Originally Posted by grolby
That would depend upon the type of QR you're talking about.
http://www.juggleart.com/catalog/pro...pg&w=203&h=200
This QR = good.
http://www.amclassic.com/images/Skewers.jpg
This QR = bad.
I know it might be hard to believe, but a rider hammering away on a fixed gear doesn't pull on the axle any harder than a rider hammering away on a derailer bicycle. Back when roadies still had horizontal drops, I don't think that any pro racers felt any need to hesitate before going nuts on their pedals. A QR holds pretty damn tight. Track riders have long believed that they are somehow stronger than other riders and put more stresses on their drivetrains, but this isn't actually true as long as they are driving forward (obviously, a freewheeling rider is incapable of putting stress on the drivetrain in the opposite direction). This belief has found its way into the fixed-gear community, though. A rider in the granny ring on an MTB puts several times more force on their chain and freewheel bearings than a fixed-gear rider can possibly bring to bear. A good thing, too, as that kind of torque would probably strip a hub instantly as soon as they tried to skid!
All that said, I already mentioned that there are benefits to using axle nuts, but that doesn't mean that they are somehow superior to a QR. I'm not too anxious about having to use a wrench instead of a quick-release, but I'm annoyed by the myth of their insufficiency.
What you say makes sense except the direction of the forces is not quite the same between a horizontal dropout and a track end, however a good QR still should work with track ends. The only problem is finding good QRs as most manufacturers seemed to have switched to aluminum or other weaker material once verticle dropouts became common. The only steel QRs I've had have been on the old road bikes I've picked up that had horizontal dropouts. Still I don't find the tracknuts to be an inconvience so I won't change.
Craig