Topic: Question for the Bicycle folks on the forum...PICS ADDED

[DaytonGuy]

I'm in the process of building my oldest daughter a road bike.  I picked up a pretty nice, steel, small frame, Fuji Absolute.....1989 vintage.  It has a bolt on derailleur hanger on the rear.  The design of the hanger reduces the depth of the dropout on that side, meaning the rear wheel doesn't seat all the way into the dropout on the other side.  It currently has a bolt on rear wheel, which I plan to upgrade to a quick release wheel.  I would really like the QR wheel to simply drop in and bottom out on the dropouts on each side to insure it is in straight.  My thought is to mark the derailleur hanger, cut it and weld it to the drop out so it should be positioned in about the same spot it is now.  It would, of course, be shifted toward the wheel the width of itself since it currently mounts on the outside of the frame and it would be flush mounted to the frame after the weld.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?  Will that cause shifting problems?  Am I overthinking it too much?  Is the difference in dropout width on each side a minor concern with QR wheels?  

Thanks.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Pics with some napkin drawings describing current/proposed construction would help us visualize what you want to do.

[ieism]

I think I kinda understand, but pictures would help a lot.

I guess it depends how much it will be shifted, you can adjust the derailleur quite a bit so that shouldn't be a problem I think. Make sure you weld it on straight though, a bend hanger is a big problem (that's why they use bolt on hangers in the first place).

question two: I think the QR itself is not the problem, but will a standard size hub still fit? Or do you plan to use spacers on both sides?

[DaytonGuy]

I'll put up some pics later to help explain what I'm thinking.  I plan on upgrading from the current 6 speed cluster to a 9 speed cluster.  I'll have to widen the dropouts a bit to make that fit.  That shouldn't be too dificult with a steel frame bike.  I just want to get that pesky derailleur hanger out of the way so the wheel fits nice and straight and it's not a PITA to put the rear wheel back on if I need to take it off. 

I think it will be more clear with pics.

[2wheels]

My old Peugeot has the same setup (If I understand you correctly)
It has a shim on the left side that holds the axel even.

[DaytonGuy]

So here is what I'm thinking. 

2wheels...I have no shim, but it would make things alot simpler if I did.  I'll google for one.  That would be simple assuming my QR skewers would be long enough to fit on the outside of both the hanger and the shim piece.

Anyway..here goes...

[Roach Carver]

I wouldnt worry too much about all that stuff. just get her one of these.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/05/jet-powered-bic/

[DaytonGuy]

That's the ticket!   

[Duke McDukiedook]

It looks doable, will you need a hangar to mount the rear derailleur on?

As far as probably widening to accommodate a 9 speed cassette you would want to make sure your midpoint in shifting (4-5) is in a straight line with your larger front sprocket (if you are going with a front 2 sprocket setup- 3 sprocket you would want a straight line on the middle front).

OR you could turn her into a hipster and turn it into a one gear or three gear. 

 

[DaytonGuy]

Dukiedook.....The metal piece I want to cut and weld back to the fram is the derailleur hanger. 

I like the spacer idea for the other side as mentioned by 2 wheels.  anyone know what that would be called or where to get one?

[ieism]

Looks like that should work. Here's how I would do it:

Get a hub with casette, and a QR first, and if you have to bend the frame to get it in do that first.

I wouldn't even bother welding the hanger. It looks like if you just move it so that the axle slots all the way into the dropout it would work too. Why can't you just keep it on the outside of the dropout and bolt it into place, but in a different location?

Grind off only the bit of the hanger that slot into the dropout. Install the wheel and the hanger, and clamp it into place with the QR, for now. Install your gears and all other stuff and check if you got the position of the hanger right. If the derailleur is too close or far from the cogs, you will have trouble. In picture 3 it looks too far off IMO, but the best way is to try with all the piece on.

In fact thinking about it, I would get a specific bolt on hanger. They make these for aluminum framed bikes. Salsa used to make nice ones, but i'm out of the bike thing for a few years now so I don't know if they still do.