Bicycle Mechanics - Strange happenings on maiden voyage...

I took out my (new to me) 1988 Trek 400 today for a shakedown run...I added a new crank (RX100 triple- NOS), new tires, etc.

Got to the end of my street and started up a small hill to loop the block when the rear wheel basically locked up. I thought the brakes didn't let go from when I stopped at the end of my street so I got off and took a look. The brakes were fine but the wheel was tight and wuoldn't hardly move. I popped the wheel off and spun the freewheel with no problems. I spun the axle by hand with no trouble. So, I put the wheel back on and cranked it by hand everything was fine. I got on and rode off with no further trouble.

I have no idea what caused this...I had already ridden a tenth of a mile when it locked up and I had tuned the Rear D. on the bike stand by spinning the crank already.

Any ideas? I'm just curious.

PJBAZ

Did you tighten the axel bolts/quick release down enough? If not the wheel could have torqued into the chain stays and "locked" the wheel.

I had the axle bolts nice and snug and the quick release was set properly...in fact, I never changed the set when I reinstalled the wheel.

PJ

You may have picked up something from the road, and it got wedged in between something. When you popped the wheel, it came off and no problems.

It is amazing when you are tuned into certain solutions how you can overlook the obvious.

Did the chain jam into the dropouts? With a new bike, the derailleur stops may not be set to prevent this.

I am glad it was not the front wheel! I cannot definitively explain what you observed, but a foreign object caught between the rear tyre and the chainstay is my leading candidate explanation.

Derailleur stops were set properly, whole bike was tuned on the stand and reeady to go...I'm guessing something jammed in there (rock maybe) and when I popped the wheel it let go...whatever.

I was just hoping it wasn't a harbinger of something major I overlooked.

PJBAZ