Does anyone know a source where I can buy track nuts that take a allen key? Kind of like this:

I'm tired of bringing a stubby 15 mm wrench with me.

Do you think you could torque down a rear wheel on a fixed with a tiny little allen wrench?
Mine slip even when cranked on with a box wrench!

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you must have some weak a** arms then. I crank my axle down tight and the thing doesn't budge, never has under any circumstance.

To the OP, not sure where you can buy allen axle nuts except that phil wood and a few other hubs come with them

A stubby 15mm wrench is a pretty tough thing to lug around.

Maybe Jake just has legs like effing tree trunks!

What about one of these?

Are you kidding? That thing is HUGE!

I get that a lot from the ladies. But that image is actual size.

I have the wrench from Eighth Inch, but this one is smaller, and you could easily stow it on your bike, maybe with a velcro strap or something similar. And it fits in your pocket. And it costs less.

Handsome Ryan might suggest gluing one of those fancy new magnets to the underside of your seat, and stashing this in there. Who would ever think to look there?

How about 3rensho's new mini-wrench?

Their previous effort was met with harsh words.

I've been quite happy with my Pedros Trixie. I throw it in my bag if I'll be locking my bike up on the street, otherwise i leave it wing-screwed to the bottle cage mount.

Allens seem to work well enough for folks who have Phils or Pauls (and a few other hubs).

Barring buying new hubs, I'm not aware of any product that lets you go from using standard 14 or 15mm track nuts to allen bolts. Sorry. Just better 15mm wrenches.

I totally missed that. Unless you're running a 9mm QR axle, you cannot use allen nuts. There is no way for them to work with a solid axle.

You *can* swap axles in just about any hub to the QR style, if you realy want ...

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Sure. You just need to cut down the axle and skewer to fit the spacing.

I guess Scrod is right, your arms are stronger than mine, and my legs are alot stronger than yours.
For biking, my body wins over yours. Have fun doing chin ups!

Lots of confusion and mixed metaphors in this thread:

1) No such thing as an allen nut. A "nut" is an internally threaded fastener that mates with an externally threaded item such as a solid axle. A "nut" has the wrench flats on the outside. An "allen" fastener is externally threaded with internal wrench flats and is technically a "bolt". You cannot connect two externally threaded fasteners (bolts).

2) The example shown by the OP is a bolt-on skewer, which works with hollow axles, and does not thread onto the axle. It works well with front wheels which have vertical dropouts, but should not be used with horizontal rear dropouts unless they have tugnuts or adjuster screws, since they cannot be tightened sufficiently to prevent axle slippage. It is not an allen nut, but a skewer with an allen head at one end and threads at the other that mates with nut. The nut is aluminum, and due to the very small diameter of the thread, it can strip out very easily if overtightened. I know this from personal experience with that very same skewer (Zipp).

3) Some track hubs such as Phil use an allen bolt that threads directly into internal threads in the axle ends. These are not hollow axles and do not use skewers. Since the threads are smaller diameter than on normal externally threaded track axles and the wrench flats are also smaller, they cannot be tightened as securely. I once had a front wheel like this (Mavic IO), but have never tried it with a rear wheel.

4) It is not necessary to carry a foot long box wrench to properly tighten the axle nuts. I've used a Campy peanut butter wrench at the track, and have yet to pull a wheel during standing starts and sprints.

#4... There must be a problem with me or my bike because I am constantly pulling my axle forward.

Thanks for that, professor. What holds your brakes on?

You would need an axle set to work with them. Besides, they won't be nuts, but rather bolts.


What's wrong with carrying a small 15mm wrench? Those things are small and only weigh a couple of ounces.

You are technically correct, however, it is totally irrelevent in the context of this discussion.

Just pointing out that there is such thing as an allen nut.