Originally Posted by BostonFixed
Is it really a ss? YES!
A QR rear works great, provided you use an old steel QR, have serated steel locknut faces, and have steel dropouts. I used a QR rear for SS, and currently use a QR rear for fixed, and never have had a problem or a wheel slip. Much more convienent, IMO.
Here's a pic of my old setup from the winter:
Wow...if you went riding the day your photo was taken, with ice and snow up to the rim...you are VERY serious kinda cyclist.
I use bolts instead of quick releases on my front wheels. But, I've had rear wheels slip slide when I used bolts with the 80's style "long" dropouts (my Trek dropouts look similar to those in your photo). When I put maximum torque into closing a quick release, my rear wheels have "stayed put" (at least until I hit a pothole that I didn't see coming).
This week I've had fun riding my (kinda/sorta) single-speed '83 Trek. This bike has been my "midnight movies" bike, because it fully shows twenty-something years of use and abuse, with its DIY ugly green paint, speckled with specs of surface rust and a three inch long dent in the top tube. Too ugly for a crook to want. And now, as a single-speed, it is probably even less interesting to a thief.
The combination of a light Reynolds 531 frame and fork, decent hubs and rims, and Continental tires make "Green and Ugly" a fun ride. The big BMX pedals make it easy to ride with ANY sort of shoes: dress shoes for riding to work, running shoes for the park, or beach sandals for the coffee shop. My cheapest bike may become my favorite bike.