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Is there an adjustment which affects the amount of axle on each side of a front hub?

I have one wheel set, in which the front wheel does not center in the fork. If I switch to another front wheel, that one does center properly in the fork. (Closing the quick release is difficult, one side of the fork gets pulled in). Therefore, I know the problem is not with the fork, but with this first wheel. I suspect that something is wrong with the hub, and has been that way for the life of the wheel.

Is there an adjustment I can make to attempt to get the wheel to be properly centered in the fork?

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    Sounds like Dish (Search for 'Bicycle wheel Dish'). Spokes are holding the rim to one side more than the other. Fixing it is possible, but may be best left to a professional wheel builder. In the absence of a wheel truing stand, If you put the wheel in the wrong way round it will give you an idea how far off it is.
    – mattnz
    Commented May 21, 2017 at 6:58
  • What kind of brakes? If rim brakes the problem is either the centering/dish of the wheel spokes, or a missing washer or nut on one side of the axle. With disk brakes there are several possibilities (though the centering/dish problem is more apt to occur).
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 21, 2017 at 11:58
  • Road bike. Rim calipers. Enve 2.0 fork, so high quality. I really think the hub is the problem, since when I close the quick release (Shimano), the hub is not centered in the dropouts. The NDS dropout is squeezed inward, while the DS dropout is tight. I suppose could be the QR, but it's not the dish.
    – GLNN.LRSN
    Commented May 21, 2017 at 15:50
  • If you get the chance to add a photo or two, might help future readers understand what you're facing.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 20:25

1 Answer 1

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I will answer my own question, I think I have figured it out.

The Shimano skewer is slightly thicker diameter than the skewer which originally came with the hub. (However, the skewer which came with the hub is poor quality and doesn't close very well.) I think that the end cap is slightly too small diameter to let the Shimano skewer all the way through the axle and move freely.

I have a Bontrager skewer from another wheel set which seems to work. Looking at the two skewers side by side, I can see where the Shimano gets larger diameter closer to the threads than the Bontrager skewer.

The hubs in question are branded "Pure" and the wheel set came from Bicycle Wheel Warehouse. Note that a Shimano skewer worked fine in the rear hub.

Not sure what I will do, as the Shimano skewers have the nicest cams.

If you see the comments, I was able to fix this problem by purchasing a new Shimano Ultegra skewer. The threading was different on the Ultegra model, and it is compatible with these hubs.

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    Can you unscrew the nut and cam from the ends and use the Shimano cams on your Bontrager skewers?
    – RoboKaren
    Commented May 21, 2017 at 18:42
  • Can you clarify - is the problem that the skewer's nuts are oversized and sitting on the lawyer lips, so pulling the wheel crooked ? If so, a new skewer is a cheap solution. You might be able to file down the lips, but its a little risky.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 20:24
  • Also, you can accept this answer by clicking the tick/check mark below the up/downvotes number. That's totally permitted.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 20:24
  • To clarify, the problem is that the threaded portion of a Shimano skewer is slightly shorter than the original skewer. The threaded portion seems to be ever so slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the skewer. Therefore, the Shimano skewer does not pass far enough through the hub to center the hub on the skewer. Nothing to do with the nuts or lawyer lips. It's all in the endcaps of this particular hub (which admittedly, is a cheaper hub).
    – GLNN.LRSN
    Commented May 23, 2017 at 18:42
  • Further update. I bought a new Shimano Ultegra skewer, and this one does work in the hub. The prior skewer which did not work was a Shimano 105 skewer.
    – GLNN.LRSN
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 19:58

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