getting you back wheel aligned properly

[petmcgratt]

Can anyone help.
I have recently bought a vitus alios road racing bike with quick release skewers. I took the back skewer off to put a turbo trainer compatable one in its place. I have now put the original QR skewer in but am having difficulty getting the wheel centred between the brake blocks. The back wheel seems to be alot closer to one brake block than the other. This is very fustrating as I am wondering if the back wheel is misaligned and doing damage to the hub etc. can anyone advise on hoe to get this right.

thanks

peter

 

[Davidc]

Are you sure it's the wheel alignment and not the brakes?

It might be worth checking the alignment of the wheel relative to the frame. If that's right then most modern brake systems have some form of screw adjustment for centering.

I have found (by accident every time!) that those brake centering settings are very easily put out of adjustmet when removing and replacing wheels, if tapped when parking the bike, etc.

 

[petmcgratt]

I was thinking that myself but didn't want to start adjusting the brakes too soon. I thought that the brakes would have stayed in position. I have never had QR skerwers before and am also worried about tension to make sure wheel does not fall off when cycling. thanks for the tip!

 

[Joe24]

What i would do, if i were you, is grab the brake, and move it(they will move, you can spin them around if you have the back wheel out, and centre it)
If your worried about the wheel/bearing, grab the top of the back wheel and give it a shake, if there's any play then its not right.
Check how the wheel is between the frame, is there equal distance between one side of the wheel and the other?
You might find that the brake has been like that a while, and you haven't noticed.
I wouldn't really worry though, ive rode with worse.
My back wheel on the fixed had abit of a problem. The bearing had gone, and the back wheel wobbled from side to side. I crawled home with the wheel like that.
As long as the brakes are still releasing right, then its fine, don't worry.
I did go around in winter though with my front brake sticking and my back brake sticking(on the Giant)
So, i only used to use the front brake, unless i knew i was defiantly going to stop, then id use both, and release them myself.
Would only use the front brake because i could reach down and release that after id used it

 

[Davidc]

I was thinking that myself but didn't want to start adjusting the brakes too soon. I thought that the brakes would have stayed in position. I have never had QR skerwers before and am also worried about tension to make sure wheel does not fall off when cycling. thanks for the tip!

I've found that it's almost inevitable that they get pushed quite hard as you take the wheel out past them, even with the tyre flat.

Most of the time the adjustment stays OK, and after a couple of pulls on the lever they're OK. Just sometimes the shove from the wheel is enough to shift the centring adjustment. Same goes for knocks from bike stands etc.

The most robust adjustment seems to be on modern caliper type brakes, and the worst is cantilever, with linear pull in between.

 

[petmcgratt]

made a minor adjustment and recentred the brake calipers and the wheel appears to be centred ok. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[fossyant]

Sorted.......does happen....

 

[Davidc]

Good