Bontrager wheel skewers

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer. I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

Neal

Neal wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

"lbs" is not a unit of torque, it's a unit of force.

I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

There are a lot of expensive but very poor-performing skewers out there,
often with premium brand names.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/skewers to tell the good ones from the bad
ones.

Sheldon "Enclosed Cam" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| You can fool some of the people all of the time, |
| and those are the ones we're after! --Anon. |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Neal wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

"lbs" is not a unit of torque, it's a unit of force.

I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

There are a lot of expensive but very poor-performing skewers out there,
often with premium brand names.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/skewers to tell the good ones from the bad
ones.

Sheldon "Enclosed Cam" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| You can fool some of the people all of the time, |
| and those are the ones we're after! --Anon. |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Neal wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the
tire will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten
them to 45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

"lbs" is not a unit of torque, it's a unit of force.

I have tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put
my old Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the
Bontrager rear skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the
part that goes against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how
plastic can be used instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other
hub companies?

There are a lot of expensive but very poor-performing skewers out there, often
with premium brand names.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/skewers to tell the good ones from the bad ones.

Sheldon "Enclosed Cam" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| You can fool some of the people all of the time, |
| and those are the ones we're after! --Anon. |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com


Thanks for the information. The bike is a 1978 Gios Torino which has the
horizontal dropouts. I did not realize that the new type skewers do not work
well with this type of dropout. I'll just keep the Campy skewers. Does seem
strange that Bontrager does not even use any metal on the cam side of the
skewer. Even with vertical dropouts this does not seem like a good idea. I
have more than a few reservations about these wheels.

Neal

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Neal wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the
tire will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten
them to 45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

"lbs" is not a unit of torque, it's a unit of force.

I have tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put
my old Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the
Bontrager rear skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the
part that goes against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how
plastic can be used instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other
hub companies?

There are a lot of expensive but very poor-performing skewers out there, often
with premium brand names.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/skewers to tell the good ones from the bad ones.

Sheldon "Enclosed Cam" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| You can fool some of the people all of the time, |
| and those are the ones we're after! --Anon. |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com


Thanks for the information. The bike is a 1978 Gios Torino which has the
horizontal dropouts. I did not realize that the new type skewers do not work
well with this type of dropout. I'll just keep the Campy skewers. Does seem
strange that Bontrager does not even use any metal on the cam side of the
skewer. Even with vertical dropouts this does not seem like a good idea. I
have more than a few reservations about these wheels.

Neal

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 20:15:02 -0400, "Neal" wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay.

I've had this problem with various skewers, especially with horizontal
dropouts, double especially if they're chromed.

Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

I think that's 45 pounds of closing force on the end of the lever.

I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

My Bontrager skewers have metal, not plastic, touching the frame. The
plastic bit is just a cam follower. Maybe your skewer is missing a
part? Got a photo?

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 20:15:02 -0400, "Neal" wrote:

I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay.

I've had this problem with various skewers, especially with horizontal
dropouts, double especially if they're chromed.

Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer.

I think that's 45 pounds of closing force on the end of the lever.

I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

My Bontrager skewers have metal, not plastic, touching the frame. The
plastic bit is just a cam follower. Maybe your skewer is missing a
part? Got a photo?

Thanks for the information. The bike is a 1978 Gios Torino which has the
horizontal dropouts. I did not realize that the new type skewers do not
work
well with this type of dropout. I'll just keep the Campy skewers. Does
seem
strange that Bontrager does not even use any metal on the cam side of the
skewer. Even with vertical dropouts this does not seem like a good idea.
I
have more than a few reservations about these wheels.

Neal

The wheels are good, it's just the skewers suck. Same thing with my American
Classic 420's on my Serotta Ti. Replace their skewers with Shimano skewers
and zero movement.

Thanks for the information. The bike is a 1978 Gios Torino which has the
horizontal dropouts. I did not realize that the new type skewers do not
work
well with this type of dropout. I'll just keep the Campy skewers. Does
seem
strange that Bontrager does not even use any metal on the cam side of the
skewer. Even with vertical dropouts this does not seem like a good idea.
I
have more than a few reservations about these wheels.

Neal

The wheels are good, it's just the skewers suck. Same thing with my American
Classic 420's on my Serotta Ti. Replace their skewers with Shimano skewers
and zero movement.

Neal wrote:
I just got a set of Bontrager race lite wheels and I am having a problem with
the rear wheel skewer not holding well. The wheel has shifted over and the tire
will rub against the chainstay. Bontrager tech support says to tighten them to
45 lbs. but I don't see anyway to put a torque wrench on the skewer. I have
tightened them extremely tight and the wheel still moves. I have put my old
Campy skewers on and the wheel holds fine now. I looked at the Bontrager rear
skewer and found that on the side with the quick release the part that goes
against the dropout is made of plastic. I don't see how plastic can be used
instead of metal in this area. Is plastic used by other hub companies?

Neal


sheldon's right on target. enclosed cam is the [only] way to go.