Bicycle Mechanics - Skewer Issue - Ideas/Help?

I just picked up a new (to me) American Classis 350 Sprint wheelset. I bought a pair of American Classic skewers from a separate source to use with them. The issue is that the skewers are "loose" in the hubs, and when locked down the wheels have an unacceptable amount of side-to-side movement. I took the AC skewers out and reinstalled the wheels with my Ultegra skewers and there are no issues. The AC skewers are the "cammed" style for lack of a better description ... how tight are these supposed to be? I t seems like I tightened them as much as I could but still be able to throw the lever into the locked position. The axle diameter of the AC skewers just seem to not be large enough. Any ideas?

Tom

Make sure that the ends of the axles don't extend past the outside of the dropouts. Various brand QRs have different amounts of recess for the axle end and conical spring, and it's possible that your QR is beaching out on the axle rather than compressing the fork tip. If you're not sure, put a washer with a hold bigger than the axle under the skewer at each end. If it solves the problem, your axle is too long for that skewer on that fork.

There might be other issues, but I can't tell from your description.

The diameter of the skewer shaft itself shouldn't matter. The only two things that come to mind are (1) the nut on the non-QR end of the skewer is bottomed out on the threads, and the skewer is just too long (unlikely) and (2) a la FBinNY's theory, the conical springs are "thicker", causing them to extend beyond the outside walls of the fork blades / dropouts, and the QR and nut are resting on them. After all, the axle length beyond the locknuts isn't changing with which skewer you use, so it can't be that.

Is this happening on both the front and rear?

Just for S&G, have you tried the AC skewers, but with the springs from the Ultegra skewers?

the axle length beyond the locknuts isn't changing with which skewer you use, so it can't be that.


Even if the axle doesn't change it can be a factor. Different skewers have different recess depth under the rims of the faces and can accommodate different axle clearances. As I remember, the old AC skewers had fairly shallow recess, much less than my old Campy Record skewers.

I'll pull the Ultegra skewers off tonight and compare them closely to the ACs to see what differences there may be. The rear wheel seemed a little "looser" with the AC skewer, but not nearly as pronounced as the front. I can literally wiggle the front wheel from side to side so that it touches the brake pads when it's locked in with the AC skewer...weird. I'll take some pics and post them if I can't figure it out. Hard to believe the AC skewers aren't working with the AC wheels! The fork is a carbon Wound Up on my Waterford ... nothing out of the ordinary going on with it and it's never been a problem before, so it must be the skewer.

Tom

maybe you got a 135 MTB QR skewer and you are using it in a 130 wheel,
and you did bottom out the adjusting nut,
but still cannot get the QR lever tight enough.

Ok whole different wheel, different purpose, but I put an axle spacer under my skewer, and I get to use the Burley QR based trailer hitch
on a bike with a sliding dropout.. needed the clearance..

If you put 5+mm of spacer under your skewer, if it is a 135 one it will clamp down again..

could be the hub bearings are loose and have side play and the axle Is tight..

By chance are the little springs inside of the skewer nuts put on the shaft backwards? I inadvertantly did this one time with Mavic skewers, and as a result the adjusting nut was sitting on the innermost coil of the spring, instead of on the drop-out's surface (i.e., there was a small gap). If the springs are cone-shaped, the smaller end should be on the inside (toward the drop-out face), and not on the outside (at least that is how it is with my Mavic skewers). Just a thought, anyway...

Okay, I compared the AC skewers to the Ultegras last night ... same length, and everything looks to be correct. So, I decided to try the AC skewers again. This time I tightened them up quite a bit, to the point where it was all I could do to get the levers to cam into the closed position. Once I did this, the wheels tightened up on the dropouts fine, and my wheel wobble from side to side went away. Ran it through a 20-miler with no issues at all. My question is, why do they need to be so tight? Let's put it this way, there's no way my wife would be getting these quick releases open and closed at the tightness they need to be to secure the wheel properly. Any ideas?

Okay, I compared the AC skewers to the Ultegras last night ... same length, and everything looks to be correct. So, I decided to try the AC skewers again. This time I tightened them up quite a bit, to the point where it was all I could do to get the levers to cam into the closed position. Once I did this, the wheels tightened up on the dropouts fine, and my wheel wobble from side to side went away. Ran it through a 20-miler with no issues at all. My question is, why do they need to be so tight? Let's put it this way, there's no way my wife would be getting these quick releases open and closed at the tightness they need to be to secure the wheel properly. Any ideas?

You're being completely misled by previous posts.

Those hubs are 'adjustable' for play. If you cannot adjust the play out without getting significant binding, the bearings are worn out. Look here for instructions. http://www.amclassic.com/en/manuals.php

You're being completely misled by previous posts.

Those hubs are 'adjustable' for play. If you cannot adjust the play out without getting significant binding, the bearings are worn out. Look here for instructions. http://www.amclassic.com/en/manuals.php

Nope, I'm not mislead at all. The hubs are fine ... no play and they spin freely. And like I said in an earlier post, they have no wobble issues when I use them with the Ultegra skewers, tightened normally. It's only with the AC skewers that I have the issue with side-to-side movement (unless they are cranked down tight).