Home > categories > Automotive & Motorcycle > Axles > Converting a bolt on bike front axle to quick release?
Question:

Converting a bolt on bike front axle to quick release?

I took my bolt on front wheel to the local bike shop, and the person there took the wheel in the back room and came back with a quick release axle for me N/C there is a lock nut and cone on the one end of the axle he gave me, can I use it? or can I use the lock nuts and cones from my bolt on axle?And how much longer will the quick release axle be than the bolt on axle the OEM axle is 100mm, this is a new Schwinn Cruiser bike from Walmart

Answer:

what? why did you take it to the shop? no you can;t just stick a QR anything into a bolt on wheel you need a new wheel made for QR which usually comes with those free parts anyway all front wheels are 100mm wide wle
It isn't the axle you need to concern yourself with, but lets get some of the other things straight first. The measurement from the outside of one locknut to the other is 100mm. This is standard and every modern bike except weird models have it. This measurement is the same as the distance inside the fork dropouts. For a QR axle to work in most cases, you need about 4mm- a little less than 1/4 sticking out beyond each locknut. When you put the wheel into the fork the axle must be just short of sticking past the dropout, and thats where your problem, if any, will present itself. On most bikes with bolt on wheels, the dropout- the place where the axle rests- is way too thin. This will not successfully support a QR. Yes, you might get it to work, but the dropout is too thin to make a good contact and will eventually make the fork fail. As part of my job, I investigate bicycle crashes and a very recent one involved exactly the scenario I just described. A man bought a bike (from a mass market store) for his teenage grand daughter and put a QR on the front. The FIRST time she rode it the fork failed, the wheel came off, and she was killed. Of course, the man blamed the retailer and then the bike, but in the end it was his fault, modifying the bike in a manner that exceeded it's design. Still want to take the chance?
Cones and bearings will work, the axles are the same only quick release is hollow and shorter.

Share to: