Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Locking Skewers for Track Bike?

Is there such a thing as locking skewers for a track bike? Kryptonite locking skewers will not work with track hubs.

steve

Not sure about rear hubs, but I use cheeky purple anodized Tranz-X components anti theft skewer on my front wheel. For laughs, really (I loathe purple anodized parts)

There is such a thing, and I have it.
Check out www.pitlock.de
You could use pitlock/kryptonite for front wheel, seatpost, threadless headset etc.
For rear locknut, the options are limited. Pitlock has a locknut for rohloff hubs that fit 10mm (1mm pitch) axle of Dura Ace, Surly and Suzue's NJS (loose ball bearing one, not sealed one) hubs. I have these locking thingamagics but I have not used them yet. They are really badass (big, burly and all stainless).

If you have regular pitlock skewers, you can make your own locking 8mm nut for Phil and Paul hubs. Just use a hex head 8mm dia (1.25mm pitch) 40mm stainless nut and file out the head to fit the profile of pitlock wrench. 8mm shaft fits perfectly within the 'pit' of a regular pitlock skewer set.

However, remember that a thief with a hacksaw can saw off the fork (or stays) and steal the wheel.

Hi! I'm glad someone here is talking about the pitlock.. I've been searching for something like this forever. It seems I found it exactly ONE day too late.

Yesterday I had my brand new hand built track wheels jacked.

I had 30mm deep campy atlanta rims which I powdercoated frost white, and hand built them myself. Suzue promax hubs.. 18t Surly cog.

Anyway.. moving right along - I was wondering what other details you can tell me about these pitlock locks. From what I gather from the site, they have ones for solid 10mm axels which should fit many track hubs, correct? I'm assuming this doesn't require replacing the whole axle either..

What kind of hubs are you using them with? Where can you get them in the US? Are you using a lock on each side of the hub, or one track bolt and one lock per hub?

Thanks in advance.. hopefully I can build up an equally nice set of wheels again and keep them this time :(

Why don't you all just lock your wheels with a chain of some sort? I wear a NYC kryptonite chain around my waist and it fits around both wheels and the frame. Never had a problem. May not look as cool as a baby u-lock in your back pocket...

Hi! I'm glad someone here is talking about the pitlock.. I've been searching for something like this forever. It seems I found it exactly ONE day too late.

Yesterday I had my brand new hand built track wheels jacked.

I had 30mm deep campy atlanta rims which I powdercoated frost white, and hand built them myself. Suzue promax hubs.. 18t Surly cog.

Anyway.. moving right along - I was wondering what other details you can tell me about these pitlock locks. From what I gather from the site, they have ones for solid 10mm axels which should fit many track hubs, correct? I'm assuming this doesn't require replacing the whole axle either..

What kind of hubs are you using them with? Where can you get them in the US? Are you using a lock on each side of the hub, or one track bolt and one lock per hub?

Thanks in advance.. hopefully I can build up an equally nice set of wheels again and keep them this time :(


Unfortunately noone in US resells them. How stupid is that? It is even harder to get the 10mm axle locks. But they are easy to get if you have friends in europe, or if you visit europe. If nothing else works, try asking some folks on this board who are based in europe.

I can answer any question you may have about pitlocks since I have a set of just about everything they make. I have not used their axle nuts on the bike yet, since I am still deciding what hubs to use. The pitlock axle nuts are 10mm diameter with thread pitch of 1mm. This is the shimano/NJS standard for rear axle (front axle is 9mm dia x 1mm pitch). Surly, Suzue NJS promax (expensive loose ball bearing ones), suzue carbon fibre hubs and most old japanese made ones use this standard. However Suzue non-NJS (low-end ones and sealed cartridge bearing ones) use 9.5mm dia axle for both front and rear, and so are most hubs made in taiwan. Campagnolo uses 10mm axle but with 25tpi (thread per inch). This may or may not fit the pitlock nuts, I have not verified it (notice that 1mm pitch is 25.4 tpi). So, if you want to use pitlock your options are dura ace, surly and two models of suzue, and you can use them only on the rear axle. I think one locknut is sufficient but using two will make it twice as hard for theives. For the front axle, you have to get a QR hub and use their QR lock (or use kryptonite locking skewer). Take special care to make sure the theives don't make out by lifting the whole fork. Also, front wheel is easier to secure with a u-lock, along with the frame.

