rms13

How long does it take to remove the bolts with a wrench? 10-15 seconds? How much quicker do you need to be

Jaytron

bolts, it's not that hard to turn a wrench

TejanoTrackie 

It's really just a convenience thing. My seat bag is too small for a full-size 15mm axle nut wrench and a compact wrench like a 3wrencho doesn't have a lot of leverage. Back in the old days it was common to convert road bikes with 120mm spacing and horizontal dropouts to fixed with a suicide setup on a road wheel and a QR skewer. I recently did a QR setup with the new Wabi wheels that use road-style hubs with hollow axles.

lhbernhardt

The accepted practice is to use track nuts for fixies. I use track nuts on my track bike, but since the 70's, I've always used QR's on any road fixie I've ridden. Yes, you're more likely to pull a rear wheel secured with a QR, but at least it's a lot faster to straighten the wheel if it's got a QR. And I've pulled wheels with track nuts as well, but you're likely to be exerting more instantaneous forces on the track than you would on, say climbing a steep hill on a fixie, anyway.

Yes, wheel theft is a concern, but when I lock my bike to a rack, I usually remove the front wheel anyway and put the U-lock thru the rear wheel and seat tube and then around the front rim. In the winter, I'm using a fork with a disc brake attached (I've broken too many front rims from brake track wear), so I haven't filed off the lawyer tabs, which means I have to turn the acorn nut anyway, so it's probably just as slow as using track nuts, but then at least I don't have to go searching in the seat bag for the wrench. In the summer, I'm on the ENVE fork with standard caliper brakes, so the lawyer tabs are filed off and front wheel removal is way faster.

I also usually carry the fixie in the trunk of my car (rather than on the roof rack) if I need to drive anywhere, which means removing both wheels. It's bad enough having to take off the raceblade fenders, so simplifying wheel removal is fine with me.

Anytime I buy a new rear wheel for the fixie, I usually have to remove the track axle and replace it with a road axle with QR. Unless you go to swap meets and find old 120mm Campag or Dura Ace rear hubs with QR's, you're pretty well stuck with modifying track hubs. But I think the effort is worth it. You never want to be out in the middle of nowhere with a flat, and then realize you left the peanut butter wrench on the workstand.

But usually, I'm converting rear wheels to fixed by just pulling the Shimano cassette and replacing it with a Surly Fixxer, then shortening the axle to fit the 120mm spacing on my track ends.

If you're using a converted road bike, a big issue is rear axle spacing. You're best running 120mm spacing; it's a more symmetrical rear wheel, rear track wheels are spaced at 120mm, so there's no chainline issue, and any axle longer than 120mm is going to break on the freewheel side. That's why they went to cassettes - too many 126mm axles breaking.

It's mostly a matter of personal style, but I've always preferred QR's to track nuts. In fact - and I've been racing & training on the track for over 40 years - I've never understood why track bikes are required to use track nuts. I've never come close to being able to flip anyone's QR on the road with my front wheel! (I think it would be far more likely for me to cut someone's rear tire with the rotor of my front disc brake!) And I suspect people use track nuts on the street just because of this track bike association. I guess it's one of those things people just never question. Same as lock rings - I've never used lock rings, but I was coached from an early age that trackies must never apply back pressure to slow down; it's too sudden for the rider on your wheel and it's bad for the legs. Just one of those things I've never questioned...

Luis

GENESTARWIND

I use track nuts because it's the setup my wheels came with and I've never had a problem removing my wheels quickly and switching to qr would mean spending money on something i have no need for.

JohnDThompson 

Not really. A properly tightened quick release should be just as secure. Track hubs were available with quick releases until the early 1960s, when a rule change prohibited their use on the track. The reason wasn't concern about the wheel moving in the frame, but rather concern that the lever could snag another rider's wheel and cause a crash.

5matt

Thats interesting John, didn't know they ever came that way. It looks like the QR levers are curved, like later ones ( my 1972 QRs are straight); what year is your pic from?

seau grateau

Considering that QR wheels were used for years on bikes with horizontal drop-outs (and still are), the notion of them slipping in track ends is pretty meh.

JohnDThompson 

Early 1960s. The road levers from the same period are flat.

TejanoTrackie 

This used to be my FG winter trainer before I restored it back to a geared bike.

5matt

They are great for the winter (although I will guess mine in western Pennsylvania are worse than yours) because they require so little cleaning!

nelsonfung21

If the hub comes with QR , use it. If not , you don't need to replace it

nelsonfung21

I want this.

bmontgomery87

This.
It literally takes 60 seconds max to remove a wheel. That's fairly "quick" to me.