How to fix slipping rear skewer?



H

Hardwarelust

Guest
My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put. I've
got it tightened down to the point where I can barely
close it. Going up a hill, if I get out of the saddle, it
slips. I've taken the time to make sure there's no oil
and/or grease on the dropouts or the skewer itself, but it
just won't grab tight.

Is there maybe another brand of skewer that would hold
better? I seem to recall Sheldon B. saying that the stock
Shimano ones hold the best, but the one I have isn't working
very well. Maybe I should just buy a new another one and try
it? Should I maybe try a DA skewer or a 105 skewer?

Open to any suggestions! It's aggravating!

Thanks!
H.
 
Originally posted by Hardwarelust
My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put. I've
got it tightened down to the point where I can barely
close it. Thanks!
H.

I'm not completely sure what your attempting to do here, but I'll guess your trying to tighten/close your rear skewer with out having it completely seated in the rear drop-outs. (If this is the case, it will never stay were you want it, nor was it designed to). The rear wheel properly installed should be completely seated in the rear drop-outs.

Secondly, you definitly should not have to crank down on a skewer to close it... (You can place an excess load on your bearings/cones in the process).
 
Older shimano skewers were all steel with teeth. You didn't
mention, but this is a good match with horiz. DO's. Tom

--
Bruni Bicycles
"Where art meets science"
brunibicycles.com
410.426.3420
HardwareLust <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put. I've got it tightened
> down to the point where I can barely close it. Going up a hill, if I get
> out of the saddle, it slips. I've taken the time to make sure there's no
> oil and/or grease on the dropouts or the skewer itself, but it just won't
> grab tight.
>
> Is there maybe another brand of skewer that would hold better? I seem to
> recall Sheldon B. saying that the stock Shimano ones hold the best, but
the
> one I have isn't working very well. Maybe I should just buy a new another
> one and try it? Should I maybe try a DA skewer or a 105 skewer?
>
> Open to any suggestions! It's aggravating!
>
> Thanks!
> H.
 
David L. Johnson wrote:

> I don't believe it's the skewer at all. In order for a
> quick release to work properly, the axle needs to not
> protrude all the way through the dropout. My guess is that
> your axle is not quite centered, and one side, the one
> that slips, sticks too far out.
>
> Shimano QR's are indeed very good, all of them. It might
> be that yours is malfunctioning, or maybe the spring is
> interfering, but the first thing to look at is the axle.

Thank you for the suggestion. I had not thought of that.
Soon as I get home tonight, I'm going to look for this.

Regards,
H.
 
Cipher wrote:
> I'm not completely sure what your attempting to do here,
> but I'll guess your trying to tighten/close your rear
> skewer with out having it completely seated in the rear
> drop-outs. (If this is the case, it will never stay were
> you want it, nor was it designed to). The rear wheel
> properly installed should be completely seated in the rear
> drop-outs.
>
> Secondly, you definitly should not have to crank down on a
> skewer to close it... (You can place an excess load on
> your bearings/cones in the process).

No, it's definitely seated completely in the rear dropout.

According to what I've read, I understand that the skewer
should be just tight enough so that it leaves a mark on your
hand when you close it.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
HardwareLust <[email protected]> wrote:
>Cipher wrote:
>> I'm not completely sure what your attempting to do here,
>> but I'll guess your trying to tighten/close your rear
>> skewer with out having it completely seated in the rear
>> drop-outs. (If this is the case, it will never stay were
>> you want it, nor was it designed to). The rear wheel
>> properly installed should be completely seated in the
>> rear drop-outs.
>>
>> Secondly, you definitly should not have to crank down on
>> a skewer to close it... (You can place an excess load on
>> your bearings/cones in the process).
>
>No, it's definitely seated completely in the rear dropout.
>
>According to what I've read, I understand that the skewer
>should be just tight enough so that it leaves a mark on
>your hand when you close it.

That rule of thumb will result in some people overtightening
the skewer.

It is possible to burst the head of the skewer by
overtightening, which completely destroys it. How much it
can handle depends a lot on the design, it varies by
manufacturer & model.
 
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 22:03:02 GMT, [email protected]
(Paul Southworth) wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>HardwareLust <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Cipher wrote:
>>> I'm not completely sure what your attempting to do here,
>>> but I'll guess your trying to tighten/close your rear
>>> skewer with out having it completely seated in the rear
>>> drop-outs. (If this is the case, it will never stay were
>>> you want it, nor was it designed to). The rear wheel
>>> properly installed should be completely seated in the
>>> rear drop-outs.
>>>
>>> Secondly, you definitly should not have to crank down on
>>> a skewer to close it... (You can place an excess load on
>>> your bearings/cones in the process).
>>
>>No, it's definitely seated completely in the rear dropout.
>>
>>According to what I've read, I understand that the skewer
>>should be just tight enough so that it leaves a mark on
>>your hand when you close it.
>
>
>That rule of thumb will result in some people
>overtightening the skewer.
>
>It is possible to burst the head of the skewer by
>overtightening, which completely destroys it. How much it
>can handle depends a lot on the design, it varies by
>manufacturer & model.

