Can you use QR with fixed gear wheel?

Jacobe Hazzard said:

Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel? I have
heard two opinions.
1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.
2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

-snip-

Quoted message said:

What kind of skewer do you use?

For me, it's #2. Early Simplex , the straight-handle one. I
like the look. They're steel,about the same cam height as
Ca. or Sh. My other fixed, 15mm nuts.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

"Jacobe Hazzard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel? I have
heard two opinions.

1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.

2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

I am hoping that #2 is the correct answer, but I would
like to hear from someone that's actually running one just
to make sure. What kind of skewer do you use?

I use a skewer, and I'm a very large person (6'10"/235). I
bend axles regularly, but I don't slip in the dropouts. I
use a plain old Shimano skewer, moderately tight. As said
before, it's really a less challenging application than a
mountain bike.

jacobe-<< Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel?
I have heard two opinions.

1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.

2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

I am hoping that #2 is the correct answer,

It is, grease all the skewer parts..use steel.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(3)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

"Jacobe Hazzard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel? I have
heard two opinions.

1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.

2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

I am hoping that #2 is the correct answer, but I would
like to hear from someone that's actually running one just
to make sure. What kind of skewer do you use?

Thanks.

I use a steel quick release on my fixed gear bike. An old
Shimano one. Not the new style offset kind like Dura Ace
has. No problems. I do make the quick release extra tight.

Jacobe Hazzard said:

Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel? I have
heard two opinions.

1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.

2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

I am hoping that #2 is the correct answer, but I would
like to hear from someone that's actually running one just
to make sure. What kind of skewer do you use?

No problems here with a Shimano steel skewer. I occasionally
examine the dropouts for evidence of the axle slipping, and
so far it's never budged.

On a fixie the tension in the chain is less than on a MTB
with a granny gear.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Marriage is a great institution -- but I'm not ready for an
institution yet. -- Mae West

Benjamin Lewis said:

No problems here with a Shimano steel skewer. I
occasionally examine the dropouts for evidence of the axle
slipping, and so far it's never budged.

On a fixie the tension in the chain is less than on a MTB
with a granny gear.

I think the argument is that a MTB can tolerate some
slipping because the derailler will keep the chain tension
up anyhow.

Thanks to everyone who replied, add this to the long list of
untruths from my LBS. They wouldn't even discuss using a
hollow axle in a fixed hub with
me.

Jacobe Hazzard said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

No problems here with a Shimano steel skewer. I
occasionally examine the dropouts for evidence of the
axle slipping, and so far it's never budged.

On a fixie the tension in the chain is less than on a MTB
with a granny gear.

I think the argument is that a MTB can tolerate some
slipping because the derailler will keep the chain tension
up anyhow.

Thanks to everyone who replied, add this to the long list
of untruths from my LBS. They wouldn't even discuss using
a hollow axle in a fixed hub with me.

Hollow axles are just as strong as solid axles. The material
in the centre does not add to the strength.

*I* certainly wouldn't want to tolerate my axle slipping on
a MTB. Of course, most MTBs have vertical dropouts now.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Marriage is a great institution -- but I'm not ready for an
institution yet. -- Mae West

"Benjamin Lewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jacobe Hazzard said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

No problems here with a Shimano steel skewer. I
occasionally examine the dropouts for evidence of the
axle slipping, and so far it's never budged.

On a fixie the tension in the chain is less than on a
MTB with a granny gear.

I think the argument is that a MTB can tolerate some
slipping because

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

derailler will keep the chain tension up anyhow.

Thanks to everyone who replied, add this to the long
list of untruths from my LBS. They wouldn't even discuss
using a hollow axle in a fixed hub with me.

Hollow axles are just as strong as solid axles. The
material in the

centre

Quoted message said:

does not add to the strength.

That can't be entirely true, especially for shear stress.
Care to elaborate? Although, I would concede that for
practical purposes the strength is adequate for both uses. I
went to a solid axle on my SS because I had cracked my axle
in two and the mechanic said it was a good idea due to
higher forces on the axle. But when I thought about, I
couldn't see many differences between the force applied to
the SS freewheel and my former freewheel in the same gear,
so why not stick with the skewer?

So, why do velodromes require nuts on solid axles? Does it
have more to do with braking forces? Do they just want to
avoid missaplied quick-release skewers?

Quoted message said:

*I* certainly wouldn't want to tolerate my axle slipping
on a MTB. Of course, most MTBs have vertical dropouts now.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Marriage is a great institution -- but I'm not ready for
an institution

yet.

Quoted message said:

-- Mae West

On 4/29/04 12:34 AM, in article
[email hidden], "Collin O'Neill"

Quoted message said:

"Benjamin Lewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So, why do velodromes require nuts on solid axles? Does it
have more to do with braking forces? Do they just want to
avoid missaplied quick-release skewers?

The velodromes I have ridden at don't require solid axles,
they require hubs without quick releases. Wheels with hollow
axles and allen key closures are generally accepted. IMO,
this stems from two sources.

Primarily, it is tradition. There is some sort of misplaced
fear that a QR skewer will get hooked, open up, and cause a
crash. Never heard of such a thing on the road and have a
very hard time seeing how it could happen.

