Dropout problems
 

Hey Everyone,
New to posting on this site but I'll try to be as specific as possible. I just got an 84 univega gran rally frameset on ebay and inherited a forte titan rear wheel. I was just trying to dryfit the wheel in the rear drops and found it was really snug in the frame spacing and also wouldn't fit at all through the dropouts.

After a little research I found that frame spacing is easy to adjust and I can stretch the spacing a little (the frame is ~125/6 mm and the wheel is 130). The main problem is that the axle won't fit into the dropouts. I've seen some others on the site that have rasped/filed/ground out the droupouts but it doesn't seem to be the definitive answer.

Is there a different wheelset I should be looking at? Is grinding the dropouts really the best solution? Axle diameters don't seem to ever be in the specs when looking at wheels online.

Thanks!
Evan

Assuming your rear hub is a quick release type, not nutted, rear axle diameters are nearly all 10 mm. "Forte" is Performance's house brand so it should be 10 mm.

Some nutted axles were 3/8" or 9.5 mm and, if that's what the frame originally came with, it may be the problem. A few strokes with a file should solve the problem but be sure to file on the lower face of the dropout (further assuming horizontal dropouts) to avoid alignment problems.

+1, especially on the reference to only filing the lower dropout face. However, rear dropouts not 10mm wre rare in the era when your frame was built, since they wanted to be able to fit a 10mm QR axle whether it was spec.ed or not.

Before filing the dropout open, check that it wasn't closed a bit in handling. Use a caliper or improvised gauge to see if the top and bottom faces are parallel, or if the slot tapers to a slightly pinched, or simply burred end. You can also remove the QR skewer and see if the end of the axle fits at the base of the slot.

If it's a matter of a bent dropout, you have a choice of flexing it back to parallel by fitting a wedge or flat bat and gently levering it square, or leaving it as is and filing it parallel. Either way you'll want to use the home made gauge checking as you go.

Thanks everyone. I'll try filing the lower dropout down a touch. I did check to make sure they were parallel and they're exactly as predicted, exactly 9.5 mil on both sides.