Sherpa front wheel removal .

[AndyE]

Hi all, this evening I have had to repair my first front wheel puncture! ok nothing to write home about, but having a Thorn front rack fitted, I had to remove the Hex Key Skewer to remove the wheel. Is this usual or have I missed a trick hear?

Andy

[Danneaux]

Is this usual

Yep. Was for me on my Sherpa Mk2. The skewer ends (for a Shimano q/r, or the ends of a SON bolt-on skewer) fit inside the perimeter of the Thorn rack. This was also the case on some other bikes when I used Blackburn Low-Riders.

or have I missed a trick hear?

Depending on how the rack has been fitted and the presence of any spacers and the particular q/r or hex key skewer fitted, it is sometimes possible to gently ease the rack apart just enough to clear.

I found it much less hassle to simply remove the skewer. On my frame, running 2.0 Schwalbe Duremes, I needed to deflate the tire partially to ease it past the brake pads anyway.

My Mk2 had no "lawyer lips" on its fork dropout. If you have the later Mk3 or another Thorn equipped with them, you'll need to loosen the skewer a few turns to get it past those anyway.

Business as usual. 

All the best,

Dan.

[AndyE]

Thanks Dan, Had me scratching my head for a moment.

Andy ( considering new tyres) 

[JimK]

On my Nomad it's a bit of a fight but I can budge the rack apart enough to get the skewer through. I am using pitlock skewers - might be a hair shorter than whatever other...

[strictnaturist]

I just remove the skewer, loosening one side. Watch you don't drop the wee spring or end in the long grass though 
Then dead easy. Might require a slight tyre deflate,or as i do, unhook brake calliper, but all good n easy.

good luck

[nztony]

Andy,

No you are not going crazy, I had exactly the same problem the first time I had to fix a front wheel puncture on my Nomad.
I did 4800kms or around 6 months before my first puncture then another 6 months before my second, and both times I had to remove the hex key head and skewer too. I'm not an overly clever bike mechanic so I was assuming it was just me. The guy who made up my Nomad here in New Zealand said I wasn't going mad and that I had done the right thing.

With my big 2.15 Schwalbe Marathon Mondials I have to super deflate them to get them past the brake blocks too.

Who would have ever believed changing a rear wheel puncture is easier than the front.

The scary thing was that I was riding around for my first 2500kms with my pump with the Schrader fitting instead of reversing it for the Presta end - that would have really confused me had my LBS not pointed that out to me.

Tony
NZ.