Any downside to replacing QR skewers with nuts? Other than, of course, the need for a wrench to remove a wheel and fix a flat? I'm considering it for a townie bike that would be left locked outside bars a lot.

And... opinions on whether it's even worth the effort?

You might deter casual, stupid, lazy, or drunk bike thieves, but a determined thief will have tools and/or be willing to destroy part of your bike if he wants a part he can't otherwise detach. But he will also know the values of things, and if your townie is generally cheap enough to be not worth the risk/effort, it should be left alone.

I found a #10 threaded rod will work in a pinch. I used a couple of extra washers to keep them from bending. Not pretty, but got me home. It probably was soft steel, so it might not take constant abuse though.



There are special QR Locks that you can buy. Essentially replace the QR with a special bolt that requires a special tool to remove. Without the tool, you're either walking, or fixing a flat with the wheel on the bike.

You can also change to a bolt on axle. You may need to replace the whole axle assembly as most of the QR axles are metric, and many of the bolt on axle kits are standard.

I was mostly thinking along the lines of carrying only a U-lock, so the front wheel would be vulnerable. Not necessarily to a bike thief, but to some drunken joker or someone who sees a free wheel for the taking.

I once replaced a couple of QR front axles with solid axles from Wheels Manufacturing. Watch out that there are hubs with both 26 threads per inch, and 1-mm threads, hard to distinguish. These were cup 'n' cone bearings.

Necessary? Useful? Don't know.

When I got my first bike with QR hubs, my dad said: "Watch out that some joker doesn't flip those levers while you've parked your bike somewhere." Those words have always stuck with me for some reason.

I use hex key skewers or nuts on all my bikes. Maybe it's a false sense of security, but it makes me feel a bit safer when locking up.

I put these Nashbar Bolt-On Skewers on my daughter's college bike. It is to prevent a mischief-maker from making off with a wheel just for fun.
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You'd need to replace the whole axle. I use these. They deter casual thieves and require a special tool to remove, not just a normal hex wrench. Order a spare tool, they're cheap.

Here are some locking skewers. I haven't tried them, but worth considering.

https://www.amazon.com/Pinhead-Bicycl.../dp/B001Y9VNS4
Amazon.com : Pinhead Bicycle Locking Skewer Set, 4 Pack : Bike Wheel Skewers : Sports & Outdoors
Pitlock locking skewers

Nuts may tend to chew up your paint more. Tends to be tighter and will affect cup and cone bearing adjustments. Not as pretty. BFD.

Too easy for the bad guys to carry an adjustable wrench; go for the locking kind...

there are "this is weird looking, I better not loose the tool" dependent skewers made .

https://atomic22.com/ ... https://www.pitlock.de/en

Just like the ones on my cars...

You could use a thick ziptie to secure the QR lever to the fork. The drunk or causal thief would have to carry a cutting tool (cut zip tie), or a pliers or visegrip (unscrew other end of QR). You could even wire the lever to the fork, then solder the wire (so it can't be easily untwisted). Now the guy needs more than a pocketknife.

But the best solution is probably a theft resistant type of QR such as mentioned already.