dcates29

I'm riding on Easton EA50SL wheels with factory hubs. Over 2,000 miles on these without any problems. The rear wheel is running "true" meaning no wobblies or bumps, but its are off-center in the frame, almost rubbing the left chain stay, but pretty close to center at the caliper and seat stays, just a little off. I flipped the wheel in the dropouts, and they are off center in the opposite direction, so I've ruled out the frame and dropouts. I tightened all of the drive side spokes by a half-turn to no avail, and didn't want to continue for fear of messing something up more. Should I keep going, tightening the drive side and loosening the other until the wheel comes into center, or am I dealing with a bent wheel without a safe and affordable fix? Thanks for your help!

David

Bunyanderman

I would have guessed that you have re-clamped the skewer, while having both wheels on the ground for the rim to set into place?

rms13

I would take it to an LBS. Truing wheels isn't that difficult but it's easy to make things much worse if you don't know what you are doing. I've had similar issue with some very poorly built wheels I bought and it was rubbing one side chain stay. The wheel was just horriblly tensioned and out of true. If that's all it is , a good LBS might be able to fix for $10-15. They can also tell you if it's a blip in the rim or something that will require more work and you can make a decision at that point

bt

take wheel to a good wheel builder to repair it.

andr0id

Poor man's way of checking the dish is to flip the wheel in the dropouts.

If the rim stays in the same (wrong) place relative to the frame, the frame is bad.
If the rim error moves to the other side, the dish is wrong.

dcates29

Yeah I made sure the QR was set all the way in. I'm gonna head out to the LBS! Thanks guys.

merlinextraligh

A picture would be helpful.

As alluded to above, the first point is to make sure the axle is seated in the dropouts.

Second what you're observing may be normal. A couple of things to consider: 1) rear wheels are dished, so the rim is to one side of the hub, to allow space for the cassette. This "offset" is rather pronounced on 11 speed drivetrains; 2) chain stays on some frame are purposefully asymmetric, which may be what you're observing.

If the wheel's true, and it is not rubbing on the stays or the calipers, you might want to not fix what isn't broken.

And tightening all the drive side spokes, i.e. attempting to re dish the wheel, without the right tools to dish the wheel (and determine the amount of dish) was a really bad idea.

At this point, I'd take it into a good LBS, tell them what you did, and have them check the wheel.

rpenmanparker 

He already did that. See above.

OP, if you don't know how to verify proper spoke tension and don't have a wheel dishing tool, you should stop fooling with the wheel yourself. I am assuming you have it straight in the dropouts, so there is a real problem. Take it to a pro, preferably a wheel builder. If that isn't possible see the best LBS you have available.

dcates29

It's definitely not in its normal position.. This all started when I began having real difficulties with the drivetrain and shifting got really messy. Just couldn't keep it tuned. After just a quick look-over I noticed the wheel almost rubbing the left chain stay. You're right that the wheel is offset, but it has always been centered in the frame, and now its not. I'll send a pic in a little while.. At any rate, I'm going to the LBS... Thanks for the help!

RPK79

How does a wheel just become out of dish but remain true? Is that physically possible?

rpenmanparker 

Not in this universe. Bent dropout or dropouts? Corresponds to the messy shifting.

rpenmanparker 

Jus' sayin" - take the whole bike, not just the wheel.

Homebrew01

I was wondering the same thing. I think we are missing some info.

Doc V

Trueness and dishing are separate measurements. You can have a wheel that is dished off center, because it is relative to the center of the hub and still be true (meaning laterally and vertically true). However it is unlikely this would occur outside of being adjusted this way, because road riding tends to introduce discrete areas of untrueness (if that is a word) in a wheel not over the whole wheel.

TobinH

When I had this problem it was because I had assembled a hub incorrectly, placing a spacer on the wrong side. Most hub designs make this almost impossible, but not all. If you've recently replaced the bearings or cassette body, perhaps check this.

RPK79

That's understandable, but can you have a wheel that is properly dished and true become improperly dished, yet still true?

rpenmanparker 

Now it's my turn. See where he said that out of true areas are discrete, not likely over the whole wheel. Basically he was saying that it can't happen that a wheel uniformly shifts to one side or the other. I certainly agree with that. What would be the odds?

RPK79

So, he was agreeing with the previous three posts, but decided to say it in a convoluted way. Got it.

Edit: Not counting your post Robert. I never count your posts.

Homebrew01

A gremlin could sneak in at midnight, and loosen all the driveside spokes 1.5 turns.

rpenmanparker 

Pesky gremlins...or spouses.

Homebrew01

Same thing

rpenmanparker 

My point!

popeye

This is the best thesis so far.

Psimet2001 

OP - sounds like you bent your hanger. Wheels don't just re-dish themselves. By messing with the spoke tensions you've most likely caused some damage to the wheel as well.

Get to somewhere that has people who know what they're doing. In my shop it would all be an easy fix.