My bike has horizontal dropouts and I’m constantly having trouble with the wheel slipping forwards under torque and then getting misaligned. I’ve tried various washers and things to try to get it to stay put but it never lasts. I think perhaps the dropouts are too wide or something so the skewer just doesn’t grab.
It’s a steel frame and I’ve heard of people changing the dropouts to vertical ones. This is far beyond my abilities but I’m wondering if anybody at the makerspace does this sort of thing or knows a frame builder that would. I’d rather pay something to do this than have to get a new frame.
Have you tried a closed cam qr skewer? Shimano are the standard option and provide more clamping force than lighter weight open cam designs.
Alternatively a chain tug like a Surly Hurdy Gurdy would stop the axle from moving (other options might be more appropriate depending on your drop out shape).
It you are set on new dropouts and can’t work something out in the makerspace then Winston Vaz at https://www.varonha.co.uk/repairs/ is the go to. He has decades of experience and does repairs as well as making frames.
a couple of chain tugs would be easier than changing to vertical…with a ll the cutting a welding needed..and then needing derailleur gears or a chain tensioner …if your axle is moving it isnt clamped tight enough by the nut(s) on the axle in the rear fork i suppose
I think the winning next step might be trying the surly hurry gurdy which sounds like it’s designed for this exact purpose and is indeed a less nuclear option.
I expect trying a different axle could also help, I’m using a pinhead security skewer currently. I am however reluctant to switch to QR and see my wheel stolen
Hi, just to add my tuppence worth - it wd be interesting to know if they are forward facing (old road frame) or backwards facing (track bike) dropouts and whether you are using gears or a single speed setup. Personally I would be cautious about changing to vertical - horizontal dropouts are great and in my experience work well with solid axles / nuts, which are secure and can help with the fine tuning in the absence of chain tugs. Bruno
So it’s a modern frame, inward facing dropouts rather than the track style and running with a derailleur.
It’s a normal QR axle size (6mm?) but I’m using a pinhead security axle. The tool for it isn’t great, but you can crank it down pretty damn tight and it still slips all time time. Slipping then leads to the gears working very poorly and sometimes brake rub
Sweet whip - Interesting that BLB have put that style dropout on a bike intended for gears and disks. Very unusual
You can also get inwards facing dropout chain tensioners however Im not sure how effective they are - Also looks like the hurdy gurdy is designed for rear facing dropouts
If you want to go down the modifiaction route you could look at a solution like this - BMX frames often have integrated tensioners
Bicycles have had these dropouts for over 50 years and I mean at the highest level… TDF riders producing over 2000 watts of power haven’t suffered this problem. It leads me to suspect one of three things… You have a mechanical issue, wheel fitting error, or you are in line for a world record and you don’t even know it…
Seriously though, I’m intrigued to know why this is happening #CanIBorrowYourWatts
I am certainly not producing that much power. Fwiw my hypothesis isn’t that this dropout type is rubbish, but I do think there is something wrong with mine specifically, to me they look quite wide which results in not much of the skewer/washer bearing onto anything. Perhaps some adjustment with a hammer it’s what’s needed. If anybody is curious and wants a look I’d bring it down at some point
As others have said that is a very unusual setup (but I like it!) My hunch is that you’re simply not getting enough torque with the pinheads. I was running anti theft skewers on my 90s roadie until I started getting unexplained tyre rub on the chain stay. Turned out the crappy alloy 5-sided thingy wasn’t biting properly. I replaced it with a plain ugly Deore skewer and it hasn’t budged since. Alas, it does somewhat limit my options for locking up around town.
I bought the hurdy gurdy (which I confirmed is intended for this dropout design) and in pretty sure it’s solved my problem. Thanks for the suggestions!
