Is my back wheel on properly??

[valetillidye]

Firstly apologies if this is a really stupid question !

I've only taken my back wheel off once before and to cut a long story short it mustn't have been on straight and I ended up ruining the wheel bearings and my wheel.

I've just bought a child trailer buggy and I had to take off the quick release mechanism, take out the bit that goes through axle, add the clip, tighten it up and bobs your uncle.

I'm now however paranoid that it isn't on straight and I'm going to ruin another wheel.

Are there any quick tips that anyone can give me so as I can be a bit more confident that everything is ok

thanks !

 

[chillyuk]

Just check that the wheel is centred between the chain stays after fastening the quick release.

 

[screenman]

I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but if you do not know how to fit a back wheel properly then should you be fitting a child's trailer. Go to a LBS and have it checked properly, you owe it to the child in the trailer.

 

[Moodyman]

If you're unsure, always tip the bike upside down (rest it on the handlebar and saddle) and drop the wheel in that way. Physics will ensure it's sitting central. Then tighten quick release skewer.

Ideally, you want to leverage on the frame or fork when tightening the skewer, otherwise it ain't tight enough.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i had that the first time i used my burley encore. i forgot that the steel road bike's horizontal dropouts require the skewer to be tightened to stupidly tight degrees...

 

[valetillidye]

I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but if you do not know how to fit a back wheel properly then should you be fitting a child's trailer. Go to a LBS and have it checked properly, you owe it to the child in the trailer.

thats insulting enough to have made me laugh out loud !

I'll be honest, I am the least mechanical person to walk the earth, I blame my father for insisting on doing everything for me as a child.

I'll also be honest in as much as I own a bike, I clean it and I ride it and send it in for a service once a year for the bits I may have missed or need replacing. There is a very good bike shop nearby, they are not cheap but I know the bike mechanic well enough to talk honestly to him with sounding overly thick.

The trailer is fitted, everything seems ok but I know nothing about "cones", wheel alignment, etc etc etc

I just wanted to check I hadn't missed something blatantly obvious

 

[screenman]

Do not over tighten the skewer as it can snap if you do so.

www.bicyclinglife.com/howto/UseAQuickRelease.htm