I'm temporarily putting the wheels from my touring bike on a Peugeot TH-8 tandem I'm rehabbing. Yes, I know it's not ideal and I plan to build up some more suitable wheels over the winter, but I'd like to get a little riding in this season with my significant other/hopeful stoker to see how we do with riding a tandem. We're not a particularly heavy team and she's not (yet!) much of a cyclist, so we'll be taking it easy. But I do think it would be wise to stick a solid axle in the rear hub (it's a Shimano..... Deore or Altus... can't remember and it's not nearby..)- is Wheels Manufacturing pretty much it? $40 seems a little steep for an axle, but if that's what it is, then I suppose that's what it is.. Other options?

So, the wheels from your touring bike have quick-release axles and you want to swap just the axles? If that's the case, you'll need new cones as well because the cones are not interchangeable between solid and QR. Solid axles are slightly smaller in diameter than QR axles.

Also, if you get new cones, they may not be compatible with the cups of your hub.

.
.

Stick with a quick release and use a DT Swiss ratcheting skewer:

https://www.dtswiss.com/en/component...d-rws/rws/5-mm

ah… I hadn’t got to the point of confirming dimensions & assumed (hahaha…ha..ha..huh….hmmmm…) the outside axle dimensions/threading were brand-specific & I could use my cones, etc. Learned something new….

hmm, that’s a simpler idea…. Though would using one of these actually make the axle stronger/less likely to break?

Oh, not sure, but it does ensure that the QR will not slip.

Wheels MFG does make chromoly 10mm solid axles, which would fit your current cones assuming you have a standard 10mm QR wheel. But personally I’d keep the qr axles and just be sure to use quality internal cam skewers.

That's good to know, thanks

I don't understand this advice. I've "upgraded" several bikes from solid rear axles to new hollow ones (from Wheels Manufacturing) and reused the cones.

I'm basing my statement on my recent experience trying to swap solid for hollow...

Vintage SUZUE & NORMANDY Hub Parts Interchangeability

Come on, man! You can't label all hub axle dimensions based on one comparison between two dissimilar hubs.

also, see post # 8 of this thread

take it up with oneclick

I'm in the same boat. Had some wheels built for a Burley tandem I'm (still) working on, based on Deore hubs with QRs. It didn't occur to me until afterwards that there was a reason the original rear axle was solid.

...I am a fool.

Hmmm, OK, so.... I should be able to replace the QR axle with a solid one. Pending confirmation that the current QR axle is 10x1 it seems like this, and a couple of these should work and I can use my current cones, etc (understanding that I'll have to trim & file the axle down some...)?

Or if I want to get fancy......

Several points here:

Axle diameters and threads vary; yes some hollow cones will fit some solid axles, but the curves of the races determine the angle between contact points, which must remain between narrow limits for the bearing to have a good service life. For this change get the best match you can.

You don't get a lot of extra strength from a 3/8" solid axle compared to a 10mm hollow one - about 15%. I suspect that unless you get a high-quality solid one, any good quality hollow one will be of stronger steel and better finished sufficient to outweigh that 15%. It's the outermost portions of the section that contribute most; hence Increasing the diameter makes a relatively bigger difference - the Atom front hub that uses a solid rear axle has almost double the strength of the normal front axle, this just going from .3125 to .375. Common solid rear axles are smaller than QR ones (they are .3937...); you lose a little of this disadvantage as a 26 TI thread is a little shallower than a 1mm thread. If possible use an axle without a slot.

Axles fail by buckling. The compressive force necessary to fix the locknuts against the dropout faces is not enough to cause buckling by itself, but it will reduce the size of the side-load imposed by the bearings required to initiate buckling. QR's should be tightened enough to keep the wheel from slipping, and no more.

Hm. OK, well as I said in the original post, this would be temporary. I do not want to source new cones, etc, etc, and a larger diameter axle, just swap out the hollow axle for a solid one. It seem fair to assume that since most tandems (at least that I've looked at...) come with a solid rear axle there is at least some strength advantage to it. I don't really understand the claim that a solid axle is smaller than a hollow one- isn't 10x1 the same, whether it's solid or hollow? Or am I missing something here?

Risk the $6.99.