loimpact

I swear, tonight I had to take my cassette off & I'd already worked up in my head how it sometimes drives me crazy dropping/swapping the rear wheel.

It usually drops ok w/ occasional madness just getting the, now dangling chain off the skewer nut.

But come time to replace, sometimes it goes in like a swiss watch and other times I feel like I'm solving Rubik's cube trying to get the damn wheel back up into the drops.

Mine's an 11 speed Ultegra 6800 so, ya the cassette's got a lot of gears on it, but geez loueez.

/rant

DrIsotope

On both the wife's bike as well as mine, the rear wheel won't drop out without removing the skewer completely-- the nut on the skewer won't slip out between the derailleur and the frame. Which was initially frustrating, but once I got used to pulling the skewer, I found that the rear wheel just drops right out. So try it without the skewer sometime.

Canker

Throw disc brakes into the mix and it become even more of a pita. My easiest bike has rear facing horizontal dropouts which eliminates most of the fighting with the RD. You just pull the chain straight back and slip it on the cogs and slide the rear wheel in. I know the new clutched Sram RDs for mtn bikes allow you to lock the RD which would make things a hell of a lot easier. Both my mtn bikes are still rocking old 9 speed setups though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcFkUdKOLK0

FBinNY 

The simple secret to easy wheel removal and replacement is to do it in high gear or at least the high in the back. This serves 2 purposes

The first is that the smallest sprocket clears the RD easiest both on the way out and back. The second is that you'll know which to put the chain on when going back, and the lever position will match. Matching the right sprocket and lever position keels the axle correctly between the dropouts so it can slip back in.

Even if you removed the wheel in another gear, put the lever in high before reinstalling and put the chain on the smallest sprocket and life is easier.

Two other minor tricks that help. Make sure the skewer springs are balances so you have fairly even gaps for the dropout on both sides. If necessary buy a new pair. Also, if you have metal drops with squarish ends, file both sides to form a blunt point where the axle first engages the dropout. This will find the gap between the skewer an locknut face an help guide the wheel home. Of course you don't want to file the aea where the axle rests because that has to be flat and parallel, so plan on filing where the axle first meets the frame.

On some bikes this may mean filing the front edge of the hanger, or the bottom of the section forward of the slot, or both. Pick the spot(s) by notion where the axle tends to hang up when going back in.

With a bit of work, and practice, you'll soon be able to take the bike out of the trunk of a car and install both wheels without ever putting he frame down. With more practce, it'll take about 1/2 a minute, or less.

estasnyc

The serious annoyance that I'm experiencing with the rear wheel on one of my road bikes is that I can't pull it on or off while the 25mm tire is fully inflated.

Maybe a wheel with a wider rim width would be my solution? I'm too heavy to go with 23mm tire.

CliffordK

What type of brakes do you have?

Most of my tires will squish between the brakes without unlocking them, but there is generally a brake unlock at either the brake calipers or the brake levers that can be used in some cases.

I often find myself up-shifting or down-shifting slightly to get the wheel aligned. Not a big issue.

sanchitbhoir712

23 mm tire will be a proper solution to the problem and will serve the purpose.

02Giant 

This is the method to use...works like a charm!

loimpact

Thanks for the suggestions. I do leave mine in small/small whenever I'm pulling wheel/chain/whatever. But sometimes it just still gives fits. I'm on an EVO as a full-race frame, of course there's really not much excess room around the stays so I could probably use a little more patience but I'm male.......and therefore have none.

The front I can definitely do blindfolded only because when I travel to a ride I remove the front & the the bike in the extra-cab of my truck. But perhaps that would be key to me for the rear. Maybe I can just make a habit of removing the rear wheel & just finding something (cleaning or whatever) to do back there on a regular basis so I can learn it blindfolded.

But I'm male.......and therefore lazy & I probably won't.

mconlonx

I teach flat repair class, and after showing people how to remove a rear wheel, even the newbiest of newbs can very easily remove and reinstall a rear wheel. Gravity is your friend.

Release brakes, shift to highest gear/smallest cog in the rear, undo the QR, lift the bike up by the saddle. If tire doesn't drop out immediately, give it a bump on the top with the bottom of your fist. Should fall right out. Lower the bike enough so that you can lift the cog off the chain and angle it so it clears the QR nut on the drive side, and it's out.

