guys, i took off the rear wheel to fix a flat, only to have the washer-like piece which sits on the inside of the dropout fall apart. i assume it was broken from tightening down too much, and just fell off when the pressure was released.
i was somewhat concerned at the thought that, if the pressure wasn’t holding it in place to maintain the spacing, the axel would have loosened on one side. not sure what the ramifications could have been, probably something along the lines of me eating the pavement.
I’ve had the lock nut* crack from over tightening. Not a complete break, just a crack going halfway around the nut. But never had an outside washer crack on me before.
*Not sure if that’s the proper name. It’s the bit that holds my sealed bearings in the hub.
i found a new one today, after doing what i now call ‘the great bike store triangle of melbourne’ (tgbstom for short) involving cecil walker->spoke(n)->pushi.
I’ve lost tension on the non-drive side once. I felt a strange movement in the bike, then felt the rear wheel rolling against the chain-stay. Nothing catastrophic came of it, but I wouldn’t want it to happen at speed, or ever really.