Excellent information - thanks so much.

I can never get my mini u-lock around the wheel, frame, and parking meter/rack, etc. They're deep rims so there are very few exceptions here.

I've used the kryptonite locking skewers on my road bike and loved them.

I guess I could build a wheelset with a Surly solid hub rear, and Surly QR front (they look very similar), then get a hold of the Pitlock solid axle & QR axle as a set - this wouldn't bet too bad of a setup. Likewise I could ostensibly do the same thing with Dura Ace, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a high flange QR Dura Ace hub.

Have you ever heard of someone putting a rear axel into a front hub? I don't see why that wouldn't work.. is that a bad idea? Or even more of a bad idea: fitting QR axels into track hubs front & rear to allow for Kryptonite skewersets...

It really sucks there's no US reseller right now.. hopefully I can find someone who would be willing to ship them over for me. Maybe I should become a reseller!

Have you ever heard of someone putting a rear axel into a front hub? I don't see why that wouldn't work.. is that a bad idea? Or even more of a bad idea: fitting QR axels into track hubs front & rear to allow for Kryptonite skewersets...

It really sucks there's no US reseller right now.. hopefully I can find someone who would be willing to ship them over for me. Maybe I should become a reseller!

The pitlock axle nuts are quite big. You may have an issue fitting them on the front axle since most forks start bulging out near the dropouts. QR ideal will work fine in the front tough. It is not clear if you can use QR axle in the rear, since they recommend a low tightening torque. I am afraid you may strip the threads trying to tighten the rear axle.

If you decide to get Van Dessel hubs (they are 130mm spaced though), then you can use the pitlock bolts designed for securing MTB V-brakes directly onto the hub axles both front and rear. Van D's have a 6mm internal thread in the hub axle that fits these pitlocks.

If you like to tinker then you might try fabricating something for phil hubs so that you can use pitlocks. I am in the process of scoping out the task, but the more I think about it the more it looks feasible. Don't ask me for details yet.

Interesting about the Vand Dessel hubs.. that might be something to look into, although I think they might be too wide for my frame.

Very cool idea for the Phil hubs.. and well worth it if you plan on leaving PW hubs out of your sight for more than five seconds haha..

So I just wanted to update anyone who cares on the path I ended up taking with this..

I tried talking to the Pitlock people by email several times and they just kept saying they'd look into various things then never contacting me back.

Today I found out that Phil Wood makes a conversion kit for their fixed gear hubs to convert them to quick release. SO.. I bought this kit, and then I bought a Kryptonite locking skewer set.

I figure, I'll buy the PW hubs and I'll have the axles handy if/when I ever want to swich them back; and then they will be bulletproof on the street due to the Krypto.

In the event that anyone here comes across Pitlocks floating around in the US, I'm still very interested. g_taco, I'd love to hear about your pitlock to Phil Wood conversion when you finish it.

Just a note to all If you have something thats really desirable don't lock it up at all just ride out of your house , then around and then back home.

So I just wanted to update anyone who cares on the path I ended up taking with this..

I tried talking to the Pitlock people by email several times and they just kept saying they'd look into various things then never contacting me back.

Today I found out that Phil Wood makes a conversion kit for their fixed gear hubs to convert them to quick release. SO.. I bought this kit, and then I bought a Kryptonite locking skewer set.

I figure, I'll buy the PW hubs and I'll have the axles handy if/when I ever want to swich them back; and then they will be bulletproof on the street due to the Krypto.

