Not the Slowest

Looking at 2002 or 2003 era zipp 404 front wheel. non-dimpled. 16 spoke. Tubular wheel for the track.
FYI, I'm 205 Strong 500TT Sprinter 55yo, the rest is a work in progress.

The price is right but I would need to change the skewer and Zipp has this one





Track Front Skewer


Zipp®’s stainless steel front track skewer replaces your quick release skewer when it’s time to bring your speed weaponry from the road to the track. Tighten it down with a 5 mm Allen key and feel secure on the steepest banking.

Shaft diameter: 4.85 mm

Length: 120 mm

Weight: 34 g

Max torque 55 lb/in or 6.2Nm

Any thoughts on the wheel AND ESPECIALLY the Adapter or would I be Better with a Solid Axle conversion by my LBS?

Thanks Robert

theblackbullet

I dont have any input on the wheel itself, but you will be good with the bolt on skewer. Lots of people use them at my local track including myself.

Not the Slowest

Thanks, I guess I was worried as the part is so cheap vs regular ZIPP skewers that I worried. Then again I guess they would not gain anything by cutting corners either.

carleton

One note. The nut end of that skewer may have aluminum threads (to keep it lightweight) which can be easily stripped via over-tightening (I've done it with my gorilla hands). Go find a normal budget quick-release skewer that will likely have steel threads inside the nut. Take that nut and use it with the Zipp skewer.

TrackMonkey7

+1. When I used a road front wheel with an allen bolt skewer, the threads stripped when I was tightening the wheel upon arriving at the track. I only noticed during the last lap of a match sprint. Everything survived without incident (including my shorts).

Not the Slowest

I must be tired from work, but I assume you suggest me removing the nut from the "casing" so to speak? If so how is that done?

carleton

Ha!, I just learned that it's called an "Acorn nut". And no, don't disassemble it.



As always, Sheldon has the answer:

https://sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html

Not the Slowest

Boy, am I stupid, I got it.
Hand tightening is enough? I mean we do it that way with a regular skewer but the locking side does create pressure/force to keep the acorn tight against the drop out

carleton

Yes, hand tightening is enough.

The Mavic Io is also hand-tightened with a 5mm allen wrench:

Not the Slowest

Okay, but the Acorn doesn't use the 5mm Allen.
But I got the idea, thanks

queerpunk

The acorn is tightened by the bolt that screws in to it.

In an axle with track nuts, each nut must be tightened, since they are independent. But a skewer is one piece, so tightening it tightens both sides.

carleton

The front wheel on a track bike is a magical thing. Remarkably, it doesn't need much to keep it in the fork when riding/racing.

I was racing Regional Championships one day with my young teammate at the time. We often trained and raced together and she was somewhat careless. She would often finger tighten her front wheel when she unloaded it from the car. I would always say, "Whenever you put that wheel on the bike, tighten it properly, even if you are taking it from the parking lot to the infield."

(It's kinda like tool boxes...whenever you close the lid on one, ALWAYS latch it. You never know when you might come back and grab it to pick it up and all of your tools spill out.)

That day she did the same thing. I said the same thing. She looked at me with that, "You aren't my dad." look.

We go setup in the infield. It's hectic. We raced all day.

At the end of the day, we are exhausted and walking the bikes to the car. She lifts up the front her bike and the front wheel stays on the ground. She says, "Did you loosen my front wheel?". I look at her square in the eye with my "I told you so" look and said, "Nope." Here eyes got big as saucers when she realized that she raced the entire day on a finger-tight front wheel that eventually vibrated to completely loose nuts.

Not the Slowest

Trust me I am NOT over thinking this, but the key is that the rod is the correct length for the fork, which it should be.
However, that is why you will see some skewers with holes through them so the rod can extend through in case the fork is on the thinner side.
You'll see what I mean in the ZIPP skewer picture.

carleton

Another story:

An Olympic level racer told me a story of how she was racing in Moscow on that infamously huge and fast track. The US National Team mechanic had set up her bike for her. She goes and does a Flying 200M effort and comes off the track and as she lifts her bike to put it on the bike rack she realizes that the bolts on her Mavic Io were not tight at all. She was pissed at the mechanic.

Pack your own Parachute!


(More evidence that the front wheel doesn't need to be "gorilla tight" like the rear wheel.)