Looking for some help. Have an REI DRT 1. Needed to fit it into a car and used the quick release to remove the front wheel. When I put the wheel back on it now has a lot of side to side movement or wiggle. What do I need to do to correct this?

I appreciate your help!

Here's a list of videos on how to properly use a quick release. (OP's bike does have the traditional skewer through axle type of QR) https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+to...EESS&PC=SCOOBE I just included a bunch of them so you can watch several if it's not clear at first. if in doubt, take it back to REI and have them show you how.

Thank you. I’m not seeing that I’ve done anything wrong based on that video but the wheel is completely unstable now. I’d love to be able to fix this myself and not have to pay. I’m going to take it off and start again in the morning.

Its got lawyer tabs sndvyou had r to loosen the qt get the wheel off? Stick it back whetebit came,?Take the slack out and use the palm of your hand and push the lever up. It should leave a slight imprint in your palm.

What Mkane is referring to is a set of tabs welded onto the fork dropouts that is supposed to stop a wheel from falling out of the dropout if you forget to clamp down on the quick release handle. Also known as “lawyer lips”, there’s a history about them. You need to loosen the QR enough to get the wheel past the lips when removing the wheel. When putting the wheel back in the dropouts you need to screw down the QR so that when you tighten the handle, it will secure the wheel. Usually you position the handle at about 90 deg. to the fork, then tighten the nut, then press the QR handle tight.

Thank you for clarifying, I googled “lawyer tabs” but wasn’t sure what to do with the info.

I’m going to check all of this in the morning and if I can’t get it right hopefully I can post a short video showing what’s going on.

Have someone show you.

Is it possible something on the axle got unthreaded a bit and loosened the bearings? Can you move the axle relative to the rest of the wheel, when it’s not on the bike?

I’ve taken a bunch of photos but I just found out I cannot post them yet.

Axel seems okay. I was able to tighten a loose bolt and get the wheel to stop wobbling, but then it had restricted movement like it wasn’t free spinning.

Tighten a loose bolt? You mean a loose nut don't you? The thing there with external threads is a axle.

Here are your pictures....









Several more here...... https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/37192031 Don't drop a wrench on that bare foot! <grin>


If that is a new bike or even a year old, you probably should go to where you bought it and let them fix it and then show you everything you need to know abut removing wheels, reinstalling them and properly adjusting the quick releases.

Many, probably will do this for any person that comes in with any bike of any age. Whether they sold it or not.

Yes I do mean nut, sorry. Thanks for the correction.


should that be centered?

More to it than just centering. I only DIY for myself. So I haven't worked on every bike out there such as yours. However that looks like a cup and cone bearing wheel hub. And if you accidentally loosened and tightened what I think you did, then I don't want to get into this. There are videos and written stuff on the web and here about tightening cup and cone bearings. Easy to do.... when you know. But learning can be tricky. Especially if you have no innate skill for DIY.

If the bearings do need adjusting, take it to the shop that sold the bike to you. They might fix it for free. However I wouldn't necessarily expect that. However they should show you how to properly remove the wheels and adjust the QR's for free.

Yeah... tightening that nut changed the slack or preload on the bearings, and that is not for the inexperienced. Bring it back to the shop (preferably without riding the bike) for them to readjust. Sounds like the outer locknut was not properly tightened against the bearing "cone" and came loose (reason for the shop to correct this at no charge), accounting for the wobbling, but you tightening it without knowledge can cause damage to the hub. The shop will adjust it properly. Afterward, at your leisure, you can read up on "bearing adjustment of cup and cone, quick release wheel hubs", along with regreasing them beforehand. My suggestion is looking for video on Park Tool website, and possibly written instructions on Sheldon Brown website.

Yeah sounds like what I suspected. This comes down to feel and it ain’t easy. If you only loosened one side then it might still be centred ok if you just get that one back in place right. There should be two narrow nuts you tighten against each other (get the inner one in just the right place (that alone takes practice and experience) then tighten the outer one against it while you hold it steady with a 2nd flat wrench. Then if that’s absolutely perfect, when you put it on the bike and tighten the QR, it will be too tight

The advice provided in this thread (e.g., visit a bike store and/or look up relevant videos for help and guidance) has been good. But the difficulty the OP has had in trying to figure out the quick-release mechanism points up how unusual and non-intuitive the design is.

Which is why the sneering term "lawyer lips" is annoying. Yes, you figured out (or, more likely, were shown) how to use the QR correctly without crashing from having your front wheel fall off. Congratulations. Not everyone was as lucky during the early bike boom years.

That's why wheel retention designs came to be mandated in the early '70s. Sneer all you like; wheel retention has saved many people from serious injury over the years.

I’d reccommend changing your quick release from the current external cam to one with an internal cam. It’s easier to use properly and more secure, especially for a front disc brake wheel.


The bottom one has an internal cam.

that’s exactly what I experienced. REI here I come. Thank you for the informative discussion!