Quick release skewer. These scare me! Can I convert to a solid bolt?
10-07-21, 10:06 AM
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QRs are pretty mature and reliable technology. I’ve only ever heard of one QR skewer failing, and that was titanium, IIRC - definitely not the place to save a few grams. A decent-quality steel QR will likely outlast you. Also, given that most bike use vertical rear dropouts and front lawyer lips, you don’t need massive clamping to ensure that the wheel stays in place - likely orders of magnitude less than needed to tax a 4-5 mm steel shaft.
However, if it is sufficiently an issue to impact your cycling peace of mind, you can almost certainly swap out the hollow axle for a solid one, especially if your hub is oldish and unlikely to contain proprietary parts. However, it’ll require disassembling your hub to retrieve the axle, buying a solid one of the same diameter and thread, and 30-40mm longer, and a set of nuts and washers, then putting the whole thing together again. Not difficult. Get a decent quality solid axle (not from, for example, Amazon), otherwise you’ll be no better off, reliability-wise, than you were with a name-brand QR setup. I’ve done the reverse (converting a solid axle to QR) - pretty straightforward.
However, if it is sufficiently an issue to impact your cycling peace of mind, you can almost certainly swap out the hollow axle for a solid one, especially if your hub is oldish and unlikely to contain proprietary parts. However, it’ll require disassembling your hub to retrieve the axle, buying a solid one of the same diameter and thread, and 30-40mm longer, and a set of nuts and washers, then putting the whole thing together again. Not difficult. Get a decent quality solid axle (not from, for example, Amazon), otherwise you’ll be no better off, reliability-wise, than you were with a name-brand QR setup. I’ve done the reverse (converting a solid axle to QR) - pretty straightforward.
10-07-21, 11:04 AM
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That should get you adequate but not excessive tension when the lever is closed all the way. And then fine tune that, if needed, by tiny tweaks to the threaded nut, again with the QR lever at mid rotation so that you are making small tweaks to the point at which resistance really begins.
Otto
10-08-21, 05:10 PM
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10-08-21, 05:41 PM
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10-09-21, 07:46 AM
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I have an old 10 speed with a quick release skewer and it occurred to me that if for some reason the little 4 or 5mm diameter inner bolt were to fail, my rear wheel would come off.
Does this happen? Am I mostly worried for nothing.
It would make me feel better to put a regular 8mm (size is a guess) axle bolt in there instead. Is this possible or practical?
Does this happen? Am I mostly worried for nothing.
It would make me feel better to put a regular 8mm (size is a guess) axle bolt in there instead. Is this possible or practical?
The threaded axle needed to be 240mm long to accommodate the flange nut.
Made for a stiffer ride and more secure wheel.
You can make the conversion in a few minutes or have your local shop do it for $20
If if makes you feel safer, do it.
Don't let the old fuddy duddys here discourage you.
10-09-21, 07:51 AM
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Not to cause problems, but ... I think " ... " is placebo.
The only part which could have flexed would have been the fraction of an inch between the bearings and the dropout on each side .... and tubes are just s strong as rods, which is why people build tube-frames instead of rod frames. No way you could feel flex in the tiny portion of the axle which wouldn't have been any stronger anyway ... IMO.
The only part which could have flexed would have been the fraction of an inch between the bearings and the dropout on each side .... and tubes are just s strong as rods, which is why people build tube-frames instead of rod frames. No way you could feel flex in the tiny portion of the axle which wouldn't have been any stronger anyway ... IMO.
10-09-21, 11:28 AM
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Fat bikes should not have QR's on the rear end. They should have through axles.
Lower price level fat bikes have QR's that tend to shift under the higher loads.
Anyway, if a rider wants to use a bolt on conversion for piece of mind, it's not a bad thing.
Original submitter:
If you want links to the parts, feel free to PM me.
$20-25 for the axle and $7-10 for the axle nuts.
Lower price level fat bikes have QR's that tend to shift under the higher loads.
Anyway, if a rider wants to use a bolt on conversion for piece of mind, it's not a bad thing.
Original submitter:
If you want links to the parts, feel free to PM me.
$20-25 for the axle and $7-10 for the axle nuts.
10-09-21, 12:26 PM
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Nuts to nuts, and screw screw-on QRs. Given how much is at stake, I decided to weld my axles to the frame.
Turns out it takes some special technique or something to weld steel to carbon fiber.
Turns out it takes some special technique or something to weld steel to carbon fiber.
10-09-21, 03:20 PM
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I've also seen this. I was going through the hubs on all our school district's bike safety fleet's bikes ( 37 of them). When I removed the rear wheel from one of the bikes the only thing holding the axle in was the QR skewer. Te Axle was broken. It had been ridden that way.
Our smaller sized bike (24"wheels) have solid bolt on hubs. They are easy to work on in the shop, but a little more inconvenient on the road. You just need to carry a 17 mm wrench
Actually, a 6" adjustable wrench is not too cumbersome to carry, and does the job.
Last edited by Doug64; 10-09-21 at 03:36 PM.
