I picked up an old Motobecane conversion that still used the original QR for the front hub. I'd like to swap for a solid axle. I've not done this before and it seems pretty straight forward. Is there anything special I need know?

Perhaps the bigger question is, where is the best/preferred place to buy a new axle? LBS? Online? It doesn't appear to be a common part. I'm assuming width matters here, but I should be able to figure that out based on the fork I've got.

Thanks!

Why do you want to go to solid axle? saftey reasons? I would suggest picking iup a skewer that uses a 5mm allen or one of the proprietary keys, bout the same cost.

Safety... in that it's one more tool a thief has to bring to remove parts from the bike. I know, it's all smoke and mirrors. I carry a 15mm wrench, so why wouldn't a thief.

But thanks! I'll check out an allen skewers.

I knew there would be a good reason to post this question.

A better safety precaution is to remove the front wheel and lock it to the bike with whatever lock or chain you use. Or, get a chain or cable long enough to go through both wheels. Any thief worthy of the name will be prepared to remove a nutted axle too.

If you do want to go ahead with the conversion, most front hubs use a 9mm x1.0 mm threaded axle and these are available from any bike dealer worthy of the name. Here is an on-line source for them also:

https://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi...d=194794132202

Wheels manufacturing makes good ones out of 4130 steel. They fail by bending rather than breaking. The nuts take a 15 mm wrench that also fits your pedals.

Yes, they are good ones but front axles rarely break.

Another possibility is to get a hose clamp from the hardware store and tighten it down around the QR lever to hold it against the leg of the fork. I figure a theif is unlikely to want to fiddle with a rusty hose clamp just to steal the wheel off an old 10 speed.

there are also pit-lock skewers to consider.

To really make pit-lock style skewers tamper proof, it's best to have a hub that uses a 6mm allen key to open up, or cover the flats on the lock nut cones.

I'm just curious what a thief would do with the lock nuts in your hubs? Are you fearing that after attempting to steal your wheels, the thief will get frustrated, and tighten down the lock nuts, freezing the hub in place?

If thwarting thieves is the primary issue, then I think these suggestions would be best:

Don't forget to carry the key with you in case you get a flat.