egranlund

Hey all,

Forgive me - I'm incredibly new to the whole bike scene.

I have a ~1980 Azuki Gran Sport 12 that I just got. Been googling and reading extensively for the past couple of days and I've gotten it (mostly) in adjustment.

However, I noticed that my rear wheel keeps tilting to the left and I have to keep releasing and reattaching it.

Upon further inspection, there appears to be some kind of spacer on one side that is not on the other. Is this right?

It also looks like a gear was added at the end (rest of the bike is Suntor, the last gear is Shimano) - is this related?

I have a feeling this is something stupid, but I just don't know the terminology well enough to describe what I'm talking about without getting a ton of information about axles and cassette spacers.

Here's a picture:



Any help would be appreciated

delicious

It sounds like your quick release is too loose.

OldsCOOL

+1 on the "loose" comment. If the clamp on the otherside isnt just a bit tough to close it will be too loose. You remedy that with a 1/4 turn twist of the nut.

Is your wheel straight all the way back against those chrome stops...evenly when tight?

egranlund

Hm, ok. I'll try it a little tighter and see what it looks like after my ride tomorrow.

I have it resting on the stop. However, there isn't a stop on the other side. It's only on the side with the cassette on it. (not sure if there should be)

OldsCOOL

Ok, just eyeball it best you can by centering the front of the wheel where the frame is narrowest up front. That's a handy point of reference.

auchencrow

+1. But if tightening it doesn't suffice it may be time for another QR.
(Eventually with wear, the cam-over-center clamping load can give up the ghost).

egranlund

Ok

Can anyone comment on the purpose of that chrome stop thing is? I'm curious

repechage

I think the problem is related to the Shimano part with the Suntour... Not that there is any problem with that but I suspect the rear quick release is too long, designed for a later frame with 130 mm rear spacing, and the washers was fitted to take up the slack. Note the length of skewer shaft extending beyond the adjustable nut. Sure indication to me that it was for a wider hub.

With the proper metric die, cutting some additional threads is what I would do, 5-10 mm more then cut off the excess later when all is working well. Shades of Ben Hur.

auchencrow

In the absence of screw-type dropout adjusters, the chrome stop things consistently position your axle forward in the dropout, so you don't have to fiddle with it fore & aft to find the sweet spot for positioning of the FW relative to the derailleur.

Lascauxcaveman 

It's possible that someone has messed with the axle and left out a spacer, or just set the cones in such a way so the axle rides a little too far to the right or left. If you've got too much axle sticking out past the dropout on either side, no amount of tightening is going to make that skewer hold the wheel in place.

I made this mistake on the first hub I took apart to inspect and repack. Took me a while to figure out what was going on.

Velocivixen

Shimano makes a 6-speed freewheel that looks just like that - all cogs one color then the largest cog is black & says "Shimano". Are you sure that Shimano cog Was added and that the rest is Suntour? Not sure about the rest of your issue. Good luck.

OldsCOOL

Oh boy, another discussion on RD "timing".

(I liked the last one)

frantik

another vote for the QR not being tight enough. potentially the reason it's not tight enough is it's the wrong length

Bill Kapaun

Do the "clamping surfaces" on both sides have serrations to "bite" into the frame and prevent slippage?

jimmuller 

Here's one more possibility. If the dropouts aren't parallel then the QR skewer may not be able to hold the axle tight enough no matter how hard you crank it. This can happen if the rear of the frame has been knocked out of alignment. Equally likely, it can happen if you are using a hub with a width that doesn't match the dropout spacing very well. The additional angle change from forcing the stays further apart or closer together can make the dropouts non-parallel enough if they are already marginal. If your spacing is already non-standard for the bike, a previous owner may "cold-forged" (i.e. bent) the stays apart to accommodate a wider hub, but didn't re-align the dropouts.