I converted my Bianchi to a SS. Kept the cassette and crank. Found a cog that goes well with the 42t crank. Stripped the bike of derailers, levers, etc. and cut the chain shorter.

Works like a charm... except when really climbing hills and I am off the seat. The torque pulls the axle out of the drop-out on the cassette side. I've tightened and re-tightened the QR many times. I am to the point of going to the hardware store and buying a long bolt that fits and doing away with the QR.

Any other ideas on this?? These bikes were designed for the reduced tension of a derailer, without the torque dirrectly on the cog.

What type of QR skewer do you have?

I would go to the LBS if you're thinking about converting to a thru-axle; it's unlikely a hardware store will have something to work for that application.

Do your dropouts look like this?:

Yep... except I have set screws that screw in the back to keep the wheel centered.

Would it work to remove the QR knob and simply find a regular nut that threads on?? Didn't think of that until now.

Edited to add... I will eventually have a new set of wheels installed and a SS freewheel in place of the old 7-speed cassette. So I don't want to dump a ton of $$$ into this if I do not have to.... yet!

We know the frame can hold it, so it has to be something in the nuts or wheel. I would examine the nuts, maybe get some solid track nuts to replace.

you can't just put track nuts on a QR axle.

Well a QR skewer is considerably less durable then a thru axle; not to mention, the diameter is pretty small, so just getting a nut to put on there wouldn't work.

A track nut is designed to take a 10mm axle, and a qr skewer is a lot smaller than 10mm. If you're going to get a proper set of SS wheels eventually, I'd just flip the skewer around and see if the other side holds better. Crank it down really tight and hope it works until you upgrade.

I'm a designated hater on here, but this is actually pretty good advice.

make sure you're using it right, it's a lot harder to use a quick release skewer properly than a lot of people realize.

If you still have trouble, try switching to an enclsoed cam type skewer, they provide greater clamping force.

This kind of skewer Good for SS in horizontal dropout / track ends:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24082504@N06/3356846947/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stronglight/2403578671/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/goseid/3721928950/

This kind of skewer is acceptable for SS application:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/erica_marshall/2678165153/

This kind of skewer can't be used since they don't have enough clamping force:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jrees/3325807813/

In addition to the type of skewer, as covered above, there are a couple other things that can cause insufficient clamping:

1) Check that the axle isn't too long - if it extends all the way out to the edge of the dropout or beyond then the skewer might be largely just clamping down on the axle end rather than the dropout; and

2) The skewer should have a serrated edges that dig into the metal of the dropout. Over time the serrations may have worn down and made the surface smooth and more likely to slip.

And if all else fails, just:






*just foolin'

https://www.dtswiss.com/Products/Comp...oad-titan.aspx

This is a little costly, but I had the same problem with my CrossCheck and I ended up buying these skewers from DT Swiss. Has not slipped at all! I guess I could have gotten the old school closed cam, but I wanted something fancy.