Hi,
I am planning to build a bike for a long tour that will take me through all kinds of surfaces: asphalt, gravel, mountain singletrack, sandy tracks, and various environments.
I have almost decided on a steel frame for my project, but there is one thing that bothers me — it has horizontal dropouts, something I have no experience with. I am going to use a derailleur and mechanical disc brakes. I will not use fenders.
Are horizontal dropouts safe for touring or bikepacking?
Is there a risk that the wheel will slide out?
Are there any adapters that can retain the wheel and make it safer?
Thanks.
Photo is the actual dropout.
by WelcomeMobile3486
6 Comments
I’ve been riding a Surly Ogre with horizontal dropouts since 2015 now, never had any concerns about safety, and the rear wheel has never slipped when riding a geared setup.
A couple of things to note is that if you run fenders/mudguards, it’s a pain to remove the rear wheel with them fitted.
Also, not sure if the frame pictures is the one you’re looking to buy, but consider the brake caliper mount. On my surly I can slide the caliper fore and aft in the mountings, meaning I can easily accommodate wherever the wheel sits in the dropouts. With the frame pictured you’d likely have to add spacers to adapt to the position of the wheel unless you find that perfect sweet spot where everything lines up.
I believe this is what you’d want if you go with a rholoff hub which is a good option for long distance touring.
basically no risk the wheel will slide out: the skewers/nuts will keep it in place and the force from the chain will pull it forwards if anything.
I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t be given that the wheel is properly tightened. Pedaling pulls the wheel forward, braking pulls it back, but in general a properly tightened wheel will not budge at all.
My fatbike has horizontal dropouts and that thing faces bigger braking forces than any touring bike ever will.
Go for it
Wheels roll forward, this is why your bike goes forward. To fall off, your whell would have to move slower than the rest of your bike, which isn’t really a threat 🙂 generally, if wheels slide in horizontal droputs, they tend slide to the front (if there is free space in the dropout).
Just slam it all the way forward.
In case you want the wheel to sit back a bit, for example for fenders, front derailleur, tires or longer wheelbase in general: use Surly Monkey Nuts V2.0