Rear wheel will not stay put

[makoti]

What do I have to do to get my rear wheel to stop sliding in the dropouts? Horizontal, with the little screws in them. Two different wheels (recently. This has happened before), skewers sets, hub types. I thought I had them pretty cranked down, but three times in the last two rides, they have slipped so that the tire rubbed the paint off the left chainstay before I caught it. (Freshly painted bike. Not happy). In between slips, I adjusted the screw on the left side to make that side sit out more, thinking that that would limit how far the wheel could slide on that side. Didn't work. I need two hands to get the QR loose it's so tight.
Suggestions?

[93legendti]

Loctite?

[11.4]

Are the faces of the stay ends scarred up? It doesn't take much, and some of those stay ends were made from pretty soft metal. If they have much in the way of gouges and such, your wheel can slide.

Are your quick releases decent quality? More than a few modern quick releases are designed for vertical dropouts where there is less tendency to move, and that's especially true if you got ultralight ones or some of the QRs that some wheel manufacturers brand and supply. You really need a Campy or Dura Ace quick release with horizontal dropouts. Some of the extra light ones, budget ones, etc. don't have any grip on the outside of the stay end and some don't have the leverage to clamp down enough to prevent the hub locknut from sliding on the inside of the stay end.

Is your rear end spaced for the hub you're using? If your hub is different from the stay end, it's hard to get it clamped properly because the frame is working against you.

Any chance you have a loose hub locknut (just inside the stay end)? If one came loose, it can rotate just a little after your quick release is clamped down and loosen everything up. Improbable since you tried two different wheels, but just thinking about possibilities here.

I'm betting you have some lighter-duty quick releases that can't clamp well enough. Or do you have any problem getting them tight? You aren't supposed to be snapping them, but old horizontal stay ends did take a bit more pressure than modern vertical ones.

[thirdgenbird]

What quick release are you using?

[malcolm]

Old school forward facing horizontal drop outs need as 11.4 has suggested good old school campy or dura ace skewers.

[makoti]

Skewers: Reynolds Ti one on, Salsa on the other (was actually a MTB skewer I got years ago. Trimmed it to fit. Ti as well). Neither is what I would think of as designed for lightness first. I don't have a problem getting them snog & even after it has slipped, it feels just as tight.
The bike is 12 years old, but I have always had Campy 10 on it. It was built for that. Now running 11, but it's the same.
The faces... do you mean the inside face of the dropout? I've never noticed any scarring. I'll look more closely.
I think I've got an old Campy rear skewer laying around. Maybe I'll give that a whirl.

[HenryA]

Old school forward facing horizontal drop outs need as 11.4 has suggested good old school campy or dura ace skewers.


You've got it now.

[thirdgenbird]

Skewers: Reynolds Ti one on, Salsa on the other (was actually a MTB skewer I got years ago. Trimmed it to fit. Ti as well). Neither is what I would think of as designed for lightness first. I don't have a problem getting them snog & even after it has slipped, it feels just as tight.
The bike is 12 years old, but I have always had Campy 10 on it. It was built for that. Now running 11, but it's the same.
The faces... do you mean the inside face of the dropout? I've never noticed any scarring. I'll look more closely.
I think I've got an old Campy rear skewer laying around. Maybe I'll give that a whirl.

Don't both of those skewers have alloy faces? Maybe even smooth alloy faces.

Put the canpagnolo skewer in. I bet it sorts the issue.

[christian]

Those are crap skewers. Dura-Ace or Record.

[bobswire]

If the dropouts were painted also that is probably the main culprit. Had that happen with a freshly painted frame of mine. I took out my Dremel and carefully grinded off the paint on the dropouts, that fixed the problem.

[wallymann]

as others have said, record/DA skewer will solve this problem. honestly, any older skewer made of steel (both shaft and ends) should do the trick -- but why not get the good stuff?!

i've wondered about ways to get a lighter ti/al skewer to work. i'm debating putting a dash of sand on the clamping-faces of the alloy ends, to give them half-a-chance to bite into chromed steel dropouts. heck, maybe even a spritz of carbo-paste will do the same.

[ceolwulf]

The only thing I found to work was the steel skewer that came with my trainer.

[cmbicycles]

If those are alloy skewers, the knurling/teeth on the skewer faces are possibly worn down a bit and dont bite well anymore. As mentioned, any decent steel internal cam skewer with good teeth on them should do the trick.

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

[makoti]

Ok, looked around and this is what I have right now. I figure that from the sounds of it, any would be better, but which should I try first?
Campy with a cutout in the lever
Campy with what would be the cutout filled in (anyone know what these are?)
Mavic silver pre-2000 (likely pre-1995)
Mavic black that came with my Ksyriums back in 2000

Thanks. Nice to know it isn't TOTALLY operator error.

[jds108]

If you take a look at a Dura Ace skewer you can see that the inside surface of the nut is steel whereas the rest of the nut is aluminum. That steel has some sharp teeth that'll bite into your dropouts and thus prevent slipping. Some of the cheaper Shimano skewers don't have the steel insert in the nut. Not sure which Campy skewers have or don't have this steel insert.