David is likely right... this problem also appears with
skinny drop-outs. One fix - add a washer on the slippy
side - Ъ×
 
also could be that the "teeth" on the skewer faces are worn
so they will no longer dig in and grab the dropouts firmly.

charlie
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"HardwareLust" <[email protected]> wrote:

>My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put. I've
>got it tightened down to the point where I can barely
>close it. Going up a hill, if I get out of the saddle, it
>slips. I've taken the time to make sure there's no oil
>and/or grease on the dropouts or the skewer itself, but it
>just won't grab tight.

The cam of the quick release might need a drop of oil to
prevent binding when closing it. I had this problem once and
saw that after oiling, the lever moved a bit closer to the
frame when closing the quick release, and after that
everything was fine.

--
Ned Mantei Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
 
Bruni wrote:

> Older shimano skewers were all steel with teeth. You
> didn't mention, but this is a good match with horiz. DO's.

I've used Shimano steel, alloy and Control Tech allen
key skewers on my racing bike with horiz. dropouts. None
of them slipped. There's something not quite right with
the OP's hub.
 
On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 22:32:59 -0400, Charles Beristain
<[email protected]> wrote:

>also could be that the "teeth" on the skewer faces are worn
>so they will no longer dig in and grab the dropouts firmly.
>
>charlie

My Greg Lemond TI GL had horizontal, titanium dropouts. Only
the steel Shimano or Campy QR skewers were effective. Any
alloy skewer would not hold.
 
David L. Johnson writes:

>> My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put. I've
>> got it tightened down to the point where I can barely
>> close it. Going up a hill, if I get out of the saddle, it
>> slips. I've taken the time to make sure there's no oil
>> and/or grease on the dropouts or the skewer itself, but
>> it just won't grab tight.

>> Is there maybe another brand of skewer that would hold
>> better? I seem to recall Sheldon B. saying that the stock
>> Shimano ones hold the best, but the one I have isn't
>> working very well. Maybe I should just buy a new another
>> one and try it? Should I maybe try a DA skewer or a 105
>> skewer?

> I don't believe it's the skewer at all. In order for a
> quick release to work properly, the axle needs to not
> protrude all the way through the dropout. My guess is that
> your axle is not quite centered, and one side, the one
> that slips, sticks too far out.

If the axle is too long (or dropouts too thin) the QR will
bottom on the axle and no manner of tightening will increase
holding force on the dropout. By the description, this
sounds like the cause. Besides, QR skewers serve only to
press dropouts against the knurled axle lock nuts, rather
than doing any wheel positioning. QR skewer clearance is
large enough to make lateral displacement too large for any
axle positioning.

> Shimano QR's are good, all of them. It might be that yours
> is malfunctioning, or maybe the spring is interfering, but
> the first thing to look at is the axle.

It also make a difference what kind of brake is used?

Jobst Brandt [email protected]
 
I've seen people having problems with 6/4 Ti dropouts. Very
hard. Tough for a QR to get a proper "bite." If the Bike is
steel or Al, the answer is probably one of the above.
 
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "HardwareLust" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put.

Ned Mantei wrote:
> The cam of the quick release might need a drop of oil to
> prevent binding when closing it.

I second that suggestion. Maybe flush it out with a bit of
WD40, let it dry overnight, then add a drop of oil. I've
only seen this problem with MTBs used in yucky conditions
and minimal maintenance, so it seems like an unlikely
culprit in this case. But it can't hurt to try.

--
Dave dvt at psu dot edu
 
In article <[email protected]>, dvt <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> "HardwareLust" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>My rear skewer (2002 Ultegra) refuses to stay put.
>
>Ned Mantei wrote:
>> The cam of the quick release might need a drop of oil to
>> prevent binding when closing it.
>
>I second that suggestion. Maybe flush it out with a bit of
>WD40, let it dry overnight, then add a drop of oil. I've
>only seen this problem with MTBs used in yucky conditions
>and minimal maintenance, so it seems like an unlikely
>culprit in this case. But it can't hurt to try.

In my case the skewer was almost new. I doubt that the
manufacturer (Sachs) had ever applied oil. Incidentally,
this was a 1997 Sachs Quarz hub, which I ordered on a new
bike. It seemed a way to avoid having to disassemble, clean,
and regrease the hubs every year. You may know about how
Shimano rear hubs are held together with a hollow bolt that
takes a 10 mm Allen wrench. It turned out that the Sachs hub
of 1997 used a press fit! After about 2 years the two halves
came apart and I could never again get them to stay
together. Now have an LX hub in back. On the other hand, the
front Sachs hub still works fine despite 7 years and ca.
25,000 km without servicing.

--
Ned Mantei Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
 

Similar threads