bianchi10

I just got back from a bike ride and felt this resistance while trying to pedal. I pulled over and saw my tire was rubbing against my frame. I thought maybe I just didn't put my rear wheel on straight. so I took it off and slipped it back on and made sure it was all the way in and locked tightly. I was off and then about a mile later felt the same thing. I pulled over and saw yet again, it was rubbing on my frame. I was flustered but reset the wheel again. was not even a couple hundred feet and it was rubbing again. my buddy came over to look at what I may be doing wrong and he noticed that only one side of my skewer had a spacer on it and the other side didn't. I looked at his and he had one on each side though it was a different brand. I turned around and just came home which felt like 10 miles of pulling a fellow cyclist on a rope. I got home and tried to get a closer look and I just dont know if it is a missing spacer or if the wheel isn't true, or something else. the wheel does have a SLIGHT wobble so I could go get it true'd but If that were "the" problem here, it wouldn't rub constantly like it is, it would only rub on that wobble.

so are skewers supposed to have a spacer on both ends?

Wogster

Skewers are supposed to have a small cone shaped spring on each end, typically it's not easy to lose one as you almost never take the skewer out of the wheel. If this is the problem, your LBS should be able to get you one, and get that wheel trued up at the same time. When a wheel goes out of true, then the wheel's spoke tension needs to be checked, it's either too high or too low, probably too low.

rm -rf

By "spacer" do you mean the coiled wire spring, or some other part of the skewer?

The cone shaped springs are only to make it more convenient to get the wheel into the dropouts. Once it's clamped, they don't affect anything. So a missing one is OK.

I had a problem with the skewer gouging out a shallow depression in the aluminum rear dropout surface. I could see a ghost image of the serrated clamp slightly sunk into the dropout. So if I clamped it slightly away from the depression, it soon slid over, and the wheel was off center again. I used a tiny file and (carefully!) smoothed out the surface, getting rid of the ridges and most of the depression. It works correctly now.

Some skewers designs can wear out fairly easily. Perhaps it's not clamping very well anymore.

So: Check your skewer clamp and see if it looks worn where the lever bears against the clamping surface. And remove the wheel and see if the dropout looks smooth.

One more test: Take the back wheel off, and turn it around so the gears are on the wrong side, and clamp it back in. Does the wheel rub on the opposite side now, or not? If not, then the wheel is reasonably true.


This style of skewer, with a metal cam, is pretty resistant to getting worn out:



This other style sometimes has a plastic surface that that lever's cam presses against, and that can wear out:

cyclist2000

can you post a picture so we can see your problem?

Bianchigirll 

pics would be very helpfull. spacer?? as the others said spings yes anything else no. has any work been done on your rear axle lately? also what kind of frame and skewers? some newer skewers just don't bite into the frame material well enough to take the torque a rider can put out.

skilsaw

Tighten the nut on the drive side end of the skewer by a turn, or two. Then try riding on that.
It should take some force when you press the lever into the "closed" position. This force will increase / decrease as you tighten / loosen the nut.

Wogster

Another thing people often get wrong with skewers, skewers should face the rear of the bike when closed, this way if you get too close to something when riding they can't catch and open on you.

LesterOfPuppets

If you get that close to anything hub high, you'll likely encounter other problems when your feet pass by that object.

socalrider

On some of my older steel bikes this can be an issue, some of the newer lightweight skewers just do not hold well.. With vertical dropouts which is more common on newer bikes, this is rarely an issue where you pull the wheel over..

I found the best skewers for this problem are the newer Campagnolo skewer / Fulcrum Skewer - they are the same.. The Ritchey skewers also hold very well and can be found online for a good deal..

Wogster

Not always, don't forget your front skewer is in front of your feet, and if your at an angle it's possible to catch the rear skewer, even though the front one and your foot missed. There is another advantage though, it looks better when the skewers are lined up, rather then going this way and that.