I removed the drop-out adjusters... Do I need to adjust my derailleur or add chain or both? I have an old 1998 Lemond Zurich, and I recently purchased new wheels. The old bike had drop-out adjusters. When I added the new wheels I felt like my bike was rubbing against the brakes, then all of a sudden the rear wheel was dislodged and started rubbing against the chainstay. After the ride, I found the dropout pins (adjusters) spring were old and unaligned. I was able to remove the drop-out adjusters, so I'm hoping that fixes the problem and the wheel does not fall off again. However, the wheel sits a good 1 cm further into the drop outs. Could this new position effect shifting? Do I need to add chain links? I'm not interested in knowing why my wheels are falling out, just whether I should adjust my chain or derailleur.
So you might be about two links short, or you could move the wheel forward. The purpose of the adjusters is to make it easy to position the wheel. The tension on the quick release skewer is what actually keeps the wheel in place. From what you describe it sounds like the skewer wasn't generating enough tension.

Try this:


Locate the wheel where you want it – I'd put it where the old wheel was.
Adust the quick release handle so that it is pointing strait out, parallel to the axle (perpendicular to the wheel).
Tighten the adjusting nut on the skewer until all of the gap is taken up.
Press the lever home into the closed position – it should take some force. If you can't get it to go parallel to the chain stay, then back off the adjusting nut. Just a little bit, maybe a quarter turn, and check again. Don't be afraid to push reasonably hard, the lever should leave a bit of a mark in your palm.


If you do that, the wheel should hold where you put it. You might want to put the adjusters back in. They will help get the wheel in the right place, so you won't need so many hands to install it.