celticfrost

My rear skewer is not able to keep my rear wheel in the dropouts, even during soft pedaling! I found this out the hard way, but it could have been much worse (eg, while descending @ 45mph).

The problem only occurs on my Columbus TSX frame (steel). The rear skewer holds my rear wheel in place just fine on the Temper OX Platinum frame (steel). I'm using the same wheelset and skewers for both frames. I believe the rear skewer is made of aluminum -- it's the standard skewer included in a set of 2006 Bontrager Race Lites.

Both the front and rear dropouts are chromed on the Columbus TSX frame, but not on the OX Platinum frame. So I'm wondering if the chrome is creating too "slick" of a surface area, and not allowing the skewer to "bite" into it enough to hold it in place. Yet I'm not having any issues w/ the front wheel staying in place -- maybe because there's really not much torque on the front axle/skewer?

My current solution is to use a different rear skewer (made of steel) on the Columbus TSX frame. This seems to work fine so far. I was also thinking about scuffing-up the area where the dropouts contact the skewer with some sandpaper or steel wool in order to create some more surface area for the skewer to bite into.

Has anyone else has encountered the same problem? What's the solution? I NEED TO KNOW that my rear wheel will stay in the dropouts BEFORE I do any major descending & sprinting on this bike. I can't risk messing up this bike or myself over a lousy skewer failing at high speed!!