Help! Can’t remove Motus hub gear rear wheel due to it fouling on disk caliper.

[hankhill]

I’m hoping that someone can offer advice. I’m trying to remove the rear wheel on my Raleigh Motus, with hub gears. Gear cable off, nuts and washers removed, all good. However, due to the dropouts not being vertical, the brake disk is fouling the caliper when I try to lift off the wheel (bike is inverted not on a stand). I don’t want to start undoing nuts on the caliper without some guidance. Am I missing something else, or is loosening the brake caliper the only way? Photos attached.

 

[Gavin]

There's nowt scary about removing the caliper. Undo the two allen-headed mounting screws (probably a 5mm allen key) and pull it off in line with the disc.

Don't pull the brake lever whilst you've got the caliper off.

Re-fitting is the reverse of removal. If you're a bit of a worrier then add some threadlock to the mounting bolts when you replace them...

 

[Scorpio]

Hi, difficult to tell but the flat sides of the axle should be in line with the slot the axle fits into.
In the 2nd photo it looks like the axle has spun around, this could be what is causing problems.
Do you have anti-rotation washers fitted?

 

[Nealh]

Yes something has occurred and the hub axle it at 45 degrees in the drop outs, looks like it might be wedged hence not releasing one reason why anti rotation washers are fitted even on hub gears. Use a correct fitting spanner to turn the axle straight in the drop outs and it should come out easier.

 

[vfr400]

That's a complicated arrangement. The caliper adaptor screws are in slotted holes because you have to move the wheel up and down the drop-out to tension the chain, so each time you put the wheel in or tension the chain, you have to reposition the caliper adaptor to get the pads in the right position relative to the disc. To me, it just seems daft. It's expensive to make and difficult to maintain, when a simple chain tensioner would have been cheap and simple.

 

[hankhill]

Thanks to all that replied. The axle flats were not lined up because I had been trying to get the wheel out. And, as Gavin said, there’s nowt scary about removing the caliper. I figured out that two of the bolts are for adjustment sideways, and two others hold the caliper to the frame, so I loosened one and removed the other, slid the caliper slightly, and was able to remove the wheel. It is indeed a complex design and one that does not exactly make for a quick and easy roadside puncture repair.

If anyone’s interested, I was removing the wheel partly for practice because I knew it would be harder than a derailleur , but mainly to swap out the sprocket for a smaller one to fix the poor (IMO) gearing on the Motus. I’ll post another thread on that shortly.