Front wheel removal

[JanieB]

Good morning Thorn enthusiasts

I need to find out if I am doing something wrong please.

We both ride Nomads and they have pannier racks both front and back. When removing the front wheel I cannot get the axle past the racks without actually pulling them apart with force. This means it becomes a two person job and I just do not feel comfortable doing it. Surely that is not normal?

Any help here please. Was thinking  the other way would be to take the whole quick release skewer.

[martinf]

With the Thorn front rack I always remove the skewer to remove or refit the front wheel.

[JanieB]

It Martin

Thank you, it looked like the most obvious solution to me too.

[lewis noble]

. . . that was my experience with front racks on a Raven Tour and Ripio as well - removing skewer only takes a few seconds.  Biggest worry is making sure you don't lose the springs etc with cold hands in grass!

Lewis

[PH]

. . . that was my experience with front racks on a Raven Tour and Ripio as well - removing skewer only takes a few seconds.  Biggest worry is making sure you don't lose the springs etc with cold hands in grass!

Lewis

Worry not
The only purpose of the springs is to push the ends out to clear the dropouts.  Once the wheel is fitted the springs are out of the way and do nothing.  No need to take my word for it, here's Sheldon

The quick release still works without the springs, but installation of the wheel is more difficult because the skewer must be centered by hand before the axle will slide into the dropouts.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html

I've had bikes where the skewer needs to be removed to get the wheel out, in those cases I've thrown the springs away, they're just a nuisance.

[lewis noble]

I never knew that, thanks! All that tome wasted hunting through the grass . . .

[mickeg]

I have not had a front rack on my Nomad for about three years, do not remember if I needed to remove the skewer or not.  My Sherpa and other bikes, I think I have managed to juggle things around until I got it in or out.

I have no idea if I have saved a wheel from loss or not, but on a bike tour I use the Halo brand XL bolt on skewers on both front and rear.  Uses a 5mm allen wrench.  I carry two multitools on a bike tour, if I lost one I would still have the other to remove a wheel if I need to.  I assume that most thieves are opportunists and do not carry around a spare 5mm wrench.

The Halo brand skewers that I use only use one spring, not two.

[JanieB]

Thank you to everyone for contributing, much appreciated.

mickeg, yes, our bikes also have the Halo brand skewers on. Will check the spring situation next time I have to remove a wheel, up to now the skewers have been in situ.

[mickeg]

Thank you to everyone for contributing, much appreciated.

mickeg, yes, our bikes also have the Halo brand skewers on. Will check the spring situation next time I have to remove a wheel, up to now the skewers have been in situ.

You did not say if yours are bolt on or quick release.

Halo makes both quick release and the bolt on ones.  The ones I have are these:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/black-halo-xl-hex-key-skewer-set/

Note in the photo there is a tab that has to go into the dropout so that the part does not spin when you turn the wrench.  If you are not keeping track of what you are doing, it is very easy to get that tab in the wrong place and when you tighten it, you bend the tab.  But as I mentioned, only one spring as you can see in the photo.

I believe that their quick release ones have two springs.

[John Saxby]

+1 on Halowheel "slow-release" skewers. 

I use these on my Raven, as well as on my derailleur bike (not a Thorn).  I started using the Halowheels in 2015, when I found that the rear QR skewer on my Raven was working itself loose.  I had stopped for lunch on a very rural road in the Ottawa Valley, and wheeling the bike around, I felt a slight movement from the back wheel where there should not have been one. The QR had worked loose, and fortunately I noticed this & tightened it bef descending some steep bumpy hills (!)  When I got home, I ordered a couple of pairs of Halowheel hex-key skewers from SJSC.

They've been trouble-free, but I have noticed that the little tabs, which help to centre the skewer before tightening, both have bent on the rear-wheel skewers.  (I tighten these to the recommended 7 Nm.)

[in4]

Currently on sale at SJS

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/black-halo-hex-key-skewer-set/?geoc=AU

[mickeg]

It is touring where I consistently use the bolt on ones. 

For around town use, I usually carry a tool that will allow me to remove a wheel but not always, so sometimes I use a quick release and sometimes bolt on.

IN4 above listed the ones that are normal length, I use the XL ones and I listed that link up above in one of my posts.  I do not know if the regular length ones will fit in a thicker dropout bike like some of the Thorns, but the XL does.  The front on the XL is quite long, I hack sawed that down on one pair of my Halos.