contact area in dropout/wheel alignment

tsenior

hello (hope the photos work ok, 1st time posting them)

took charge of my new runabout (old steel giant) this evening and when giving it the once over noticed (apart from tyre wrong way round) the left rear brake pad was rubbing.

also noticed that the wheel was over to one side



so i undid the QR and the contact area seems alot smaller than on my newish bike, in fact if you push the wheel over to one side there is no contact with the oppsosite drop out at all



when you tighten the QR the stays flex in to increase the contact but should this be happening? on my other bike (alu) the wheel sits in the droppout securely before tightening the QR.

supersonic

You need to fix those links lol.

nicklouse

wheel needs dishing/hub the wrong size.

axle looks fine.

images fixed.

tsenior

thanks for that nick, i tried to search for instructions to post pics but did not come up...can u point me in the right direction? sonic just laughed at me

re the wheels, i jiggled it around in the dropouts and got it centred (so equel area of contact in each dropout) with minimal brake rub so sounds like the hub width is a bit small.....but that was a bit of a faff....so...if i measure the distance between the inside of the dropouts thats the hub width as per

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_sp-ss.html#spacing

i think trueing or dishing a wheel is a bit beyond me at the moment, although its a skill i'd like to learn...i may experiment with (defunt) pub bike, i'll read the sheldon brown article in detail.

supersonic

What is your OLD [over locknut dimension] and what hub?

nicklouse

tsenior

look in the BR FAQs.

tsenior

sonic, dug me calipers out:

OLD = 130mm (+ 2x5mm overall axle length)

sticker on hub says:

Shimano STX RL
FH-MC33 V.A.M

Spacing = i measure 137 between dropouts but standard is 135?

OLD is 5mm to short?

tsenior

can i just get a universal 146mm QR axle

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shima ... 300006101/

and add 2.5mm spacers behind each locknut?

From the parktool hub overhaul guide this seems a relatively straightforward operation.

The Rookie

My old Giant was a 150mm rear axle, when putting in a 135mm wheel it looked like that.....

Simon

supersonic

You can respace the hub yes - Sheldon Brown has a guide.

tsenior

nice one sonic, having read Mr Browns helpfull text i decided i could keep the current axle and stick in some spacers, which i begged of LBS.

i dident have a cone spanner but remembered a ground down spanner in the toolbox i inherited from me dad (dont know what he used it for), this was too small but 5 mins with a file sorted it

result: For £0.00 the wheel is now central, brake fine, only 2mm of axle in the drop outs but should be ok

and i cleaned and regreased the cup/cone/bearings and refitted as well 8)

supersonic

Nice job