...discovered the problem with fitting the wheel - it's the dropouts. The axle won't drop neatly in. The diameter is a few mm greater than a conventional axle...
Oh, Ian, I know that sickening feeling when you find Something Wrong with an installation you didn't do yourself. 'Been there myself a time or two.
As Phil Liggett would say, "Oh, dearie me!" (
http://www.liggettfan.com/main.htm )
Well, you fought a manful, epic battle and won, Ian! That's always some consolation (as I recently told a friend who had to use an allen key, a tensioning ring tool, a BB wrench, a hammer and a block of wood, a heavier hammer, and his father to remove a Shimano HollowTech crankset with the bearings seized onto the spindle. The crankset and BB were trashed but at least gone, so a square-taper replacement could be fitted).
Good on you for taking on the task with patience, coffee and science, and the touch-up paint was a thoughtful and wise touch to prevent the possibility of rust starting in this often-wet area. Good on you!
I've sometimes run into a similar problem when restoring old bikes, including my father's 1938 Hercules. I've had really good luck leaving the dropouts intact and milling parallel flats on the axle ends. Usually it is the OD of the male threads that is holding things up (larger diameter than the allocated space) and going after the axle means the fork ends will still accept the original-equipment if one needs/wants to do a faithful restoration (often vital with the old-bike crowd for authenticity's sake). This is really what an installing shop should do when an unavoidable mismatch in diameters becomes apparent.
Well, you'll likely be running the electric hub from here on out, so there's no downside in your use, and the benefits of the electrification are wonderful indeed and I am so happy for you! Yours is a lovely machine, made all the nicer by being more useful to your needs at present and far into the future.
Thanks so much for the followup, and please keep us posted with the occasional progress report as the miles (kilometers) pile up. I have a feeling you'll be riding this more than ever!
All the best (and best wishes on the upcoming vacation),
Dan.
