sms@eisx.UUCP (Samuel Saal) (04/26/85)
Can anyone tell me about vertical rear dropouts. I am looking in
to buying a new bike and I like the idea of the ease of removing
the rear wheel from vertical dropouts. My questions: Are they as
strong as standard dropouts? Will the wheel fit correctly? What
will I be losing by not being able to adjust the forward-rearward
position of the of the wheel? What bikes (brands, models) come
with vertical dropouts as standard? On what bikes would they be
an "option" or must I go to a custom built bike?
If anyone can help, please wite to me or post. I'll post a
summary.
Sam Saal ..!{ihnp4}!eisx!sms
RRide like the WWindguy@sdcc12.UUCP (Guy A. Lewis) (05/02/85)
For some reason I recall only seeing track bikes with vertical dropouts. Does this seem right? Guy -- ihnp4 \ akgva \ decva > sdcsvax!sdcc12!guy dcdwest / ucbvax / All good things must come to an en....
wagner@uw-june (Dave Wagner) (05/09/85)
> For some reason I recall only seeing track bikes with vertical > dropouts. Does this seem right? Although it's not true that if it has vertical dropouts, it must be a track bike, it is true that all track bikes have vertical dropouts, for the following reason. The wheelbase of a track bike is so short that the wheel cannot be moved forward at all without bumping into the back of the seat tube; therefore, the wheel could not be removed from the bike (without deflating the tire, and maybe not even then) unless the bike has vertical dropouts. They're not very common off the track because it's harder to build a frame with them. In fact, I have a touring bike with vertical dropouts. This is pretty rare, and the only reason I was able to get them is that I had the frame built to my specifications by a good builder. Some people will argue that they don't belong on a touring bike, since if your wheel goes out of true you can't make side to side adjustments at the axle; my counterargument is that if it's so bad that I can't true it on the spot, then it can't be ridden on anyway! I like the convenience and I also believe (note the key word "believe" here, this is only my opinion and I don't want to be the subject of a bunch of flames) that they hold the wheel more securely than diagonal drops with adjusting screws. Dave Wagner University of Washington Comp Sci Department wagner@washington.arpa {ihnp4,decvax,ucbvax}!uw-beaver!uw-june!wagner "The surest thing there is is we are riders, And though none too successful at it, guiders, Through everything presented, land and tide And now the very air, of what we ride." - Frost
kehoe@reed.UUCP (Dave Kehoe) (05/09/85)
Thanks to everyone who replied to my "Bicycles, Violence, Hatred" article. The article was printed on the Op-Ed page of the Oregonian, Portland's daily newspaper, on Friday, April 26. No track bikes have vertical dropouts. Track bikes can't have vertical dropouts because the chain is tensioned by moving the rear wheel fore or aft (unlike 10 speeds where the chain is tensioned by the derailleur). There is one big advantage of vertical dropouts, and one big disadvantage. The advantage is that you can't pull the rear wheel out no matter how hard you try. For the average cyclist this doesn't matter, but I'm strong, and if I jump on the pedals I can pull my rear wheel out in any gear. The way I deal with this is to either use Campagnolo hubs, which have nubbies on the locknuts for better grip, or to tighten my quick releases very tight. The former is expensive, the latter stresses the axle, bearings, and quick releases unnecessarily. The disadvantage of vertical dropouts is that the frame must be built to exacting standards. If anything is even a *teensy* bit off, the rear wheel will always be crooked. Consequently, until recently no production line bicycles could be made with vertical dropouts, and few custom frame builders wanted to spend the extra time being careful. Recently, however, some Japanese companies have made tremendous improvements in robot technology and quality control, and we're now seeing vertical dropouts on production Japanese bicycles (Italian bicycle technology is still 20 years behind the times). You should definetly buy vertical dropouts if you can. You'll be able to use Hi-E hubs (made in Tennessee) which are made only for vertical dropouts -- these hubs are both stronger and lighter than *any* other hubs.