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10-05-07, 12:56 PM
I bought a new lightweight wheelset (Easton Orion II), and I ordered a set of bolt on skewers for both the lighter weight (about 60 grams) and the slight improvement as a theft deterrent. These bolt on skewers use a 5mm hex to tighten and loosen the skewer. Since I always have my multitool on the bike it seems like a pretty sound idea.
The spindle is steel.
However, the skewers I bought have black aluminum acorn nuts vs. the steel nuts in a black plastic cap used on most current quick release skewers.
I went to Sheldon Brown's wonderful web site, and he wrote...
"Good quality skewers have acorn nuts with steel serrations that can bite into the face of the dropout, so the wheel won't slip forward. Good skewers have a serrated steel surface to bear against the outside surface of the frame, but most of the "boutique" skewers have soft aluminum parts in this position, presumably to save weight.
The aluminum "teeth" are too soft to get a good grip on the dropout. Since the chain pulls on the right side of the hub, where the acorn nut commonly resides, this type of skewer is almost always unsatisfactory for use with a frame that has horizontal dropouts. In addition, "boutique" skewers generally have (yuck!) aluminum threads, vs the steel threads of the two-piece acorn nuts. These are much easier to strip. "
Now I'm scared to use these aluminum acorn nuts now, so where can I buy just a couple of steel acorn nuts?
Is anyone else using these aluminum nut bolt on skewers?
Thanks,
DPN
The spindle is steel.
However, the skewers I bought have black aluminum acorn nuts vs. the steel nuts in a black plastic cap used on most current quick release skewers.
I went to Sheldon Brown's wonderful web site, and he wrote...
"Good quality skewers have acorn nuts with steel serrations that can bite into the face of the dropout, so the wheel won't slip forward. Good skewers have a serrated steel surface to bear against the outside surface of the frame, but most of the "boutique" skewers have soft aluminum parts in this position, presumably to save weight.
The aluminum "teeth" are too soft to get a good grip on the dropout. Since the chain pulls on the right side of the hub, where the acorn nut commonly resides, this type of skewer is almost always unsatisfactory for use with a frame that has horizontal dropouts. In addition, "boutique" skewers generally have (yuck!) aluminum threads, vs the steel threads of the two-piece acorn nuts. These are much easier to strip. "
Now I'm scared to use these aluminum acorn nuts now, so where can I buy just a couple of steel acorn nuts?
Is anyone else using these aluminum nut bolt on skewers?
Thanks,
DPN