Turbo skewer

stephenlinden

This might be a daft question but it's bothering me.

I replaced the quick release skewer on my bike with the one for attaching to a turbo. Easy enough a job (unscrew old one, slide the new one in place, tighten just enough, lock). Unfortunately since then my gears have gone awry. They are tiagra and were working really well, no skips, rarely ticked but now they sometimes jump a gear or don't change, constant ticking basically gone to pot. This is while on the turbo, not had chance to actually ride outside (very busy roads in darkness, wind, rain) but I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference.

Any suggestions? Could I have screwed up the tension on the gears by changing the skewer? Might have to take it to a bike shop to see if they can re-adjust if it has. I don't really have the patience (or knowledge) to try and fix it if I have messed it up.

Thanks for any help/advice you could provide.

nicklouse

is the mech clearing the turbo frame.

or you are not tightening the skewer to the same ammount as before and the hub needs some adjustment.

stephenlinden

nicklouse wrote:

is the mech clearing the turbo frame.

or you are not tightening the skewer to the same ammount as before and the hub needs some adjustment.

There's a nice big gap between the turbo frame and any components. I'm not sure about the tension on the skewer. It seems the same but that's not certain.

It could, of course, just be co-incidence and the cables need to be adjusted (around 200 miles since I bought it).

I'll have a fiddle with the skewer tension and see if it's that, thanks

Yossie

I can't see how you could have faffed up the rear mech just changing the skewer.

First thing I'd look at is to see if the wheel is still straight in the bike.

Then I'd take the skewer out, give everything a wiggle, replace skewer and try the gears again: no logic behind it, just somethimes stuff like this works.

If still no joy, put the old skewer back in, go for a spin and see what happens - if the gears are still jazzed then there may be an issue.

Apart from that, I can't think l of anything else save for gear re-adjustment (sorry!).

wishitwasallflat

Any chance you knocked the hanger out of alingment while doing this? I know I have to be really careful fitting/removing my bike from the turbo to avoid bumping my hanger? If not then +1 to Yossie's advise is all I can offer.

Yossie

Just had a thought and I know it sounds silly but when you put the new skewer in you did put the lever end in the side of the bike away from the rear mech? If not the mech may be fouling on the skewer lever causing changing issues

nicklouse

a final thought. check the routing of the gears cable and check it is seated correctly.

I know i need to position mine cleanly after putting the bike on the turbo.

Monty Dog

Is the rear wheel properly seated in the frame drop-outs? Slacken skewer, press down on back of bike and re-tighten

g00se

Monty Dog wrote:

Is the rear wheel properly seated in the frame drop-outs? Slacken skewer, press down on back of bike and re-tighten

+1 - sounds like the rear wheel may not be seated properly.

stephenlinden

Monty Dog wrote:

Is the rear wheel properly seated in the frame drop-outs? Slacken skewer, press down on back of bike and re-tighten

It wasn't quite seated at first so I took the wheel off and put it back again to make certain.

I don't think I fouled anything but I might have accidentally moved something while putting the new skewer in. I'll try all of your suggestions (one at a time) to see if anything improves it.

Might put the old skewer back in and see whether that improves things (but can't attach to the turbo). Might not be able to actually go outside this weekend to try (in case the turbo is slightly compressing the frame) looking at the weather. Being in the North West has its advantages, rain/snow isn't one of them.

The bike it a Merlin RS (something or other - the blue one) in case this affects advice.

Thanks to you all so far.

sungod

aside from the above, another simple thing to check is that the small screws that hold the mech hanger to the frame are tight

if they're loose then the skewer will clamp the hanger tight, but different skewers may clamp it in a slightly different position

Yossie

If you can't head outside to test it with the old skewer just ask someone to hold it up then just spin the pedals and click through the shifters to see if there is any difference. Alternatively, suspend it from something (garage rafters if available or on a broomstick between the backs of two chairs) and spin pedals/click shifters.

stephenlinden

Ok, had another look when I got home. Swapped to the old skewer and it was still jumping. Had a fiddle and noticed the QR side of the wheel wasn't quite right like the frame was slightly compressed. Fixed that, tried again and it was better (still not right, very noisy in lowest gear - small front, big back) but needs some adjustment. Hardly, if ever, need that gear so I can live with it until I can get it adjusted.

Thanks for all the advice. Looks like I didn't have the wheel in place and tightening it, and the turbo, has just moved things enough to knock the gears out.

stephenlinden

Risked the incessant drizzle and cold and went out for a quick spin. I don't know whether it was the wet roads and other noise but the gears shifted perfectly and there didn't appear to be any clicking, or I couldn't hear it. Looks like it was just the wheel wasn't seated properly.

Thanks again for advice