SS with QR wheel ?

[gbb]

Just mucking about with an old Raleigh (Athena i think) converted to SS, its got 26x1.3/8 wheels.
Rear hub looks like maybe the weld has cracked where the axle tube is joined to the bearing housing. Anyway, that made me think....can i fit 700C wheels ?. Yes i can, and as luck would have it i've got a pair of 700s, 5 speed freewheel (probably quite good quality in their day). But they're QR wheels.
Am i wasting my time with QR's, will i get enough tension ?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Theseus]

Probably not, may be possible if you have any chain tugs.

 

[colinr]

I know someone that did QR without tugs. Wouldn't fancy it myself though.

 

[PpPete]

done it on my fixed. lot less problems than I had with nutted hub

 

[ColinJ]

Since QRs hold the rear wheel against the tension of the chain on a geared bike, why wouldn't they do the same on a SS bike?

I use QRs on the rear wheel of my SS and have had no problems.

 

[Theseus]

Since QRs hold the rear wheel against the tension of the chain on a geared bike, why wouldn't they do the same on a SS bike?

I use QRs on the rear wheel of my SS and have had no problems.

Because on a geared bike you generally have vertical droputs, whereas in a SS/Fixed they would be horizontal dropouts or track ends.

 

[Hover Fly]

but until not very long ago most frames had horizontal d/os.

 

[frank9755]

I wondered about this when I was looking to build up a fixed earlier this year. I did some research.

As ever, Sheldon had the answer. He says (to paraphrase) that:
- QRs would be fine
- Nutted hubs are a essentially a throwback to the days when you either had wingnuts or normal nuts. Wingnuts were banned on track bikes, to prevent injury in a spill; the rules said you had to have normal nutted.
- When QRs were invented and became widespread, the track rules were not updated and people backfilled by assuming they were intended to rule out QRs when actually it was wingnuts.

If I was building up a fixed bike I would use QRs rather than nuts.

 

[ColinJ]

Because on a geared bike you generally have vertical droputs, whereas in a SS/Fixed they would be horizontal dropouts or track ends.

Not true, unless I just happen to have owned a collection of very unusual geared bikes! Every geared bike I've owned (most using QRs) had dropouts which were more horizontal than vertical.

For example - here's a picture of the dropouts on a geared Basso converted to my SS. I've never managed to pull the wheel out on that even with 15 stone of me standing on the pedals on 10% hills!

 

[swee'pea99]

You say 'they're QR wheels', but all that really means surely is that they currently have QR axles, which are very easily replaced with solid if you choose. Not that I'm taking issue with those who sy above that QR would be fine - I don't know either way, but would guess they're right - just saying there's really no such thing as 'a QR wheel'. (One reason I went for solid was security - there's a lot of scrotes around, but most are too idle to carry spanners.)

 

[McrJ64]

This topic has been quiet for some time but I've only just come across it. It interests me a lot because I find it really awkward to get the chain tension and wheel allignment correct on a standard fixed wheel. I would much prefer to use a qr with chain tensioner (for security and for small adjustments) but understand that they are not available. You can convert a standard fixed but you have to change the axel to a hollow one. This means you have to change the cones. The cones have to be compatable with the hub. That's the difficult bit. Why doesn't a manufacturer come up with a solution for us? Does anyone have experience and a list of parts that will do it?

 

[mickle]

I always found it a challenge to get chain tension spot on with the few QR equipped SS/fixed bikes I've worked on. It's good to be able tweak one side then the other to kind of 'walk' the hub to acheive the correct tension.

 

[yashicamat]

My Rixon framed that I built my SS around actually has a little screw in each (near horizontal) dropout. These aren't chain tugs, but more like limit stops, so I just set them right for the chain tension, then push the wheel hard into them and do up the QR. I've had the wheel pop out ONCE, at about 30mph when I going hell for leather (and being a bit daft really), but the way the rear wheel is set up it's actually impossible for the rear wheel to escape unless the tyre is deflated (not a big issue as you don't often remove bike wheel with the tyre pumped up as it's usually punctures!). On reflection, I just think on that occasion it wasn't done up tight enough; I've subsequently ridden up 15% hills on my SS without the rear wheel budging, although I do make sure the QR is on tight (tighter than I have it on my other bikes).

 

[McrJ64]

So the only SS with QR bikes around seem to be geared conversions. Has no-one converted a solid axle to QR? Does anyone have any good sites for parts so that if I was looking for a set of cones of a particular size for such a conversion, the website would list parts in that detail?

 

[Goldfang]

I use QR hubs on my single speed with horizontal dropouts and have not had any problems with chain tension/whell pulling over and I am on the large side! Mind you, they are Campag chorus hubs, perhaps quality makes a difference?
Regards, Goldfang.