In the event that anyone here comes across Pitlocks floating around in the US, I'm still very interested. g_taco, I'd love to hear about your pitlock to Phil Wood conversion when you finish it.

So here is what I came up with, for phil or paul hubs. I bought 4 stainless 8mm bolts with hex head and shaved off the head until the profile fit into the pitlock key. It took some patience and time (total of about 4 hrs over 2 days for 4 bolts). I used my dremel tool and a file to grind off the metal. The pit (bucket like part) fits the 8mm bolt perfectly. Here are the pics.
pitlock QR axle:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0251.jpg
8mm bolt with pit:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0252.jpg
bolt inside the pit:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0253.jpg
bolt with key:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0254.jpg

Pitlock's problem right now is that they have no American distributor, they don't have a good english language web page, and they are unwilling to set up an on-line store that makes it convenient to make credit card or PayPal purchases from them. The only way they seem to want to do business is by international money transfer which costs almost as much as a skewer set does. I gave up last time I tried to do business with them... :(

So here is what I came up with, for phil or paul hubs. I bought 4 stainless 8mm bolts with hex head and shaved off the head until the profile fit into the pitlock key. It took some patience and time (total of about 4 hrs over 2 days for 4 bolts). I used my dremel tool and a file to grind off the metal. The pit (bucket like part) fits the 8mm bolt perfectly. Here are the pics.
pitlock QR axle:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0251.jpg
8mm bolt with pit:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0252.jpg
bolt inside the pit:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0253.jpg
bolt with key:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1px3p/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dscn0254.jpg

Nice! Do the bolts feel safe enough to crank down (I just had a nightmare vision of these stripping..)

Nice! Do the bolts feel safe enough to crank down (I just had a nightmare vision of these stripping..)

I have not cranked them on the frame yet, still building wheel. I cannot imagine them stripping. The head is not really round, but some weird shape and it fits snugly inside the key. Besides, the head is thick too. There could be other problems but stripping is very unlikely.

Is there like a lock I could attach to my skewer to lock it to my fork? I've seen something on a bike locked outside of my school.. the skewer had something that looked like it was from a hardware store attaching the skewer to the fork.. anyone do this.. have any idea what I'm talking about?

You probably saw someone with the QR lever hoseclamped to the fork arm.

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/guides/watercooling_setup_pt1/hose-clamp.gif

It's really just an inconvenience, but given that so many fronts are pinched because some random person notices that it's not locked to anything, it does a decent job deterring those sorts of thefts.

that's what i saw, thanks.

I forgot to post this before, but here ya go!

http://unaesthetic.net/stuff/frankenbike2.jpg

I know a lot of you guys were interested in this and many have emailed me about it. I'm selling this wheelset on ebay now - check it out:

Locking track wheelset (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=110144160964&rd=1&rd=1" target="blank">Locking track wheelset)

who the **** are you
?

ask around

i think hes friends with this guy



hey guys, how do i get myself on the list of this group buy? How much would it cost me with all the parts to come with it? Shed some light? THanks all

i'm not sure i'm understanding the sarcasm, but since you're taking it to that level i've been posting on this board 2-3 years before the both of you...

i checked out the pitlock system awhile back and i just don't
think that the system is worth the money, trouble or time.

…the best way is still just to lock up your wheels.

Why don't you all just lock your wheels with a chain of some sort? I wear a NYC kryptonite chain around my waist and it fits around both wheels and the frame. Never had a problem. May not look as cool as a baby u-lock in your back pocket...

cause that is some heavy-ass **** to carry around all the time. works for some people but the brute force solution is not always the best.

btw, you can order pitlocks in the US from www.urbanbiketech.com, but they are canadian so the shipping is a bit steep if I recall.

part of the problem is that the pitlock nuts aren't the right TPI to fit any sort of track hubs (with the exception of a rear dura ace hub if i remember correctly). if it's the skewer set you're talking about you run into the same problem, hence the wheelset i've built.