Rear dropout adjuster screws - educate me

[Kerplunk]

Do I really need to fit them to frame I'm building up? Now I understand why they're there to help with wheel alignment but what difference does it make as to whether the wheel is all the way back in the dropouts or halfway back?

 

[Jonny69]

You don't need them, they are just a convenient way of setting a position for the wheel so you don't have to line it up in the frame each time you take it off.

 

[Kerplunk]

Is there any mechanical advantage/disavantage between having the wheel all the way back in the dropouts? I've seen it where people say all the way back for touring and forward for racing but no explanation as to why.

 

[nammonk]

wheelbase

I think the reasoning behind the assertion is that you are adjusting the wheelbase (of the back end at least). Shorter = more responsive, longer = more stable.

However, unless you have extraordinarily long dropouts, the difference is pretty minimal. Give it a go and see if you can feel the difference; I'm not convinced I've ever been able to tell (though I always used to set them as far forward as I could for appearances sake, and perhaps in the belief it would give me more vim).

Nick

 

[nammonk]

ps

ps. if you decide you want a pair, I probably have a spare pair lying around somewhere.
Nick

 

[Kerplunk]

It has to be said that part of the reason for not wanting to fit them is that the one that were fitted when I got the frame were too bent to reuse (and mismatched) and they seem oddly expensive to replace for what they are.. I agree that its more pleasing on the eye when they're fitted and the wheel set at least halfway forward on the dropout.

 

[Simon Daw]

You may well also find that the gear changing suffers in the wheel is set too far back, in my experience.

 

[Kerplunk]

Ah, now I can see why that could happen. Reckon it'll be cheap enough to get a couple of M3 bolts and dome nuts and reuse the springs that were on the old adjusters.

 

[Spokesmann]

They look nice and make sure th wheel if removed can roughly go back in the same place. I still prefer to centralise a wheel in the stays by eye.

 

[nammonk]

...

My, that's a long one you've got! Mine is much shorter.
n