Removing wheels from Specialized Secteur

ST-rider

I've just bought a 2010 Secteur Sport, my first new road bike. One problem I've found is that it's not possible to remove a wheel without either deflating the tyre or releasing the brake cable. The reason for this is that the brake doesn't open far enough when the quick release is operated to let the 25mm tyre through. It would seem that the rim Specialized use on this bike is designed for a 23mm tyre, but changing to one this size would reduce the comfort of the ride - one of the main reasons I bought it . Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution?

Pretre

Perfectly normal on road bikes in my experience

amaferanga

Why not set your brakes up with the barel adjuster unwound a bit? Then when you need to take the wheel out you can wind it in a bit, thereby loosening the brake. Having said that, I've always managed to get a wheel out without resorting to this even with 28mm tyres.

gkerr4

^^ as above - I've never had a problem with removing even 28mm inflated tyres - it makes contact with the brake blocks but slides through ok.

this isn't a "sectaur" specific issue by the way - it must relate to your brake calipers not opening enough when the quick release tab is used - what brand of brakes are they?

ST-rider

Many thanks for the feedback. I've now decided that it's not such a major problem; it's just that I like things to work the way they are designed to. This all kicked off when I couldn't remove the front wheel by releasing the caliper to put the bike into the back of a car. Any other time it wont be a problem as I will either have a puncture and the tyre will be deflated, or I will be at home cleaning the bike where I will have a decent pump to re-inflate when finished. My bike shop - Biketrax - have been very helpful, trying different calipers and offering to change the wheels to ones with a wider rim, but this option would have increased their weight which as I understand, is not a good idea. So bottom line is: when the bike goes into the back, so does a stirup pump.

STEFANOS4784

You don't need your brakes set so tightly.......
In fact you can get better leverage with them set so they don't ping you over the bars as soon as ya look at them