Okay, I’ve got an antique (1959) bike with just a single gear, I guess it’s called a “fixie” in bike parlance. After changing the tires I’ve got a problem. I can’t get the chain back on properly without the rear wheel being dragged too far forward in it’s bracket. I can either have the chain on properly and have the wheel too far forward, or fix the wheel into it’s proper place and can’t get the chain on. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. :mad:
Help? The thing worked just fine before, and I’m NOT going to go buy new chains, chain tools, or any other blasted expensive bike stuff. I’m sure there is a trick to this that I’m just not getting.
Your description suggests that you’re trying to fix the wheel in place and then attach the chain. On my fixed gear bike, you would put the chain on, slide the wheel into the dropouts, and then lock the wheel in place.
Right, but if I do that the chain seems to prevent the wheel from falling all the way down by an inch or so. If I bolt it there, the tire rubs and is unstable. I could hammer it down, but I don’t want to damage the bolts.
If I understand you correctly, you’re assuming the wheel must go all the way in. I don’t think this is correct. Put the chain on, adjust the wheel and tighten. To keep the wheel from rubbing you must make sure the wheel is aligned with the wheel slot (back fork?).
You want to pull on the wheel as you tighten the axle into the yoke.
That’ll give you the right tension on the chain, and get the wheel far enough back so it doesn’t rub on things. As I remember it, doing this was a pain in the ass. If not careful, you can get the axle tightened up on a slant. Then you get a bike that doesn’t want to go straight, or some serious wheel rubbage up near the front of the rear fender.
Down? The slots on your dropouts are vertical? I’m having trouble picturing that.
FWIW, my bike was a cheap Sears model. The dropouts faced forward, and you’d slide the wheel back until the chain was tight. Then you’d tighten the bolts just enough to hold it in place while you fiddled with the alignment by moving one side or the other back and forth. Once you had it aligned to your liking, you’d tighten things down all the way. Like PlainJain mentions, the wheel would not be all the way back in the dropout slots.
First of all, you probably have a singlespeed bike. A fixed gear bike has no freewheel and the pedals are always in motion with the bike wheels. These were available in 1959 (indeed, three-speed fixed gear bikes could be obtained) but they were rare.
And what was said before is true - keep the nuts loose, slide the rear wheel forward in the dropouts, get the chain around both sprockets, slide backward to tighten chain and straighten wheel.
There may be antirotation washers to contend with - my old Raleigh uses these to keep the hub from turning. Then just tighten the nuts down. Tighten evenly on both sides. It will be very difficult to damage the frame - I wouldn’t worry about this.
Not sure of the reasons but it’s been the case of all the fixed gear bikes I’ve worked on. Maybe to accommodate after market tires or rims. Maybe to accomodate stretching chains or maybe to keep from having the exact tolerance.
to accommodate different lengths of chain. Chains stretch with use.
Also, in the 1950’s bikes were sold as toys for children.(the opposite of modern bikes which are serious sports equipment for adults. ) So the engineering was very primitive, and nobody really cared.
My Raleigh Sports wasn’t a kids bike by any means - and it wasn’t really sports equipment either. Nobody got anywhere fast on that heavy piece of steel.
OTOH, they would get there, and they would be able to carry something with them in the rattrap holder on the back.
My bike was sold in the early 1970s (although the basic design was decades old) and spent its first few years carting college students around East Carolina State.
Okay it seems to be fixed. I’m not crazy about how close the tire clearance is but I doubt my light self will press it that hard. I’ll make sure the tires are good and stiff.
The slots on the rear are called dropouts, and what the OP is describing are horizontal dropouts. As previously stated, these allow the chain tension to be adjusted, both for stretch (which is actually wear) and different sized sprockets. Bicycles equipped with deraillier gearing do not require this (the jocky wheels take up any slack) and are normally equipped with vertical dropouts which are slightly lighter and require less skill when remounting a wheel.
Roller (bicycle) chain can only be shortened/lengthened in full link* (two rollers) increments. For common bicycle chain this is 1". Since the chain is folded in half, the center-center distance between the rear axle and crank will change by 1/2". Thus, at an absolute minimum, the rear dropouts need to allow 1/2" of adjustment, but most allow an inch or so.
The correct setting for the axle should have just detectable slack in the chain when the crank and rear sprocket are at the position that makes the chain the tightest. (they normally have a small amount of eccentricity which makes a big difference in chain tension)
Google “Sheldon Brown” for great tutorials on fixing your bike. The world is a lesser place for his passing.
*Half links are available, but not widely, and they are literally a weak link as well, due to the dog-leg bends in the side plates.
Rear slots are typically longer than needed to allow for differences in the length of the chain. Some high end bikes used to have long screws that went in from the back of the slot. This allowed one to fine tune where the hub would go, but allow for quick replacement of the wheels in case of a flat. Remember that in the old days you either had no deraileur to take up the slack, or the deraileur had much less play than in modern bikes with 6 or 7 gears in a large range of sizes. Hereis an example.
