Living Car Free - Why did my wheel fall off?

I came out of Sam's Club and noticed that my bike felt a ltiile funny. When I checked it, I found that the rear wheel was completely off, and basically just hanging from the chain. I had put air in the tire and lubed the chain before I left the house, then rode more than 25 miles (with no problems) by the time I got to Sam's.

You all know I'm not the greatest bike mechanic in the world. What do you think could account for the wheel coming off?

u been on BF since 2005, so this must be a troll thread

I came out of Sam's Club and noticed that my bike felt a ltiile funny. When I checked it, I found that the rear wheel was completely off, and basically just hanging from the chain. I had put air in the tire and lubed the chain before I left the house, then rode more than 25 miles (with no problems) by the time I got to Sam's.

You all know I'm not the greatest bike mechanic in the world. What do you think could account for the wheel coming off?

I had many rear flats and broken spokes early this year. I rode mine for a couple of days after a flat and noticed it felt kinda flat when I lifted it over a crub and set it on the sidewalk. I kinda dropped it again and it did not bounce at all. Got to looking and the skewer was not at all tight, the wheel would just slide out. Someone could have messed with it in my office but I think I screwed it up after fixing the flat 2 days before. Lucky I did not kill my stupid self. I also forget to lock down the quick release brakes on back often too. By the way they still work, just more travel. Now I just check a lot more often.

u been on BF since 2005, so this must be a troll thread

In all that time I never had a wheel fall off. I'd like to know the reason so I can stop it from happening again.

u been on BF since 2005, so this must be a troll thread

Give him a break. He only has 9,000 posts.

Besides my pompous-ass answer of Sam's Club karma, your quick release probably vibrated loose; Either that or somebody undid the quick release for sh*ts and giggles.

Give him a break. He only has 9,000 posts.

So it's understandable if some of them are pretty lame?

Actually, I'm glad that people are looking at my bio more closely than McCain looked at Palin's. And I'm still hoping to find out why the damn wheel fell off all by itself.

if it's a QR, it wasn't tight enough. if it's a bolt on, it wasn't tight enough.

most likely it was because you didn't put it on tight enough, but it's possible some of the threads are stripping or there is another similar equipment failure. it could have also vibrated loose. somebody could've ****ed with it. keep it tight and you most likely wont have any problems.

sounds like someone's playing a trick on you

If it is a QR I have had people flip them open while the bike was locked up. I have also ridden several miles on a loose wheel and then had it jab the chainstays when I really stood on it.

Aaron:)

If it is a QR I have had people flip them open while the bike was locked up. I have also ridden several miles on a loose wheel and then had it jab the chainstays when I really stood on it.

Aaron:)
I had my rear wheel kind of slide out a few months ago... right after backing it into the garage. I could only figure that the QR was loose, but the wheel was kept in place as long as I moved forward. Luckily my bike needs to move about 1/2 inch before it's jammed by the chainstays.

Since it was Sam's Club, count my vote for somebody messing with the bike.

Since it was Sam's Club, count my vote for somebody messing with the bike.

I second that motion. I've had weird things happen at Walmart like the cover for my blinkie popping off. I don't think the timing was incidental.

That or you ran into the bicycle equivalent of gremlins, it is almost Halloween after all.

I found out that my front wheel was loose today. I'm pretty sure that it just came lose naturally. Mine are bolts and the one side was tight, but the left side was loose and I probably rode it like that for at least the past week, maybe more.

I had to fix my chain on my fixed and didnt tighten the back all the way and the right side slipped when I went for a hard start. The left stayed put and that put my tire up against the frame, making the back wheel immobile.

Lesson of the Day: Make sure everything has been tightened up before you ride!!

I came out of Sam's Club and noticed that my bike felt a ltiile funny. When I checked it, I found that the rear wheel was completely off, and basically just hanging from the chain. I had put air in the tire and lubed the chain before I left the house, then rode more than 25 miles (with no problems) by the time I got to Sam's.

You all know I'm not the greatest bike mechanic in the world. What do you think could account for the wheel coming off?

I agree that the most likely explanation is that someone messed with your quick release lever. Either that, or it just worked itself loose over time, but in my entire life, which has included probably 15 years of daily riding, I've never once had a problem with a quick release that wasn't caused by a person (almost always me).

FWIW, I usually do a visual inspection of the bike before every ride: tires, quick releases, drive train, brakes, saddle, fenders. (I'm a worrier.) It takes all of 15 seconds, and greatly adds to your peace of mind while riding.

"Hey, let's mess with this ****er's bike. It'll be hilarious!"

"I'll hide behind that car and film it. We'll put it on the web!"

I've almost taken the liberty of disconnecting someone's front wheel before... I really feel that I should. They leave it u-locked to a rack by that wheel, and it's a quick disconnect... I could have their bike sans the front wheel in five seconds. So I thought about subtly disconnecting it and such, so when they pulled the bike out, the front wheel would be left sitting there.

But that wouldn't be the same... I'd take it out of the fork and just leave it close.

I've almost taken the liberty of disconnecting someone's front wheel before... I really feel that I should. They leave it u-locked to a rack by that wheel, and it's a quick disconnect... I could have their bike sans the front wheel in five seconds. So I thought about subtly disconnecting it and such, so when they pulled the bike out, the front wheel would be left sitting there.

But that wouldn't be the same... I'd take it out of the fork and just leave it close.

But then somebody else would see a bike that isn't connected to anything and feel free to take it with them. That wouldn't be very nice thing for you to do. If you actually want to help, just leave them a note.

I came out of Sam's Club ....

Sam's Club is as evil as Walmart, so it's probably some kind of cosmic payback!

But seriously... is this a bike with vertical dropouts? If so, you could have ridden the whole way with the QR not tight enough; and if it's not tight enough, it will vibrate loose(r). If your bike has horizontal dropouts, you cannot ride it unless the QR is really tight.

My verdict: if you have horizontal dropouts, someone must have messed with your bike. If you have vertical dropouts, there are more possibilities than we can really evaluate here...

maybe someone in my office screwed with mine too. Now that I think about it.