I was thinking about socketed frame ends see:
http://www.framebuilding.com/NEWPARTSPAGES/Cast%20Dropouts.htm
(top three) as I could then simply saw the ends of the stays of and
insert the ends into the new fame ends rather than trying to get the
old frame end out and all the brazing brass so the new one would fit.
Providing, or course, the angle of the chain/seat stays is correct.
>In theory, changing axle height changes geometry/handling
>but in practice that seems slight in your case. We'd select
>a pair of ends to avoid that change but hey it's your bike
>and may not be even noticeable to you. It's simpler when you
>have a selection at hand.
I haven't done any exact measuring but the axle position reference
chain stay center line appears to be about the same height on two
bikes I have here, one with conventional vertical drop outs and one
with horizontal dropouts, and the "horizontal dropouts aren't exactly
horizontal so depending on the position of the axle I would guess that
there is some difference in front fork angle (actually head tube angle
:-)
My thinking at the moment is that while there might be some change in
axle height it probably won't be greater than that of changing tire
size - say 19mm to 25mm.
--
cheers,
John B.