minicooper

I just got the pedals put on my 56cm Silver S-R Fixed gear. ( I put pictures up a little while back.)

My first ride was OK in the sense that I didn't crash or die or anything my girlfriend thought... but it was far from pleasant.

It seems that my rear tire keeps misaligning itself so that it makes contact with the frame in the front-most part. Not sure what that part of the frame is called, but if you imagine yourself standing over the bike, you'd imagine the tire looks like a "|" whereas with any little amount of pressure, mine looks like "\". So I tried tightening (as much as I could!) the quick release handle and making sure it was aligned.

But once again, it just slips out and the tire presses against the frame....

... what's wrong ? what can i do?

pitboss

not sure if this is possible, but its worth stating:
since you are using a QR-based rear wheel, you may experience this moreso than with a track-nutted rear wheel. My suggestion would be to get a track-nutted wheel for the rear if an axle swap is not an option.
Not sure if this is true, and there may be a person or 2 out there with more experience with this type of set-up.

progre-ss

I've been running a quick release on my respaced and redished rear wheel and haven't come upon any problems like minicooper's. Although my rear needs some truing as it's wobbling like crazy. I've recently repsaced and redished a NOS 27" wheel I acquired from my dumpster diving during the cleaning out of a shutdown LBS. This one came with a solid axle so the QR'd wheel will be replace once I get a new track cog.

commander_taco

If you have track dropouts then you could try surly tuggnut which has a QR adapter. If you don't have a track dropout then you could try the steel QR (try harriscyclery etc and explain your problem). Steel QR's with longish handle can be tensioned well so that axle does not slip. You probably have a aluminum or plastic QR. If the QR trick does not work (which I doubt) then you have no recourse but to get a rear hub with track nuts.

HereNT

Is it possible that the hub is the wrong size for the rear triangle? It seems that if you were forcing it, you might end up with dropouts not being parallel to each other, which might make it pull out more easily.

cavit8

I've run a single speed on a quick release for months with no problem. You may want to check the hub width from spacer to spacer against the dropout width.

HereNT

Yeah - spacers might do it for him - the last hub I had for my winter beater was probably about 10mm skinnier than the dropout width. If I didn't put the spacers in there, and just cranked it down with the bolts, it would be really tight, but tended to pull out if you really cranked down - it liked to pull out right as you took off from a stop. But that was fix, though free should have the same tendency on the forward motion...

minicooper

Yes, that sounds precisely like what I'm experiencing (on my fixed).

so I'm not familiar with spacers and the certain widths everyone is talking about... can someone clarify a little?

minicooper

anyone?

HereNT

Spacers = washers.

You go to the LBS, and get something to go between the hub and the frame. That way, you don't have to crank as hard.

But you should probably use a bolt on anyways - you don't want that wheel moving ANYWHERE....

Reminds me - I need to go adjust my tension....

crustedfish

come on people....QR skewers on a fixed gear rear wheel? SUICIDE!

proper track nuts with serrated washers or your track nut/chain tug combo is your best bet.

cavit8

I agree with both NT and C-fish, you're better off with proper nuts... on your axle rather than a quick release.

minicooper

how dangerous is the QR? Why? I seem to have put some washers in and tightened it so it doesn't misalign anymore....

Cynikal 

That's hard to answer. Some would say that you are fine. I've ridden a SS with a quick release without an issue. Since your wheel was not slipping out of place but was just misaligned your's could be fine. It is true that a solid axel with track nut are the best for a slip issue you need to see if your's is even slipping. Your best bet is to ride it around for a bit and test it. If it does need a solid axel, the whole conversion costs about 10$, no big deal.

HereNT

Even with a solid axle, I've had it pull out of the dropouts - but I think it would have happened a lot more often with a quick release. But it's probably a lot less often with bolt-ons. I carry 3 different 15mm bolts with me for my rear wheel... (Okay one works for rear wheel and the headseat, but hey - )

I don't think a quick release has the necessary torque for a fix wheel (someone correct me if I'm wrong) - you need to have bolts, and really crank them down.

I need to get some of those tensioners for my bike - I'm getting a little sick of re-setting the rear wheel every couple of weeks...

minicooper

I made my first real journey on this bike today, from the point to the field museum... straight w/o a single coast or stop. it was pretty cool, but my legs and butt were killing me by the time i got to soldier field. I'm heading back to hyde park 'round 5 or 5:30am if anyone's interested in an early morning ride.

Back to topic though, I'll bring my bike to Yojimbos (cause I'm tired of hyde park shops) and ask if they can get rid of the quick release thing. in the meantime, does anyone have experience with the Surly "Tuggnut Chain Tensioner"?

There's a description of it on page 14 here: https://www.surlybikes.com/files/Surly2004.pdf

Would it work on non-track dropouts? Mine have their opening that points towards the front of the bike, not the rear.

They seem like the right thing to fix sloppy rear wheel alignment, but is it really better than a bunch of washers (spacers)? If so ... anyone selling one?

pitboss

Surly TuggNuts have a T-shaped retention pin with one screw vs. 2 screws and no retention pin, so the Tuggnut will not work with no-track drops from what I can tell.