Possible to replace front hub axle for narrower one?
 

Hi there,

I bought a pair of 700C rims for an old 10 speed frame yesterday. Unfortunately the front dropouts are slightly too narrow to fit onto the hub axle. I've looked at the previous posts about this problem, and it looks like a way around this is filing the axle or the dropouts. Filing the axle appears to win out over filing the dropouts because the fork might not be balanced if you shave off more on one side. But wouldn't that be the exact same concern if the axle is shaved?

Instead of shaving down any parts, I'm wondering if it's possible to replace the axle and locknuts with narrower ones.

Your local shop may have front axles with flats to fix this problem, could be worth a visit.

Start by finding the actual problem! Your OLD (over locknut dimension) on your hub should be 100MM. Check the fork inside dropout to dropout distance. Which one isn't 100MM? Fix THAT.

I gather that you're trying to put a QR wheel into a fork who's dropouts were made for a 5/16" (8mm) solid axle. The proper remedy is to file the dropouts open.

Assuming the fork is square, and you want to retain that, file only from one side of the dropout slots keeping the other as the reference. Use an axle or bolt as a gauge so you only enlarge it enough to do the job, and do not file the tops of the slots.

You could file two flats on the axle, but that's a pain in that you'll need to keep orienting the axle every time you mount the wheel, and there's no benefit to leaving the fork alone, unless you plan on going back to a 5/16" solid axle later on.

If you totally lack confidence in your filing skills, than your only option for using that fork is to go back to a smaller solid axle, since QR axles don't come small enough.

Some older forks were 96mm OLD. Nevertheless, 100mm is the standard now- a good bike shop should have the tools and the skill to spread the fork blades and align the dropouts.

Thank you for the pointers - that basically clears things up. Given the somewhat important connection between front wheel and frame, I think I'll haul the frame over to the bike shop for flats or filing.

Make sure to be explicit that you only want one side of the slot filed, and nothing off the top. Any experienced mechanic would do it that way to preserve the other side and top as the references, but there's no telling which shop rat will decide he can do the job, and not know what he doesn't know.