beginner needs help with wonky wheels
03-08-05, 03:36 AM
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beginner needs help with wonky wheels
Hi,
I'm new to road biking (being a mountain biker) and have decided to build my self a road bike from 2nd hand parts. I've got a De RosaVega frame, ultegra groupset and gipiemme wheels. I've started to put it all together and have noticed that when i put my rear wheel on without the cassettte on it was central to the rear stays, but now i've got my cassette on, there's only a 5 mm gap to the right of the wheel(measured form the top of the rear stays) and a 1cm gap to the left.
is it possible that my frame (its about 3 yrs old) was built for less than 9 speed?
i haven't tightened the cassette yet, would that be enough to make the wheels that uncentral?
I'm new to road biking (being a mountain biker) and have decided to build my self a road bike from 2nd hand parts. I've got a De RosaVega frame, ultegra groupset and gipiemme wheels. I've started to put it all together and have noticed that when i put my rear wheel on without the cassettte on it was central to the rear stays, but now i've got my cassette on, there's only a 5 mm gap to the right of the wheel(measured form the top of the rear stays) and a 1cm gap to the left.
is it possible that my frame (its about 3 yrs old) was built for less than 9 speed?
i haven't tightened the cassette yet, would that be enough to make the wheels that uncentral?
03-08-05, 03:39 AM
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Originally Posted by vizulize
Hi,
I'm new to road biking (being a mountain biker) and have decided to build my self a road bike from 2nd hand parts. I've got a De RosaVega frame, ultegra groupset and gipiemme wheels. I've started to put it all together and have noticed that when i put my rear wheel on without the cassettte on it was central to the rear stays, but now i've got my cassette on, there's only a 5 mm gap to the right of the wheel(measured form the top of the rear stays) and a 1cm gap to the left.
is it possible that my frame (its about 3 yrs old) was built for less than 9 speed?
i haven't tightened the cassette yet, would that be enough to make the wheels that uncentral?
I'm new to road biking (being a mountain biker) and have decided to build my self a road bike from 2nd hand parts. I've got a De RosaVega frame, ultegra groupset and gipiemme wheels. I've started to put it all together and have noticed that when i put my rear wheel on without the cassettte on it was central to the rear stays, but now i've got my cassette on, there's only a 5 mm gap to the right of the wheel(measured form the top of the rear stays) and a 1cm gap to the left.
is it possible that my frame (its about 3 yrs old) was built for less than 9 speed?
i haven't tightened the cassette yet, would that be enough to make the wheels that uncentral?
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03-08-05, 04:53 AM
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Originally Posted by vizulize
when i put my rear wheel on without the cassettte on it was central to the rear stays, but now i've got my cassette on, there's only a 5 mm gap to the right of the wheel(measured form the top of the rear stays) and a 1cm gap to the left.
Things to check:
1. Frame dropout spaceing. Should be 130mm.
2. Axle dropout spaceing. Don't just eyeball it. If you don't have a caliper, use a C-clamp or something to get around the hub.
3. Wheel dish. Easy to do. Put the wheel in the frame backwards and see if it looks the same.
4. Make sure that your axle is completely bottomed in both dropouts.
My bet is on #4.
03-08-05, 05:02 AM
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Sounds like uneven placement in the dropouts, or #4 and Retro indicated, causing the top of the wheel to be skewed to one side. As observed also, installation of the cassette should have no influence, unless is it now fouling the dropout or chainstay causing the wheel to cant over.
03-08-05, 05:18 AM
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I have a similar situation on a bike, though not quite as dramatic as vizulize's. After much frame measuring and alignment checking I concluded that one dropout (semi-horizontal) was slightly higher than the other. The result is that the rear wheel is slightly canted with respect to the plane of the main frame triangle. The wheel is offset is a bit more than 1mm measured at the rear caliper mount (easy point of reference) and it doesn't perceptibly affect bike handling. I figured an afternoon with a file would correct the situation. What other methods might one use to correct such a frame misalignment?
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03-08-05, 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
The cassette shouldn't have anything to do with it. The location of the wheel is determined by the axle lock nuts which don't move when you install the cassette.
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03-09-05, 04:22 AM
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Raiyn - Well considering i am a beginner and have never built a bike before i shud be forgiven for not wanting to tighten everything up till its all in place, as i'll only have to go and take things off and put them back on again. As all my parts are secondhand i needed to check if everything fitted and worked together before i went and tightened it all up.
As it turns out i have tightend the cassette right up and it deosn't make any difference. I also put the wheel on backwards and i still have the same problem but on the other side, which suggests there's something wrong with the wheel (or axyl), however when i spin the wheel it doesn't wobble, so its spinning straight, but its positioning is off to one side. Can anyone suggest what might make a wheel do this? and is it fixable?
As it turns out i have tightend the cassette right up and it deosn't make any difference. I also put the wheel on backwards and i still have the same problem but on the other side, which suggests there's something wrong with the wheel (or axyl), however when i spin the wheel it doesn't wobble, so its spinning straight, but its positioning is off to one side. Can anyone suggest what might make a wheel do this? and is it fixable?
03-09-05, 04:44 AM
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Is the axle seated all the way into the dropouts? And is it seated properly? I see what RetroGrouch is getting at. If you're sure that the wheel is in the frame dropouts correctly, and it's still not centered, something is very wrong. I'll agree with Raiyn (grudgingly) that if the cassette isn't tightened properly, it could be catching on something.
03-10-05, 04:34 AM
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i've taken the wheel in and out backwards frontwards, made sure its in the drop outs correctly, nothing seems to help. I guess its a trip to the bike shop 
