HELP: Rear wheel keeps coming out of drop outs...

nathanm26 · May 16, 2013

Hi,

I recently restored an early 90's DynaTech (see Project DynaTech Build Thread) and very recently decided to use this bike as my main steed - retiring my modern alloy frame to the shed.

I fitted my carbon hoops to the bike - the rear of which has a 135mm hub width. I was out for a cycle and the wheel pulled itself out of the rear dropouts when accelerating from a stop. I did have the skewer nice and tight.

Last night I machined the hub axle down to 126mm and it slotted sweetly into the rear drops (no need to spread) and lined up perfectly. I tightened the skewer (QR) as tight as I could (the skewer is not defective BTW) and went off for a jolly test run. All was fine for a few miles, then it happened again (pulling away from a junction the force of the chain on the cassette pulled the wheel forward - out of the dropouts).

Any ideas? Has anyone experienced this? The angle of the dropouts certainly doesn't help, as they allow the wheel to move forward (my alloy frame's drops are vertical). However, there must be a solution to this problem.

The dropouts were painted - should they be bare metal where the skewers and spacers come in contact? Also, do any of you use serrated spacers? Maybe these would help. I also found some of these on Ebay but want to be sure before ordering http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sturmey-Arche ... 27c57466f7

Any help appreciated for a retrobike newbie!

N

David B · May 16, 2013

nathanm26":2a8j50t9 said:
Hi,

I recently restored an early 90's DynaTech (see Project DynaTech Build Thread) and very recently decided to use this bike as my main steed - retiring my modern alloy frame to the shed.

I fitted my carbon hoops to the bike - the rear of which has a 135mm hub width. I was out for a cycle and the wheel pulled itself out of the rear dropouts when accelerating from a stop. I did have the skewer nice and tight.

Last night I machined the hub axle down to 126mm and it slotted sweetly into the rear drops (no need to spread) and lined up perfectly. I tightened the skewer (QR) as tight as I could (the skewer is not defective BTW) and went off for a jolly test run. All was fine for a few miles, then it happened again (pulling away from a junction the force of the chain on the cassette pulled the wheel forward - out of the dropouts).

Any ideas? Has anyone experienced this? The angle of the dropouts certainly doesn't help, as they allow the wheel to move forward (my alloy frame's drops are vertical). However, there must be a solution to this problem.

The dropouts were painted - should they be bare metal where the skewers and spacers come in contact? Also, do any of you use serrated spacers? Maybe these would help. I also found some of these on Ebay but want to be sure before ordering http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sturmey-Arche ... 27c57466f7

Any help appreciated for a retrobike newbie!

N

What kind of quick release skewers are you using? Some modern ones are designed to work better with vertical dropouts and don't secure the wheels too well in frames with horizontal ends. See below for examples.

Good choice (design with inbuilt cam, great for horizontal ends):

Not-so-good choice (designed for vertical ends):

trans-x-skewer-set-plus-seat-bolt-quick-release-type.jpg

David

Robbied196 · May 16, 2013

Shouldn't be any need for serrated spacers and they don't need to clamp against bare metal, although naturally the paint wears away over time. I'd check what David has pointed out above. It may be obvious, but slide the wheel into place without the skewer and just check the ends of the axle are a couple of mm short of the outside edges of the drop outs. Otherwise it can't clamp

nathanm26 · May 16, 2013

Thanks for 2 good replies David and Robbie!

My skewers are these:

I had no idea some worked better than others on horizontal drops. Can you point me in the direction of where to purchase a set of more appropriate skewers?

Robbie, pretty sure the axle width allows a full clamp - but always worth checking which I will do this evening. The more I think about it actually - this might be it, and would explain why the wheel came loose even when the skewer was fully tightened.

Maybe a combination of both your suggestions, so regardless of axle issue I'd still like a good skewer.

Thanks again for the help - much appreciated.

N

Midlife · May 16, 2013

Skewers with internal cams exert more force and will hang onto the dropouts no problem (even when chromed which needs a bit more force)...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-ulteg ... 20d2ba086d

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Campa ... 3a812b4d6b

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUNTOUR-PAIR- ... 2ec7f47202

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-1980s-GIP ... 5af0d56974

And the like

Shaun

nathanm26 · May 16, 2013

Thanks Shaun! Will order myself a set.

N

Iwasgoodonce · May 16, 2013

Indeed, one of the writers in a modern road mag was moaning about modern Q/Rs this month saying that perhaps they are sacrificing function for gram shaving.

hamster · May 16, 2013

There is a very well thought-out Sheldon piece about skewers. In summary, original Campag or Shimano work best but look less bling.

legrandefromage · May 17, 2013

nobody has looked at the fact that the axle maybe sitting ever so slightly proud of the frame making any q/r attach itself to the wheel rather than the frame

I am using modern wheels with their q/r's in a 40 year old frame with its horizontal drop-outs with no issues

a sortof googly image to show what I mean:

nathanm26 · May 17, 2013

hamster":1qtwwvtc said:
There is a very well thought-out Sheldon piece about skewers. In summary, original Campag or Shimano work best but look less bling.

Yes, I did some Googling after the initial advice in the thread, and found Sheldon's article which was very informative.

N

HELP: Rear wheel keeps coming out of drop outs...

nathanm26

Old School Hero

David B

Old School Grand Master

Robbied196

Senior Retro Guru

nathanm26

Old School Hero

Midlife

Retro Wizard

nathanm26

Old School Hero

Iwasgoodonce

Old School Grand Master

hamster

Retro Wizard

legrandefromage

nathanm26

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