Tight Ends

What can be done when one's fork ends are too tight/too narrow to accomodate the axle?

you need to measure the OLN - how much spacing you have between the fork ends?
and how much is it on the hub? what hub is it?

sounds like you got an old school fork that's 96mm and a standard hub that's 100mm.
if that's the case some hubs have 2 spacer washers between the locknuts and the cones, just unscrew the locknut take one out (always leave at least one in or you'll screw the bearings).

OR

just stretch the forks a little bit and force the hub in.

OR

go to a frame builder and get them to coldset the forks to fit the OLN of the hub

YES! exactly! originally 95mm fork/110 mm rear dropout. washer's taken care of. tried the hand-flexing, no go. tried calling my nearest shop; fully booked for aaages. SO, i went about cold setting with a 2"x3". nearly there, but not quite. frustration mounting, tried some unorthodox methods (have some strange scratches on my neck to prove it). thing is, it's like the notches-- the very fork ends-- are too narrow for the axle. do you think that widening the dropouts further will help, or should i stop while i am ahead? is there a way to widen those notches? i think i saw something about filing them somewhere, but am not sure about it...

to clarify: it's not the hub width that seems to be the issue-- it's the axel diameter that's causing me grief (or rather the slot where the axel ought fit). cheers.

ah right i see what u mean.
5mm is almost nothing for steel forks OLN so don't stretch the forks anymore and save your neck!
try measuring the diameter of the fork ends and see what u come up with. sounds like it's some imperial size thing.
most hubs nowadays should have a 9mm front axle.
probably not worth trying to get hold of those weird imperial sizes so get your round file out!

What kind of frame is it? Some Keirin frames are spaced 110 at the back and also take 8mm axles instead of the standard 10mm. Have you got calipers or a ruler to measure the wideth of the dropout slot? If it's much less than 10mm then you will either need to file the frame or find special hubs if you don't want to file. If the frame is of value to you then I would get the filing done by a framebuilder or reputable shop rather than doing it yourself.

the fork ends could have bene sleightly crushed in durring shipping as well, see if they look bent in any strage way, or the fork could be made to use with quickrelese and not nutted axels, in which case its file time

Damn, I thought this was gonna be porn...

...or american football at least!

Yes, file them carefully or get a framebuilder to do it.

hmmmmmmmm! tight rear ends..........

hrmmm.. Well, I managed to get the wheels mostly on. It's a pre-war Hetchins. I was surprised that this is an issue (the axle thing) Trying to leave as much intact as possible, so now the debate is, if i can't fit the wheels safely, do i a.) file/have filed, or b.) blow a wad on some Hardens. Thing is; as much as I'd like to have it professionally restored some far off day in the future; I just want to RIDE it! I've gone over my current budget already, and I JUST got my wheels... hrmm. Worried that if I file it, I defile it. And I'm not sure I should defile those nice tight ends!
what to do, what to do...? :/

Momentum What kind of frame is it? Some Keirin frames are spaced 110 at the back and also take 8mm axles instead of the standard 10mm. Have you got calipers or a ruler to measure the wideth of the dropout slot? If it's much less than 10mm then you will either need to file the frame or find special hubs if you don't want to file. If the frame is of value to you then I would get the filing done by a framebuilder or reputable shop rather than doing it yourself.

Fscking angle grind the sh1t out of it.. no hesitation!!!!
Restoration projects are for old men :P

sheldon has a bike where he used only the QR skewer itself to hold the wheel in place. it's on one of his bianchi mtb's, and it's for the rear as well... you might be able to get away with it this way if u're brave but make sure you tighten it like mad.

and hey are you talking about fork ends, rear ends or both?

i agree with hippy on the grinding

when the rear end is a bit tight, i just use exta lube (referance 'grease me up' topic)

'It is possible to grind or file a flat on each end of the axle like this:'

Jsut file the drop outs. IT will take five min.

OK, I am now very much leaning towards filing the axle (thanks, leeww), but am wondering why TheBrick(Tommy) seems more inclined towards plan filing the fork ends? It'll be quicker, yes, but irreversible... Any more input before I start grinding? Thanks y'all.

If you feel filing may weaken anything (I do not know how far out the fit is) you could always file a little from the axle and a little from the fork ends.

Unless your fork end are particualy skimpy 1mm from either side of each fork end will not do any damage.

Some old bilkes have fork end where the entrance shall we say to the fork end is narrower than the inside i.e looking from the side it is not a half circle with two parrallel line comming out for the axel to slot into the entrance pinches in. I had to deal with this on my girlfriends bike month or so ago.

You can change wheels easily in the future.

It is easy to file off 1 mm off each side of each fork end and keep it square. Trying to two parrallel flat spots on each side (top bottom) of a axel and then tring to make sure when you go to the other side of the hub (so the other end of the axel) that your flat spots end up in the same plane is difficault. While not impossible without a vice (any secure way of holding the axel) and idealy removing the axel keeping everything square and true with out having axel well secured e.t.c it would be alot easier to make a mitake, hence meaning you would have to file more off. If you end up having to file more off you are now starting to reduce the amount of threads the net has to engage with.

If you deside to file the axel idealy get a small amount of lead (several layers of thick card board will do) and clamp on end of the axel (wrap the lead or cardboar round the axel, this stops thread damage) in some mole grips so that you can hold the axel nice and firm. File one side of the axel, take is slowly so that you do not end up filing round the axel. Once you have on side done start on the other but take it easy. keep checking to see if it will fit you don't want to take too much off.

Good luck.

Update: After much deliberating, I filed the fork ends. Am VERY excited. Sat on my bike, and rolled forwardsbackwardsforwards in my flat. Walked down to get new brake callipers, and a chain. Figured it couldn't hurt to have them double check my handiwork...

They wanna sell me a NJS chain, and as much as I like those darling little K's stamped on 'em, I just can't really justify the cost. Then they started going on about the (seriously negligible; like less than 0.2 mm) play in my bottom bracket, and I had to state a couple of times that; play or no; I really didn't want them poking around in my bottom bracket, which is practically hermetically sealed. Not to mention, I don't want to pay for it. Then they tried to tell me that I need new crank arms, which I also really do not want. Then they wanted me to write down my maximum bduget, and I told them that I was already over budget, and that I understood that I would need certain components (brake liner, callipers, etc.), and that I do not have a "maximum budget" but will pay only what I find reasonable price-wise per part.
BUT they seemed nice, and I need help with the brakes, so I've left my bike there overnight 'til the a.m., when I will go back to hover while they work (I told them I wanted to watch).
(ranting, sorry).
Can we just say: I am having severe seperation anxiety. SEVERE.

Anyway, thanks a bunch for the input; I got a wicked high slipping those wheels in.

where did you go to bring in your bike? they shouldn't really be trying to sell you NJS parts and all the other bits. that's not really cool.

I got a rubber hammer, placed my wheel over the fork and hammered the fucker in.
Worked out nicely.

Hovis Brown where did you go to bring in your bike? they shouldn't really be trying to sell you NJS parts and all the other bits. that's not really cool.

Depends. Maybe they had nothing else?

hippy [quote]Hovis Brown where did you go to bring in your bike? they shouldn't really be trying to sell you NJS parts and all the other bits. that's not really cool.

Depends. Maybe they had nothing else?[/quote]

the only thing they had in stock chain-wise was NJS? hmmm.

Not many bike shops in Oz (at least before the fixie boom) would regularly stock 1/8th chains other than for BMX and these were often too short. I don't know the shop. I'm just playing devils advocaat..