Hybrid bike, aluminium frame with 135mm rear dropout. Can I safely fit a 130mm road wheel or is it a bonkers plan? Thanks for any help.

Just look at 5mm on a ruler. Now divide that by 2 and think of the angle that’s going to pull your nice long chainstays in by. It’ll be absolutely fine.

+1

As above. Been riding a set up like that for almost a decade without issues.

Thanks for the replies. Do I need to add washers or anything or is it OK just to fit as it is?

Is it temporary or permanent?

Perm I would (and have) fit a 135 axle. Temp wouldn’t bother.

My VN Amazon has a 132.5 mm rear end so it works just fine with either axle length. I don’t think another 2.5mm is going to make much difference, other than when you’re inserting the wheel and making sure everything is lined up.

Permanent. Will look at possibility of changing the axle too. Ta.

Washers would be bad as they would mean less axle in the dropout.

Just fit as is like the above.

I disagree slightly. I found that the dropouts pull in unevenly (i.e. mostly from one side) which meant that the wheel had to be re-dished. As it was a shimano hub in the end I just replaced the axle with a 135mm one and added an extra spacer on the NDS.