Assistance with an older bike?

pottssteve

Hi,

I have a 40+ year old Peugeot bike, it has a 5 speed cassette and Simplex dérailleur with top-tube shifter. The wheels attach with wing nuts like this (this is not my bike but similar):


I took the rear wheel off this morning to fix a puncture - no problem. However, I'm finding it difficult to replace the wheel as I can't tighten the wing nut on the drive chain side. This is because it catches on the dérailleur so I can't turn it enough to tighten the wheel in the dropouts. There doesn't seem to be enough clearance, but the wheel came off, so obviously it should go back on. I've tried replacing the wheel with the wing nuts already in place on the axle but I still can't tighten it enough. I shouldn't have to remove the dérailleur to replace the wheel, should I? Any tips on how to do this would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Steve

ugo.santalucia

Can you not put the wing nut on the ND side?
ALternativel, is there any derailleur position which is better (ie big or small sprocket)...

I have to admit, as much as I love old bikes, I never had anything prior to the quick release, so idea what the trick is, but there must be one

pottssteve

Thanks, Ugo.

The problem is that there are wing nuts on either side. I managed it in the end by screwing the drive chain side nut on as far as possible and then inserting the wheel. I had to make sure that the nut was a little distance from the dérailleur and so once I had the wheel in place I could do one final tightening. I've tried the bike and it seems that the wheel is secure - modern skewers are a lot easier!

Cheers,
Steve