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I recently upgraded my road bike from Vision Team 30's to Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST wheels, However once I got the wheels and put them on, the rear wheel seems to rub on the brake hardware when riding. When I put the bike on a hanger and spin the wheel, it seems fine, but every time I ride, I can feel resistance, as if I'm riding with the brake slightly engaged. I messed around with the quick release and found out that even with it tightened as much as humanly possible, The rear axles seem to almost be a little too short, and I think this causes them to sit slightly loose in the rear dropouts, despite the skewer being tightened all the way. I tried using the QR skewer that came with the wheels, but it is worse than the ones that came with the Vision wheels, so I've been using them, but still have a bit of play with the rear wheel. From the looks of it, I could throw a washer in between the axle and the frame to have it sit snug, but I'm wondering if this is safe or not? By my estimates, the gap with the new wheels is maybe 1-2mm, just about the size of a washer.

I was under the impression (not knowing much about road bikes) that all wheel axles had the same width, is this not true?

Update: photo showing washer and problem area: enter image description here

It seems the washer works great. No more wobble in the wheel, no more rubbing.

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    Are you sure the axle is moving in the frame rather than the wheel moving on the axle? You should be able to tighten the QR enough to squeeze the frame to the width of the axle nuts, even if they are spaced narrower than your frame is designed for.
    – Andrew
    Commented May 3, 2020 at 17:31
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    Have you compared the width of both rims? It is quite possible that the Mavics are slightly wider and that you have to open the brakes' barrel adjusters by a turn or two if the pads are too close to the rims.
    – Carel
    Commented May 3, 2020 at 19:49
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    Are the new wheels nrand new or used?. Check the hub is assembled properly - especially the spacers (8) tech.mavic.com/tech-mavic/technical_manual/data/…
    – mattnz
    Commented May 4, 2020 at 1:16
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    TBH sounds like your brake caliper needs repositioning is all.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 4, 2020 at 21:38
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    @Criggie there definately was a problem. with the QR skewer clamped down as much as humanly possible, I could stiill grab the wheel and move it a good 1/4" or so around in the dropouts. I ended up adding a washer I had which fit perfectly and it so far has caused zero issues (picture updated)
    – Evan R.
    Commented May 5, 2020 at 20:50

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could it simply be that the new rim is a few millimeters wider and the brakes are making contact because of that? If the wheel is seated into the dropout all the way, the quick release will have enough force to fully clamp the frame to the hub securely. Check by unclamping the qr, putting some body weight on the saddle with a shoulder and reclamp the qr. Beyond that, mattnz's suggestion above is possible. The whole hub assembly/bearings might be too tight or too loose, which is an easy fix.

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