Can I fit a Quick-Release lever to a wheel which had bolts on it before?

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Maz

Guru
Basic question - If I get a QR lever, can it fit on to a bike which previously only had bolts to tighten it?
Thanks
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Assuming the bike has a solid axle, fitting a lever-type quick release will be impossible because they are, in effect, skewers with a fixing on either end.

Spanner free and reasonably quick release could be achieved by a pair of wing nuts.

A bit of common sense needed, in other words you would need to satisfy yourself the wing nuts are a safe replacement for the existing nuts, and keep an eye on tightness particularly if the the bike is left anywhere it could be tampered with.

We used them all the time as kids and never lost a wheel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycle-wingnuts-Gripfast-No-2/dp/B008H0P5Z0
 

Tim Hall

Guest
Location
Crawley
Mostly, yes. But i bet it's not just a case of swapping from nuts to a QR (assuming you're talking about a QR on a wheel), you'll need a new axle as well, for which you'll need a modicum of spannering to swap the old bits out. If the wheel has cartridge bearings that gets a whole lot harder, as you'll need to drift out one set of bearings to fit the new axle.
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Basic question - If I get a QR lever, can it fit on to a bike which previously only had bolts to tighten it?
Thanks

I tried to do that once, but the problem I had was the cones that came with the hollow QR axle were longer than the cones on the bolt through axle, so the new axle, once in place, had a wider OLD than the blot through. As the thread of the QR axle is a different size I couldn't use the old cones, and I couldn't find cones of the right size with the correct thread for the QR axle. I guess it is a case of suck it and see.
 
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Maz

Maz

Guru
Assuming the bike has a solid axle, fitting a lever-type quick release will be impossible because they are, in effect, skewers with a fixing on either end.

Spanner free and reasonably quick release could be achieved by a pair of wing nuts.

A bit of common sense needed, in other words you would need to satisfy yourself the wing nuts are a safe replacement for the existing nuts, and keep an eye on tightness particularly if the the bike is left anywhere it could be tampered with.

We used them all the time as kids and never lost a wheel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycle-wingnuts-Gripfast-No-2/dp/B008H0P5Z0
Oh man, wingnuts - what a great idea. Yes, if only left somewhere reasonably safe of course.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
15mm cone spanner. Lightweight and no messing.
 

Threevok

Growing old disgracefully
Location
South Wales
The decline and virtual disappearance of the noble wheelnut is something to be mourned. A while ago I tried to whip up support for a "Bring back wheelnuts campaign". Heartbreakingly, I found it received no support.

Oddly, I nearly joined your cause - thanks to the problems I have been having with the rear wheel of the single-speed

However, new chaintugs and a 10mm thru-axle seems to have sorted it
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
... wing nuts ...

Blimey I'd forgotten all about them...
41XUJcXXPbL._SX355_.jpg


...once as ubiquitous as the short racing mudguard.
 
Location
Rammy
Oddly, I nearly joined your cause - thanks to the problems I have been having with the rear wheel of the single-speed

However, new chaintugs and a 10mm thru-axle seems to have sorted it

I remember fitting a set of Allen bolt skewers to my mountain bike, had endless trouble with the rear twisting in the drop-outs and swapped back to a standard QR but kept the front Allen bolt to make the bike easier to lock
 
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