Trek Mountain Bikes - Basic Stuff

• REMOVING THE FRONT WHEEL

 You can't transport your trek mountain bikes or any other mountain bike easily if you can't remove the front wheel, since it is required for most roof racks and for jamming a mountain bike inside your car. Wheel removal involves releasing the brake and opening the hub quick-release or bolt-on skewer, or the axle nuts on the low-end models.


If you have a single-leg fork (i.e. Cannondale Lefty) wheel removal is different. 


RELEASING THE BRAKE

Most brakes have a mechanism to release the brake arms so that they spring away from the rim. Allowing the tire to pass between the pads. V-Brakes (a.k.a. the "sidepull cantilevers") are released by pulling the end of the curved cable guide tube (a.k.a. "the noodle") out of the horizontal link atop one of the brake arms while either holding the link or squeezing the pads against the rim with the other hand. Most cantilevers and U-Brakes are released by pulling the enlarged head of the straddle cable out of a notch in the top of the brake arm while holding the pads against the rim with the other hand.

Most disc brakes allow the dis to fall away without releasing the pads. Old Dia-Comple cable-actuated hydraulic disc brakes require opening a latch under the caliper, securing it to the fork. The entire caliper can then be swung up and forward, allowing the wheel to come out.

Roller-cam brakes are released by pulling the cam down and out from between the two rollers while holding the pads against the rim. Many linkage brakes are released like v-brakes or cantilevers. Hydraulic rim brakes usually require detaching the u-shaped brake booster connecting the piston cylinders together, if installed, followed by unscrewing or quick-releasing one wheel cylinder.

DETACHING A WHEEL WITH A QUICK-RELEASE SKEWER

This is easy and you don't need a tool. 1- Pull the lever out to open it 2- After opening the quick-release lever, unscrew the nut on the opposite end of the quick-release skewer's shaft until it clears the fork's wheel-retention tabs. 3- Pull the wheel off.

DETACHING A WHEEL WITH AXLE NUTS

1- Unscrew the nuts on the axle ends (usually with a 15mm wrench) until they allow the wheel to fall out.
2- Most mountain bikes have some type of wheel-retention system consisting of nubs or bet tabs on the fork ends (also known as "dropouts") or an axle washer with a bent tooth hooked into a hole in the fork end. These systems prevents the wheel from falling out if the axle nuts loosen. Loosen the nuts enough to clear the retention tabs on the fork ends.
3- Pull the wheel out

For Cannondale Lefty forks, first remove the disc brake with a 5mm hex key then unscrew the axle bolt (usually with a 5mm hex key as well). This pulls the wheel right off without any further encouragement from you. On reinstallation, grease the bearing seats on the axle (the thing sticking out from the fork). Slide the hub back on, line it up, and tighten the bolt. Mount the brake again, assuring that you keep the same spacers between it and the mounting tabs on the fork.

INSTALLING THE FRONT WHEEL

Leave the brake open and lower the fork onto the wheel so that the bike's weight pushes the dropouts down onto the hub axle. This will seat the axle fully into the fork and center the rim between the brake pads.If your fork or wheel is misaligned, you will need to hold the rim centered between the brake pads when securing the hub.

With a disc brake, drop the slot in the caliper (the part attached to the fork) over the rotor (the big disc attached to the wheel) Make sure that the rotor does not dislodge either pad. 

For more details and maintanace tips for your trek mountain bikes and other mountain bikes brands check out more often this page