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Rear wheel pulling out of dropouts

by Jack Osbourne snr
Thu, Jan 16, 2014 20:34
37

Dear Learned Friends,

Any sage advice welcome to help solve an annoying issue...

On and off, for about two years, I have found myself pulling my back wheel out of the dropouts when climbing out of the saddle. I'm getting very fed up having to stop and reset my wheel on hills.

Wheel pulls out of drive side dropout and wedges on non drive seatstay
Frame and dropouts are titanium
Wheels are Prolite Bracciano

I've tried a few things, but nothing seems to work consistently:

Changed stock open cam skewers to closed cam levers.
Added serrated washer to drive side
Experimented with monster clamping force and different lever positions

Any ideas how to stop this? Would roughing up the dropout surfaces help? If so what with and by how much?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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37 comments

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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I am surprised that the frame builder didn't have the surface knurled in the drop outs. My bike has knurled surfaces.

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wellcoordinated | 9 years ago
0 likes

I van two Van Nic Ti bikes - no knurled surfaces - never had this problem using Mavic QR skewers.

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wellcoordinated | 9 years ago
0 likes

I van two Van Nic Ti bikes - no knurled surfaces - never had this problem using Mavic QR skewers.

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tyceman | 8 years ago
0 likes

Hi again,

The slipping wheel problem is still haunting me!

I have since purchased Crank Bros split lever skewers, Shimano Ultegra skewers and DT Swiss RWS skewers, all of which have been recommended to me by bike shops or forum members for having high clamping force. None of them have worked.

I have also been in contact with Van Nicholas who have asked me to send the bike back to them, but unfortunately they are about to enter a 1 month long factory shut-down. So little point sending it until August.

I daredn't try any potential fixes involving roughing up the dropouts in case Van Nic say I have voided the warranty. So, back to trying other low tech solutions until August. Will try to find some serrated washers next.

Any more suggestions are welcome!

Thanks

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
0 likes

I would make a washer out of 180/220 grit body work sand paper. Fold a small piece to make it two sided, apply a little glue to stick paper together, make hole for skewer shaft, that should hold it

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Derny replied to lookmanohands | 8 years ago
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lookmanohands wrote:

Does the wheel sit snuggly in the dropout? From the picture the dropout looks very open, more than the axle diameter 10mm?

I agree, it looks like the dropout proportions are off, like it's wider than a 10mm axle. Through my cloudy Internet crystal ball, it looks like a frame flaw.

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tyceman | 8 years ago
0 likes

Thanks for the comments guys.

I'll give the sand paper washers a go this weekend, and get the frame looked at by Van Nicholas when the factory re-opens in August. My last Van Nic Euros did exactly the same thing, so i'm inclined to think the geometry is OK.

There a loads of posts of the same issue with titanium frames, but the problem is almost always solved by using high end skewers, assuming axle clearances etc are ok. Maybe my relatively high weight (94kg) and the fact my frame doesn't have any serrations on the dropouts though means there still isn't enough friction.

If this is the case, and Van Nic say the geometry is OK, I have no idea what they'll say, as a replacement frame will probably do the same.

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