Wheel keeps pulling over to one side

McBain_v1

Yesterday's ride was marred somewhat by the fact that my back wheel kept getting pulled over to the drive-chain side of my frame whenever I went up a hill. The frame is an old one and has horizontal drop outs.

I tightened the quick release skewer as much as I could, although I stopped short of physically jumping up and down on the lever to get it closed, and hoped that this would solve the problem, but I have a nagging feeling that there might be a deeper malaise.

Is it possible to check whether the wee bolts that go through into the dropouts are correctly aligned in the first place (the ones that are supposed to stop your wheel going all the way to the back to the drop outs if you know what I mean?). I have a nasty feeling that these might be knackered.

Any other hints or tips would be appreciated.

bike_the_planet

Remove the rear wheel and have a look at the internal faces of the dropouts. Also inspect the faces of the bolts on the hub axle that will interface with the internal droput faces. These should be serrated to ensure they bite into the dropouts themselves and preventg the axle moving.

When you fix the wheel back in and lock it you should be able to grab the wheel perimeter with both hands and twist it - it should not twist in the dropouts. If it does, then look and see what's happening. Check that the droputs aren't badly corroded or, worse stil, cracked.

Cheers,

Tony,

Perth, WA

bike_the_planet

Remove the rear wheel and have a look at the internal faces of the dropouts. Also inspect the faces of the bolts on the hub axle that will interface with the internal droput faces. These should be serrated to ensure they bite into the dropouts themselves and preventg the axle moving.

When you fix the wheel back in and lock it you should be able to grab the wheel perimeter with both hands and twist it - it should not twist in the dropouts. If it does, then look and see what's happening. Check that the droputs aren't badly corroded or, worse stil, cracked.

Cheers,

Tony,

Perth, WA

onbike 1939

If all else fails then look at the quality of the QR's and replace if needed with either Campag or Shimano.

McBain_v1

Tony - thanks for that, I will get into my shed this evening and see what is what.

Onbike 1939, I must confess that the QR skewers are in pretty poor shape, as they are on my winter bike. I can't find a brand name on them. Might be time to lob in something a bit better, pending the results of the inspection recommended by Tony above.

dennisn

You might try what I like to call "slow release" skewers. They are basically just a bolt
that uses an allen(hex) wrench to open. You can get a bit more clamping power with them as opposed to "qwik release" and since most people carry a multi tool, with a few
hex sizes on it, this works just fine, at least for me. And think of the weight savings
all you weight wennies. Just think how qwik releases are weighing you down.
Seriously, these things work fine for me, offer a bit more security, cost less, and clamp
tighter.

Dennis Noward

Spudboy

I had this exact problem with horizontal dropouts when using some poor quality Gipiemme skewers. I changed to some Salsa Flip-off skewers (from Wiggle I think) and problem solved!! The Salsa skewers have a much more definite teeth and grip the frame very well. Also they have a nice long lever which helps when releasing a tightly done skewer.

secretsam

I had a similar problem a while back, being a torque-y chunky monkey. Turned out that my lock nuts were worn (solid axle) - so may be that your QR spindle bits need replacing. Dropout probably OK - good news!

geoff_ss

I doubt if the adjustment bolts will be the problem. On Campag road ends I rarely bothered with them and didn't have much problem with the wheel pulling over either.

Geoff