[LouDeeter]

Any of the better Campagnolo rear skewers should do the trick. The older the better from my experience as long as they are the right length for what you need, 126 or 130.

[zmudshark]

You need a skewer with an internal cam, as opposed to external. The older Campy should be fine, Record, Chorus or Centaur, makes no difference, as long as it is an internal cam.

[Hindmost]

What hubs are you using? What do the axle ends look like?

Old school Campy Record axle ends were gnarly, knurled steel; a lot of bite. Newer hubs tend to have aluminum axle ends with minor, if any knurling; kinder and gentler on modern dropouts.

[makoti]

Any of the better Campagnolo rear skewers should do the trick. The older the better from my experience as long as they are the right length for what you need, 126 or 130.

Where do you measure a skewer from? The rod part measures 160, from cam to tip. Some of these are old enough to be for 8 speed.

[makoti]

What hubs are you using? What do the axle ends look like?

Old school Campy Record axle ends were gnarly, knurled steel; a lot of bite. Newer hubs tend to have aluminum axle ends with minor, if any knurling; kinder and gentler on modern dropouts.

One is a powertap & the other is a new White Industry.

[cinema]

i bet your skewers are the problem. ultegra or higher the wheel will not slip

[LouDeeter]

Where do you measure a skewer from? The rod part measures 160, from cam to tip. Some of these are old enough to be for 8 speed.

8 speed is 130 rear, same as 9 & 10 speed. Sounds like you have what you need.

[ik2280]

What's the consensus on 6800 skewers?

[kramnnim]

Too many watts, softpedal and you won't have the slippage. :banana:

[lhuerta]

...even with good quality skewers, if your dropouts are not aligned, slippage could occur. Are your dropouts properly spaced and aligned?

[bcroslin]

I had a similar issue with a SS CX bike and I tried cam-type Shimano skewers and all sorts of other stuff with no success. I finally ordered a set of the DT Swiss RWS skewers that ratchet on and they worked about 80% of the time. I finally went to some cheap Origin 8 allen skewers with no QR that I could really wrench down and that did the trick.

[soulspinner]

Don't both of those skewers have alloy faces? Maybe even smooth alloy faces.

Put the canpagnolo skewer in. I bet it sorts the issue.

What tgb said...

[rounder]

I had a similar problem with a Serotta nhx. It had already been resized to 126 and was using Duraace 8-speed with no problem. But when I switched over to Campy 10-speed with used Mavic Cosmos wheels (where I had no idea where they had been) I had wheel slip problems. I tightened down the (Mavic) quick releases to what I thought was tight, but the rear wheel slipped out several times...freaked me out. Always liked that bike but have since been riding newer bikes. Also changed over to older Campy quick releases. The local shop recommended that the adjusting screws be removed so the wheel could be moved farther back in the dropouts. Did that and no problems so far (have not ridden the bike much since then, but that does not seem the right solution).

[fogrider]

campy skewers will work. I have the same issue on my Ron Cooper...I'm using Salsa Ti skewers and really crank it down and rotate. I live on a steep hill and have to ride 100 yards up a steep hill to get started, if it holds there, I'm good anywhere.

[m_sasso]

Are your axles spaced correctly?
Are your axles projecting beyond the outer width of your dropouts?
Meaning are you possible tightening the quick release ends against the axle and not the dropout?
Does your frame have unusually thin dropouts?

Really sounds like you have a skewer problem however you never really know until you have a close look at everything.

[oldpotatoe]

What do I have to do to get my rear wheel to stop sliding in the dropouts? Horizontal, with the little screws in them. Two different wheels (recently. This has happened before), skewers sets, hub types. I thought I had them pretty cranked down, but three times in the last two rides, they have slipped so that the tire rubbed the paint off the left chainstay before I caught it. (Freshly painted bike. Not happy). In between slips, I adjusted the screw on the left side to make that side sit out more, thinking that that would limit how far the wheel could slide on that side. Didn't work. I need two hands to get the QR loose it's so tight.
Suggestions?

Make sure dropouts are aligned and parallel, also right at 130mm

Make sure the rear wheel is also right at 130mm

Better, steel QR. shimano, Mavic, Campagnolo. Not some foo-foo aftermarket weight weeny thing.

Are the dropouts stainless and very smooth? Rough them up some.

Are the axle ends very smooth? Replace if you can with knurled ones or rought those up too.

[Peter P.]

If the dropouts are chromed you can have problems; the chrome hardens the surface making the skewer difficult to bite into.

Titanium has a higher elongation factor than steel. What can happen is, under the same tension loads as a steel skewer, rather than continue to tighten, the titanium skewer will stretch instead so clamping tension won't increase.

Internal cam skewers such as Shimano will enable higher clamping forces.

Cheaper skewers, while being heavier, will have the clamping faces made of steel with serrated faces. They will have much better grip on the dropout face.