Gordo Grande

Hi folks,

Recently I replaced the rear wheel on my 1987 Diamondback Ascent mountain bike. The old wheel was developing some problems with the cups and cones, and I never really liked it anyway because it wasn’t a quick release. I picked up a pretty decent wheel from one of the local bike shops for $39 and switched the freewheel over to the new one.

Only problem is that the new axle is just a few millimeters too wide. I know this isn’t uncommon. I’ve had a Bianchi for 25 years that requires me to spread the forks a little when mounting most front wheels. Unfortunately, I’m finding that the rear triangle on my mountain bike, (which also sports a Blackburn rack) is a lot more difficult to pull apart while trying to slide my wheel back into the dropouts. Complicating the situation is the fact that I had a bad shoulder injury a few months ago, and I just don’t have a lot of strength in my left arm.

Here’s my question: Is it possible to grind down the spacers on this new axle a little to narrow its width, thus making it easier to fit into the dropouts? I know this could conceivably affect the alignment and tracking a little, but hey, I’m not being a purist here. This is just my “townie” bike for running quick errands and knocking around.

I included a few pics here. I know, I know, that freewheel looks a little gnarly. You can tell that I’ve been riding at the beach a lot. Things always look a lot worse when you’re shooting them with a macro setting! :-)

epicurean

Your local shop should have some different-width spacer combinations to narrow it a bit. Even a well-stocked hardware store might have some bushings or washers to use as spacers. That would probably be easier than holding a spacer to a grinding wheel.

CACycling

Is that a chrome Ascent? I've got an '86 (see sig) and just replaced the rear with a 7 speed that I picked up cheap on Craig's List. I just muscle it in (I don't pull it that often so it isn't a big deal plus the 7 speed needs the width). If you do narrow it, take equal amounts off each side to keep it centered.

Gordo Grande

Yep, that's a chrome Ascent. You're the only other person that I've ever known to have one. I remember seeing someone with a chrome bike when I first started riding way back in the day, and I always wanted one. My wife surprised me with this one for my birthday that year. We got it in June of '87. I wish I could say that the chrome is in perfect shape, but it doesn't look too bad for being over 20 years old. I'll post some pics of this and my other bikes once I get some time to really clean them up.

Thanks for the advice.

dabac

If you're grinding them down it takes quite a bit of technique to get the faces nice and parallell, so unless you're in a hurry you're better off asking nicely for some spaces from a scrapped hub at your LBS.
And even if you've got access to a lathe those spacers are usually out of quite hard metal, so they don't machine easily either.

Retro Grouch 

Might be more to it than just the spacers.

The axle will probably need to be shortened too. If it sticks out even the tiniest amount, your quick release will clamp on the axle insted of the frame dropout and the front of your wheel will move to the left when you pedal.

That said, I think that you're on the right track. If it was my bike I'd take the hub apart and replace those widish spacers on the axle with some slightly narrower ones. I'd get a shorter axle or shorten that one by the same amount, put everything back together and have it fixed once-and-for-all.

Gordo Grande

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I'm leaning towards Retro Grouch's assessment. I think it's worth putting the effort into making this wheel right. Who wants to be stuck on the side of the road wrestling with a wheel that just doesn't fit right? Better to put the time in now to rectify the situation.

Maybe I can look into swapping some parts from a different bike, or a different wheel as well. I have a garage full of old wheels and parts.

Either way, I'll check back in and let you know how I work it out.

Thanks again.