Second, for races where you put a _lot_ of force on the rear
wheel, i.e. standing starts in the kilo/pursuit and jumping
from a near stop in a match sprint, bolt-on hubs that are
bolted down well will hold the wheel on better. Of course,
the primary person who loses in this situation is the one
who slipped the wheel, so I don't really see why this is an
argument for mandating non-QR wheels, particularly when the
allen key "non-QR" skewers probably do a worse job of
holding the wheel than a good regular QR skewer.

Baird

Benjamin Lewis asked:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So, why do velodromes require nuts on solid axles? Does it
have more to do with braking forces? Do they just want to
avoid missaplied quick-release skewers?

Baird Webel replied:

Quoted message said:

The velodromes I have ridden at don't require solid axles,
they require hubs without quick releases. Wheels with
hollow axles and allen key closures are generally
accepted. IMO, this stems from two sources.

Primarily, it is tradition. There is some sort of
misplaced fear that a QR skewer will get hooked, open up,
and cause a crash. Never heard of such a thing on the road
and have a very hard time seeing how it could happen.

I believe that's correct. Furthermore, this requirement
actually considerably predates modern quick releases, I
believe, and was originally intended as a way of prohibiting
the use of wingnuts. I think that wingnuts were perceived,
rightly or wrongly, as a risk of causing stabbing/slashinc
injuries in crashes.

Quoted message said:

Second, for races where you put a _lot_ of force on the
rear wheel, i.e. standing starts in the kilo/pursuit and
jumping from a near stop in a match sprint, bolt-on hubs
that are bolted down well will hold the wheel on better.
Of course, the primary person who loses in this situation
is the one who slipped the wheel, so I don't really see
why this is an argument for mandating non-QR wheels,
particularly when the allen key "non-QR" skewers probably
do a worse job of holding the wheel than a good regular
QR skewer.

In a velodrome situation, it would seem that the most likely
time for pulling an axle would be in a match sprint, and
that it would happen at a very low speed, just as the rider
"jumped." That would be the maximal loading.

Sheldon "Quick Release" Brown +----------------------------------------------------------
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| | of a country best, since you have to sweat up the
| hills | and coast down them. | Thus you remember them
| as they actually are, while in a | motor car only a
| high hill impresses you, and you have | no such
| accurate remembrance of country you have driven |
| through as you gain by riding a bicycle. | -- Ernest
| Hemingway, By-Line |
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-
9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find
parts shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗
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Collin O'Neill said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

Hollow axles are just as strong as solid axles. The
material in the centre does not add to the strength.

That can't be entirely true, especially for shear stress.
Care to elaborate?

I believe in bicycles, axle failures are due to bending, not
shear stresses. Also, in practice, others have said that QR
axles are made from better material.

For more discussion of this topic, have a look at the
following archived thread from this newsgroup:
tinyurl.com2qqb4Open ↗

--
Benjamin Lewis

Seeing is deceiving. It's eating that's believing.
-- James Thurber

Sheldon Brown said:

Benjamin Lewis asked:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So, why do velodromes require nuts on solid axles? Does
it have more to do with braking forces? Do they just
want to avoid missaplied quick-release skewers?

That's a misattribution, actually. It was Collin who
wrote that.

Just settin' the record straight,

--
Benjamin Lewis

Seeing is deceiving. It's eating that's believing.
-- James Thurber

Collin O'Neill said:

That can't be entirely true, especially for shear stress.
Care to elaborate? Although, I would concede that for
practical purposes the strength is adequate for both uses.
I went to a solid axle on my SS because I had cracked my
axle in two and the mechanic said it was a good idea due
to higher forces on the axle. But when I thought about, I
couldn't see many differences between the force applied to
the SS freewheel and my former freewheel in the same gear,
so why not stick with the skewer?

I rode fixed gear for years with QRs. Worked just fine. I'm
6'4" and about 210 lbs most of the time, so I can put a fair
amount of force into the pedals.

Quoted message said:

So, why do velodromes require nuts on solid axles? Does it
have more to do with braking forces? Do they just want to
avoid missaplied quick-release skewers?

Our velodrome doesn't care about solid axles, but nuts
rather than QRs are required. The explanation given to me
was IMHO specious, which was that track racers bunch closer
together and there is risk of a QR lever getting flipped
open in contact with another riders's wheel.

Sheldon Brown said:

Furthermore, this requirement actually considerably
predates modern quick releases, I believe, and was
originally intended as a way of prohibiting the use of
wingnuts. I think that wingnuts were perceived, rightly or
wrongly, as a risk of causing stabbing/slashinc injuries
in crashes.

Hmmm, the Ben-Hur school of bike racing!

"Jacobe Hazzard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Is it OK to use a QR skewer on a fixed rear wheel? I have
heard two opinions.

1) No, never. Use a solid axle with real track nuts and
tighten them down hard.

2) Yeah, sure. Use a decent steel skewer with an enclosed
cam, you'll be fine.

I am hoping that #2 is the correct answer, but I would
like to hear from someone that's actually running one just
to make sure. What kind of skewer do you use?

Thanks.

seems to me it would be dependent on the face of the
locknut, some bite into the inner face of the end bettter
that others. also, i've noticed my SunTour/Shimano QRs
are patterned on the face while the old Campy Record i
have are flat. seems to me the former would do a better
job of preventing a flat locknut from slipping.