I have seen the rare bike where there is skewer nut interfering with the RD, and which necessitates removing the skewer. But again -- rare.

Going back in, lift the bike up by the saddle, angle the wheel in so that the QR nut clears the bottom chain run, settle the bike down so that the upper chain run catches the small cog forward of the upper RD pulley, and gravity should to the rest of the work. Sometimes the wheel gets hung up on the brake caliper, but the bike should drop right down onto the axles, requiring a bit of wiggling at the most to get the axle into the rear drop outs. Close the QR and the brake release, check that the brakes are centered, especially if you hit them reinstalling the rear wheel, and you are good to go. Remember, at that point, you are in high gear...

Willbird

With some bikes, maybe just the Disk Brake ones ?? Not sure on that you have to loosen the nut on the QR to get it out, then run the nut back down to get it tight again, due to the so called "lawyer lips" that help keep the wheel in even if the QR is not properly tightened ??

Not sure why exactly but the old Schwinn road bike I had I used to pull the rear tire to put the bike in a car trunk, and that wheel seemed to come in and out more "naturally", and as I recall there was even a "peg" to hang the chain on when the wheel was out ?? That bike as a 6 speed as new, and I put a 7 speed 105 group on it.

Not sure if adding more cogs made things not so "free and natural".....or if it is the 135 rear spacing both my bikes have these days, but I agree it just feels "awkward" to get a RW out for some reason. I get it done :-).

Drew Eckhardt 

I run traditional width rims with 25mm tires and avoid that problem by running my brakes with a little extra clearance, just enough to remove or install a fully-inflated tire with the brake releases open.

Shimano makes in-line brake releases if you're missing them for some reason like running Shimano (release on the brake) levers with Campagnolo (release on the lever) brakes.

ThermionicScott 

A wider rim may help, but I've resigned myself to partially deflating my 28mm tires to get them between the brake pads after opening the QR and turning the barrel adjuster all the way in. I ain't going to narrower tires.

practical

I find that using the old backyard mechanickl trick of flipping the bike upside down works easier. On a bike stand, it's tricky to get the wheel in, hold it in place evenly and tighten the skewers.

mconlonx

I'm talking about working with the bike on the ground, lifting up only the rear end with the saddle; not in a stand, not even upside-down with my saddle and potentially shifters in the dirt. Gravity is my friend getting the wheel out and then getting it back in.

Kopsis

Pretty much describes my technique except that I usually pull back the RD with one hand while lifting the frame so the wheel will clear. Short chainstays on many road bikes wont allow the wheel enough forward movement after leaving the dropouts for the small cog to easily clear the upper idler pulley. A little twist of the RD and the wheel just drops right out.

trailangel

Life Is A Biache.......my rear wheel skewer F'd me up, now I'm on the Jerry Springer Show.

caloso

Put the chain in the biggest gear combination (that is biggest chainring/smallest cog), release the rear brake caliper, flip the QR, lift the bike by the back of the saddle, bang the wheel down with the heel of your hand.

DannoXYZ 

There's a biking movie somewhere...
... way back in time....

where a chic....
.... changes out a rear-flat....
... with the guy standing over the bike...
IN ABOUT 5-SECONDS FLAT!!!

hayden52

On my fame, putting the wheel back on with the chain in the smallest cog, I run the risk of jamming the chain between the cog an the chain stay because there is so little clearance. I fin it much easier to use the 2nd smallest cog.

FBinNY 

Yes, on some bikes the 2nd sprocket is easier than the outermost, but the basics are still the same, especially the need to have the lever in the matching position

scott967

Hmmm...

I've aways held the wheel in my left and held the bike in my right at the dropout using my thumb to rotate the der back and up and the wheel pretty much goes right in. It did seem a little less fiddly with horizontal dropout and the chain peg. I guess I am the only one who manipulates the der?

scott s.
.

estasnyc

It's not a brake issue. I have a Shimano with a quick-release. It's a seat-tube clearance issue.

I have 9mm clearance between the seat-tube and the tire when it's fully inflated and can't easily pull the wheel all of the way forward from out of the horizontal dropouts.

The bike is a vintage Bottecchia and the rim is a Mavic cxp-10.

on the path

American Flyer. Yes, she does a pretty amazing change-out.

The movie is rather awful, but as a cyclist I still found if fun to watch.