Kind of frustrated about this since the buildup was going pretty well up until that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

I had the same issue with my Soma, the dropouts were a bit too narrow. I could squeeze the hub in there, but it was tight and made loading the rear wheel in those rear-facing dropouts a bit difficult. I think how the frame came, the spacing was much narrower than 132.5mm. The way I have it now seems to be close to 132.5, but I had to work on it a bit to get it spread out.

Even with the narrow rear end, that doesn't tell me why your rotor is coming within 1-2mm of the dropout. The spacing between the rotor and end of the axle should be much more than that. Otherwise, your brake rotor will never line up with the caliper. A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you can post one, that'd clear things up presto pronto.

 

[richwolf]

Bummer,

I didn't know that the Juice came with narrow dropouts. Sure doesn't make sense for a mountain bike to me. I almost considered the Juice but they were out of stock and I didn't like their rear dropout set up for geared use. Glad I got the Voodoo instead.

 

[GueroAZ]

The rotor was only 1-2mm from the dropout before pushing them apart to make the hub fit. I put the wheel on spreading the dropouts and the brakes assembled fine. The deraileur looks funny but i just screwed it on to see. I am sure it will turn out fine. If things don't work right and it won't dial in I will post again.

Makes me feel a bit better that someone else noticed the reduced space between the dropouts. Just one question, have you flatted on the trail and if so did that space present a problem midtrail putting the rear rim back on?

 

[bikerboy]

I have not had to replace a flat out on the trail (knock on wood), but I have had the rear wheel in and out of the bike a few times. I have spread the rear end where its natural width is now close to the advertised 132.5mm, so now it is a breeze putting the rear hub into the frame.

 

[steelbike]

Flats

There's no problems changing rear wheels on a Juice. I had a flat night riding last week and removing and installing the wheel were the least of my problems. The mosquitoes were killer though. The wheel was an XTR hub set up as SS with a Tug Nut.

Yesterday I changed the setup to geared for an upcoming race where I prefer gears and I measured the spacing. Right around 132.5. The spacing is nothing to worry about.

As far as the disc clearance, I'm running a mullet setup for my brakes so I can't help you there. Could the disc diam. be a factor?

 

[jmw]

where did you get the "mullet"?

 

[RemfSS]

Any idea whether the spacing changed with the latest frame or is that one (which allows for Cantilever brakes) 135 mm?