Dropout spacer help

[A Muzi]

> Sheldon Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On a Shimano or other typical threaded-axle hub, it can easily be
> > re-centered to provide 3 mm of protrusion on each side, which is way
> > more than enough. (I don't think this works on Campagnolo cassette
hubs.)
> >
> > Actually, for a couple of years one of my fixed-gear mtbs was running with the axle cut off
> > flush with the nuts! I did this on purpose to gain a bit more wiggle room in the vertical
> > dropouts to adjust the chain tension.
> >
> > This system never gave me a lick of trouble, and I weighed 265-270 most of the time I used that
> > setup.

"Bluto" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Something tells me that there was a _manly_ quick-release skewer involved.
>
> I have used many different QR skewers over the years, though I've now largely switched to
> solid axles.
>
> I was almost always able to get enough clamping force at the dropouts for my purposes, but I often
> bent or broke the cam heads of skewers in doing so.
>
> Recently I've managed to rupture the cam bore on the 9mm QRs that came with a car roof rack. More
> often with 5mm QRs, it's been bent or broken at the root of the shaft, where it joins the
> cross-bored cylindrical end.
>
> I already know not to use QRs with aluminum levers; those I have broken off at the lever when I've
> tried them.
>
> I generally set QRs such that they pull out the slack when they are parallel to the axle, then I
> shove 'em down the remaining 90 degrees.
>
> Is there a particularly robust skewer out there that I could use on my remaining hollow axles? Or
> should I simply leave my QRs a bit looser than seems prudent to me?

I prefer classic steel ones to aluminum myself and they all work _much_ better with some lube on the
cam. We oil every one with every bike/wheel build and it makes a noticeable difference!

Among major brands I haven't noticed a difference but they all clamp better than the new visible cam
aluminum models. Skewers on car racks are very often ( not your own I'm sure) subject to
corrosion/crud and lack lubricant, making them unsafe when you consider there's a windshield on the
car right behind you. . .

I read a good consumer guideline in the Raleigh manual years ago. It said you should see the imprint
of the lever on your palm for a few seconds ( not a haematoma!) after closing the skewer. Not a bad
thing to tell newbies IMHO. I do not have a better gauge of the required force, though
--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Sheldon Brown]

I reported:

>> On a Shimano or other typical threaded-axle hub, it can easily be=20
>> re-centered to provide 3 mm of protrusion on each side, which is way=20
>> more than enough. (I don't think this works on Campagnolo cassette hub=
s.)
>>
>>Actually, for a couple of years one of my fixed-gear mtbs was running=20 with the axle cut off
>>flush with the nuts! I did this on purpose to=20 gain a bit more wiggle room in the vertical
>>dropouts to adjust the chai=
n=20
>>tension.
>>
>>This system never gave me a lick of trouble, and I weighed 265-270 most=
=20
>>of the time I used that setup.

Chalo Colina wrote:

> Something tells me that there was a _manly_ quick-release skewer involved.
>=20
> I have used many different QR skewers over the years, though I've now largely switched to
> solid axles.
>=20
> I was almost always able to get enough clamping force at the dropouts for my purposes, but I often
> bent or broke the cam heads of skewers in doing so.
>=20
> Recently I've managed to rupture the cam bore on the 9mm QRs that came with a car roof rack. More
> often with 5mm QRs, it's been bent or broken at the root of the shaft, where it joins the
> cross-bored cylindrical end.
>=20
> I already know not to use QRs with aluminum levers; those I have broken off at the lever when I've
> tried them.
>=20
> I generally set QRs such that they pull out the slack when they are parallel to the axle, then I
> shove 'em down the remaining 90 degrees.
>=20
> Is there a particularly robust skewer out there that I could use on my remaining hollow axles? Or
> should I simply leave my QRs a bit looser than seems prudent to me?

In my experience, Shimano skewers are pretty much in a class by=20 themselves, though more recent
Campagnolo ones are also quite good.=20 Nothing else comes close.

I used a garden-variety Shimano skewer for this, but just to be on the=20 save side I carried a
spare in my undersaddle wedge pack...I think that=20 was an old Campagnolo one, but I never needed
to use it.

I generally like to get skewers very tight, just about as tight as my=20 not-very-strong hands can
get them, but I've never broken one. Avoid=20 the Ringl=E9 type where the cam is exposed.

Sheldon "And They Come Free With The Hubs!" Brown +---------------------------------------------+
| Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and | smiles, with sniffles predominating. | --O. Henry |
+---------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com