Front wheel being pulled 'off centre'..

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Hulk_slogan

Active Member
Ello all.

My b'twin rockrider 500, with mechanical disc brakes has new problemos..

Noticed my front wheel was closer to the left fork than the right this evening after a 10 mile ride.. Quite noticeably.
The brake caliper is also mounted on the left fork, and the outer (moveable) pad was rubbing against the rotor.
I had just had the front wheel trued and front disc brake adjusted for this very reason so this was annoying to have happened again within a week.

I should add that the front brake doesn't feel excessively strong, ie I can pull hard on it and have no worries about going over the bars or even locking up.

I should also add that there seems to be a little play when applying the front brake on its own. If I apply the front brake and rock the bike backwards and forwards, there seems to be some slight movement from somewhere, however if both brakes are applied and I rock the bike back and forth it is as steady and firm as a rock.

I got home and loosened the QR and jiggled the wheel straight and retightened the QR. This seemed to solve the brake rubbing AND the wheel being off centre. But why would the wheel have moved so much in the first place?

My new worry is that under moderate to heavy braking during my rides, the braking or something is pulling the front wheel out of the dropout slightly on the disc brake side, causing the wheel to come off centre between the forks and causing the disc brake to rub.

I did go over some rough terrain, mud, dirt but mainly concrete and tarmac, and went over a few foot high drop offs and down a few steps, but I thought it would be all in a days work for the bike really, or that those drops etc would have pushed the wheel back into place firmly between the dropouts if anything.

Any ideas or advice? The quick release skewer is by design on the right side fork and has a groove/recess in the fork on this side where the QR lever can be closed. It seemed pretty damn tight, Ie. I had to grab the fork and the QR lever to enable me to close the QR lever fully.

I have read that front disc brakes have a tendency to pull the front wheel out of their dropouts, and also that standard QR skewers can be pretty crap.

Fanx all! I suppose in the meantime I'll ensure the QR is as tight as can be and on my 10mile ride tomorrow see if it happens again!
 
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raleighnut

Legendary Member
Try using some of these, you can get them much tighter than QR skewers

m-part-road-allen-key-security-skewers.jpg
 

Mobytek

Well-Known Member
Woah, lets not be putting too much pressure on the forks - tighter spindles mean you are pinching the forks together - they are just there to stop the wheel dropping out, as the bottom of the forks sits on the AXLE not the spindle, so has v little effect. You can ride a bike without the squwers, so they dont do that much.

as for it moving out - as above, with the forks sitting on the axle, seems like your fork appartures are different by a mm or two.

Back to where you got it from, with list of problems, and receipt from truing / breake adjustment and ask for you dosh back.

I seem to recall a post from you when you got this alng the lines of 2"t a b'twin, I know they're cheap but......." so maybe youve got (a bad version of) what you paid for?

still, not fit for purpose is it.
 
OP
OP
Hulk_slogan

Hulk_slogan

Active Member
I agree, i was worried I was being petty over a few things but the wheel moving in the dropouts worrys me. Im not the lightest fella around either!

I've seen a whyte 306 for a hundred bucks more, seems better equipped for starters but maybe its also better made. I know 'decent' bikes start from £500 ish but i'm not making much more than that per month at the moment :/
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
Woah, lets not be putting too much pressure on the forks - tighter spindles mean you are pinching the forks together - they are just there to stop the wheel dropping out, as the bottom of the forks sits on the AXLE not the spindle, so has v little effect. You can ride a bike without the squwers, so they dont do that much.

as for it moving out - as above, with the forks sitting on the axle, seems like your fork appartures are different by a mm or two.

Back to where you got it from, with list of problems, and receipt from truing / breake adjustment and ask for you dosh back.

I seem to recall a post from you when you got this alng the lines of 2"t a b'twin, I know they're cheap but......." so maybe youve got (a bad version of) what you paid for?

still, not fit for purpose is it.

I agree with take it back, I had a problem exactly as the OP described on a new bike a few years ago. Back to the shop within a week, I told them I had lost confidence in the bike and the brand and did not feel the bike was safe. They gave me another, completely different bike of same value.

I should mention though that of all the modern bikes I've ever had, every single ones fork dropouts have rested on the skewer. Not a single bike has had its fork dropouts on the axle...
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
[sucks teeth] Sounds like your tracking's out [/sucks teeth]
Not an expert, just had a quick read up on that, so how would that be causing the wheel to shift across during the course of a ride? Surely if the tracking is out then the wheel will be rubbing from square one?
 
OP
OP
Hulk_slogan

Hulk_slogan

Active Member
Lol. When I looked, the fork dropouts were resting on the threaded axle by a few mm, seemed to clear the skewer though.

I know their description for the bike is "designed for intensive mountain biking". But the forks are the exact same as on their £160 model which is "designed for recriational ocassion cycling on paths and roads".

Hmm.
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
Lol. When I looked, the fork dropouts were resting on the threaded axle by a few mm, seemed to clear the skewer though.

I know their description for the bike is "designed for intensive mountain biking". But the forks are the exact same as on their £160 model which is "designed for recriational ocassion cycling on paths and roads".

Hmm.

Sorry, am I getting confused by the terminology here?

The skewer is the bit that goes through the centre of the hub. Maybe that's also the axle. But you seem to be referring to the quick release lever as the "skewer" which it isn't.

Think of a kebab on a skewer. It's a line through things, not a lever at the end.
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
When I had a similar problem I took the bike back and they fitted much better qr's which solved the problem.

If you don't want to take it back then do up the qr as tightly as possible and see if that helps.
 
OP
OP
Hulk_slogan

Hulk_slogan

Active Member
Sorry my bad.

The forks don't appear to be resting on the skewer. They rest on the cylindrical threaded axle? Which sticks out of the hub each side.

Sorry my terminology isnt up to scratch.

The lever and nut of the QR contacts the forks nicely when done up. So the wheels axle/bit the skewer runs through isn't too long, if you follow me?
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
Sorry my bad.

The forks don't appear to be resting on the skewer. They rest on the cylindrical threaded axle? Which sticks out of the hub each side.

Sorry my terminology isnt up to scratch.

The lever and nut of the QR contacts the forks nicely when done up. So the wheels axle/bit the skewer runs through isn't too long, if you follow me?

Okay.

As far as I know and bear in mind I'm not looking at your bike, the threaded axle you refer to above is part of the skewer, which runs through the central part of the wheel, the hub. And which the QR lever locks onto the hub, so to speak.

Take your wheel off and take the skewer out, you'll see what I mean.

I don't see a very tight QR squeezing the forks, or strictly speaking the tines of the fork, together. The wheel's hub gets in the way of that happening.

None of this sorts your problem out but still.
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
No the forks dont sit on the skewer it sits on the axle..........as the skewer turne freely inside the axle, where as the axle turns on the bearings, the skewer tightens the forke against the hub axle and then allows it to turn on the hub

image.jpg


The forks sit on the two black sticky out bits, skewer goes inside those and clamps fork against the silver corigated plate and allows the wheels to spin on the bearings
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
No the forks dont sit on the skewer it sits on the axle..........as the skewer turne freely inside the axle, where as the axle turns on the bearings, the skewer tightens the forke against the hub axle and then allows it to turn on the hub

View attachment 98148

The forks sit on the two black sticky out bits, skewer goes inside those and clamps fork against the silver corigated plate and allows the wheels to spin on the bearings

I've learned something new today then!
 
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