im looking for a quick release adapter that i was given many years ago. i dont know what its called, and no bike shop seems to know what i'm talking about. you unscrew the quick release handle from from the skewer, and the adapter is a bolt that you screw into where the handle came out.

the top of the bolt is shaped just like the quick release handle so that when you tighten it all the way, it tightens the axle the same way. then when you want to take the wheel off, you unscrew the bolt about a half turn, and its loose, just as if you had flipped open a quick release handle.

the top of the bolt is kind of a star pattern, it looks like an allen key, but instead it's a 6 pointed star shaped key. it came in a kit with 3 adapters and the star wrench. but i have no idea where to get another one and no idea what it's called. anyone know?

I don't know what that's called, but spookily, 10 minutes ago, I was thinking that something like this would be a really good way to secure a wheelset! It has the advantage over modern locking skewers in that it presumeably clamps down just as hard as the original QR, which modern locking skewers like the Pitlock system don't (the Pitlock website advises against using them with horizontal dropouts) If you do find out any more, please post it here!

The description of the tool as star-shaped does suggest that it could be a Torx fitting, but then again it could have been a proprietary one. Are you trying to remove the wheels without the tool, by any chance?

haha no, not trying to remove a wheel. i just moved back to the city and dont want quick release skewers. of course i could always buy bolt-ons, but these adapters that i remember are perfect. no bike thief carries that key around.

i dont think its a torx screw, it looks like three lines that cross each other, thus making a 6 pointed "star".

Not what you're looking for, but would this do instead?

https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...t-skewers.html



Basically it's a normal allen wrench hole except there's a post in the center so you need a hollow allen key to undo it. Sure you can buy them, but most thieves probably don't just carry them around.

yeah i know about them, i was just looking for the adapters. cheaper and simpler. but i will buy those if i cant come up with them.

..or a set of vise grips clamped to the outer surface. I'd just go for a regular bolted axle.

but that means a hole new hub, no? these just replace the skewers.

There isn't a set of locking skewers made that can't be overcome fairly easily. The Zefal ones are disabled by a magnet, Pitlocks by a flat-head screwdriver, and these with vice grips. Security isn't about making theft impossible, it's about raising the risks associated with it.

Convert to solid axles? then you can tighten the nuts enough to hold the axle.

buy serious hardened security chain..

I'm using the Allen bolt skewer on both hubs, the rear one,
I substituted a nut end with steel threads,
so I could tighten it a bit more..

I believe you're describing a Kool Stop quick cam. They no longer make these, but what they were were a system where you replaced the lever of an internal cam QR with a hex hey, and carried the handle separately. The KS version even had a pin in the middle of the hex nut so you needed a hollow 5mm (or was a 4mm) key, and a standard key didn't work.

These were around in the Seventies, and KS didn't invent them so there were a few sources. Note that they only work with the typical internal cam levers of the era, like Maillard and Campy.

I might even have a few left. I can look around if you wish.

+1. I remember those also. Not a great locking mechanism, since all you needed was an ordinary hex (Allen) wrench to remove the wheel. They'd slow down the opportunistic thief, though.

The original could be opened with a regular hex key. The later versions, had a pin in the middle to keep the key out, and required a drilled out key. Still not super secure, but can't be opened by the casual thief. This was a nice option for wheel protection in urban areas. I think what killed it was the change to aluminum external cam QRs.

Do you use these? I'm curious what the weights like.

I have them, but I need to service my hubs (accidentally bought 10-15 year old NOS hubs when I thought I was buying modern hubs on the e-bay) and install the cassette before I mount the wheels. Don't have a scale, so I'm not sure how much they weigh. I live/work in a relatively low crime area (more casual bike thieves than pros), so I was hoping this would be a more convenient (and lighter though I ride a drop bar converted steel mtb with font and rear racks so I'm not much concerned with weight) way to secure my wheels than the long 12 mm cable I use now looped through my u-lock.

Just by hefting them they're maybe a little lighter than the quando skewers I pulled from the hub but I doubt it's significant.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/pitlock.asp

I'd looked into those, but eventually the fact that the velo orange ones only cost $16 ($18 with a spare wrench) convinced me to go for those instead.

Thanks for the reply, something like that would be nice for my good bike but with all the trouble I've gone through to ditch weight, it would be silly of me to jump blindly at them

security Torx fitting , same hollow wrench, pin in the bolt head would be a big plus,
because Torx fittings are a better torque handling match, so you can make them tighter..

and wierd-er to not have them in many pockets.


RS can probably find Ti shaft skewer- bolts, but the Ti stretches
so really wont do on horizontal dropouts..

The fittings in our bathroom stalls at work have those and I can't really figure out why. I don't imagine that anyone was stealing the hardware before they went with those, it's not like they give any added privacy with all the space under/between the walls and doors if someone wanted to look in/take a picture/whatever, and it's not like they add any extra security as if someone really wanted it, I doubt the locks on the doors would withstand a solid kick.

The original and main justification for Torx is that it's more power tool friendly, with less damage to hardware because of slippage. Great for assembly lines, and applications like slapping together bathroom dividers.

Yeah, I get that, but the security torx with the pin in the middle seems a bit of overkill for slapping together a bathroom. It's not like that pin is needed to guide a bit into the slot (is it?) and it seems the hollowing would lessen the lifespan of a bit used in a power tool.

Maybe vandals take things apart. I've never seen the Torx with pin in anything but the bike stuff.

OTOH- lots of public stuff in the NYC area is assembled with Prison Bolts, so vandalism or theft must be issues. People take anything, NYC subways buy special lightbulbs made with left hand threads.

That's messed up.

Vandalism is the big issue in bathrooms. You've got a guy (or gal) sitting in private, and bored. Whatcha gonn do? I know, lets take the bolts loose! (Related: a bar I used to frequent had a picture above one of the urinals. It was screwed into the wall with 5" wood screws (the wall was 1 1/2 plywood, because they got sick of replacing the drywall, and were too cheap to tile to the ceiling). I watched, over the course of about six months, as one of the screws (square head) was worked out, probably half a turn at a time.

Security torx fasteners are pretty common on electronic stuff, and not unheard of on automobiles. All of my torx bits are of this sort, and the kit most of them are from isn't a "security" bit set.

I'm given to believe the MTA's light bulbs were not to keep the public from stealing them, but to keep them from disappearing by the case.

There's that, but people needing a bulb would take them if they could. You have to remember that it wasn't so many years ago, that in some NY neighborhoods, it wasn't rare to see extension cords strung from windows out to lamp posts. I always wondered what kid they got to shinny that high on the poles. You don't see it as much anymore, but it still happens.