roadbike back wheel slipping

MungoMan

I cycle a 23 year old reynolds 501 raleigh roadbike, i cover about 100k a week on it.

The rear wheel is kept in place with the usual quick release skewer mechanism.

Sometimes the wheel comes loose while cycling, and to resolve it, i tighten the skewer as much as possible, and eventually, I'll get it to a state where it stops slipping.

But the problem is never completely resolved. Yesterday, when i was accelerating up a hill out of the saddle , it slipped again, and it took me 2 or 3 attempts to get the wheel secure again..

I know it will slip again...

What might the resolution be ?
A new skewer maybe (the existing skewer looks perfect, but maybe it isnt).

I see there is a small bit of wear on the frame at the contact point between the skewer and the frame (nothing worth talking about though)

Paul Kiernan

Have a read of http://sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html and http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_dr-z.html#dropout.

It may be that your QR is not compatible with the dropouts and you need a better quality QR.

bax4556

To resolve this use a serrated washer between the qr skewer and the frame on both sides,the proper washer will grip the frame securely and you should not need to overtighten the skewer

feck sake lads

you need a different QR.;)

MungoMan

Cheers for the replies.

Found out that my 23 year old frame has horizontal dropouts. And that modern roadbikes generally have vertical droupouts

Sheldon mentions that he doesnt recommend the modern skewer with horizontal dropouts

Other people has posted the same problem as me on forums.

Ill try serrated washers as bax has suggested

Holyboy

It may be the quick release but I doubt it, my guess is the axle protruding from the over lock nuts is too long for the drop outs, frames made from 501 tubing generally have very thin drop outs and if the axle is protruding too much it can't be locked up enough, the washer fix mentioned above may solve it but is a bit messy, I would file or grind the axle down a small bit to shorten it, it should only take up about half of the width of the drop out.
You will probably only need to do this on the non drive side as I would think the bike has a plate fit rear mech but if not then both sides will need to be done.

Or you could fit a solid nutted axle to be sure to be sure!

doozerie

A variation on Holyboy's suggestion is to stick an extra washer inside one or both of the outer lock nuts on the axle. This will obviously widen the width between the outside faces of the lock nuts, effectively shortening the length of axle protruding on each side. If the wheel is already a snug fit between the dropouts, before closing the quick release, then this suggestion won't be a good idea as it'll make the wheel more difficult to fit into the frame, but if there is quite a bit of play there then it's an option to consider (it's even possible that the axle is actually short a few washers/spacers in its current state would could be the root of the problem). Also make sure that you don't move the wheel off centre, which means fitting the same width washer on each side. I'm assuming here that the axle is the appropriate width for the frame in the first place - a frame can handle a narrower width of axle/hub to an extent but it increases the risk of slipping.

Taking one step back though, and at the risk of asking you to suck eggs, are you closing the quick release skewer correctly? Over the last while I've seen more bikes, and more expensive bikes, in the bike parking at work where a skewer has not been closed correctly - they'd been "closed" with the skewer handle/lever in the open position and presumably the bike owner had just threaded the handle/lever on as far as they could. That'll make for a wheel which is not held very tightly and prone to slipping (unless the owner is a gorilla with gnarly hands in which case it'll make for a wheel that'll be tough to remove).