Very long rear dropouts

[Twilkes]

Was changing some tires on my wife's old mountain bike (a Raleigh Zest so probably a couple of decades old) and the dropouts looks like this:



Having put the wheel back on, and putting it as deep into the dropout as it will go without engaging a sledgehammer, the drive side bolt is maybe 1-2 millimetres from the end of the dropout, but there's a lot more space on the non-drive side as per the photo.

It's very tight so I'm not worried about the wheel coming loose or coming out but should they both be all the way to the back of the dropout?

The way it is at the moment, if I moved the non-drive side further back to the end of the dropout, the whole wheel would be out of alignment.

 

[C R]

Was changing some tires on my wife's old mountain bike (a Raleigh Zest so probably a couple of decades old) and the dropouts looks like this:

View attachment 529623

Having put the wheel back on, and putting it as deep into the dropout as it will go without engaging a sledgehammer, the drive side bolt is maybe 1-2 millimetres from the end of the dropout, but there's a lot more space on the non-drive side as per the photo.

It's very tight so I'm not worried about the wheel coming loose or coming out but should they both be all the way to the back of the dropout?

The way it is at the moment, if I moved the non-drive side further back to the end of the dropout, the whole wheel would be out of alignment.

Is the derailleur mounted on the frame, or using a claw over the dropout? If there's a claw mount, that will make the driveside dropout shorter. What matters is that the wheel is central with respect to the chainstays.

 

[Twilkes]

Is the derailleur mounted on the frame, or using a claw over the dropout? If there's a claw mount, that will make the driveside dropout shorter. What matters is that the wheel is central with respect to the chainstays.

I think there is something over the dropout, yes, that probably explains it. Never seen that setup before though.

 

[I like Skol]

They all used to be like that back in the day, and some still are. Nothing wrong so don't worry.