sjanzeir

Fellow wrenchers,

Would it be a good a secure a hollow axle to the dropouts with regular nuts instead of a QR skewer? I've found an axle that's the right length and girth for a hub I'm looking to rebuild, but it's a hollow one.

dedhed

If it's threaded I'd think it could accept a nut. realistically the load is carried on the axle at the dropouts and that will still happen. I don't know that the skewer adds any "strength", just holds the axle in the correct location. It just needs to be long enough to clear the drop outs and have room for a nut beyond the dropout. QR axle length normally does not extend beyond the dropout.

Bill Kapaun

Which hub are you going to "rebuild"?
What do you consider a "rebuild"?

I'm thinking any hub that is short enough to use nuts on a hollow axle is going to be spaced at 120-126mm.
That makes it more likely it's a Free Wheel vs Free Hub.
FW's are prone to bend SOLID axles.
A hollow axle simply has to be worse. Just sticking in a cut off skewer to fill the hole couldn't hurt.
I'd be more inclined to just use the axle as a QR with skewer or get a solid axle.

Wilfred Laurier

In terms of resisting axle bending, the QR skewer does play a role, almost equal to the strength difference between a hollow and solid axle. If using nuts on a hollow axle, the hollow section will represent a loss in strength, both in bending and in tension (the axle nut and cone locknut will be stretching the axle over the width of the dropout - although I doubt this will be a problem)

My recollection from the days of freewheels is that a nutted axle and QR axle + skewer have about the same likelihood of bending or breaking.

alcjphil

My recollections from a bike that I used for commuting don't bear this out. For several years I used a non suspension mountain bike for commuting, averaging about 8000 km per year, not bad in a city where I couldn't ride safely for about 3-4 winter months annually. When I bought that bike, it had a 6 speed freewheel with really nice Suntour hubs and a solid rear axle. On average, I would break the rear axle about twice each year. After about 3 years of this, I decided to change out the solid axle for a hollow axle with quick release. My axle breakage problem stopped. One thing about a quick release axle in use is that the axle is constantly under compression from the skewer pressing in on either side of the outer locknuts. A quick release axle without that compression is probably going to be much weaker than a solid axle. To the OP: If you rebuild the hub with a quick release axle, choose one that is the correct length so that you can use the quick release, not a nut on the end of a too long hollow axle. The quick release will reinforce and strengthen the axle much in the way that laminated wood beams are much stronger than solid wood beams of the same size

79pmooney

The comments above ignore several things. One) the hole down the center of the axle makes almost no difference in bending strength, the primary breaking issue for rear axles. (Material in the center of the beam counts very little toward resisting bending. Hence I beams - basically very heavy square beams with almost all the center material removed.)

Two) hollow QR axles are very often made of far better steel than solid axles. The difference in breakage between hollow and solid is because of this, not the hole or the different lengths.

Another comment - 6-speed freewheel hubs are susceptible to breaking axles because of the long span of unsupported axle between the right-hand bearings and the right-hand dropout. To avoid breakage with those hubs - be light and kind to rear wheels, use hubs with high quality steel for the axle or limit the the mileage (or better, a combination of these). Also see to it that the dropouts are properly aligned, ie parallel to the frame and exactly vertical. Otherwise the dropouts are putting a pre-bend into the axle, further shortening its life. (Any bike shop has the tool to align dropouts and it is a 5 minute job - but an expensive tool.)

Ben

alcjphil

" hollow QR axles are very often made of far better steel than solid axles" When I was breaking 2 axles per year, I spent a lot of time seeking out the very highest quality solid axles available through various suppliers. This was back in the day when bike shops actually stocked such high quality parts.(6 speed freewheels and high quality have been extinct for almost 30 years and my solid axle 6 speed freewheel high quality bike was purchased at a time when such bikes were common.

" 6-speed freewheel hubs are susceptible to breaking axles because of the long span of unsupported axle" Please. people have toured the world on touring bicycles with 6 speed freewheels loaded with camping gear for over 40 years. The real problem started with 8 speed and the needed 130mm dropout spacing

dedhed

Where does it say this is a freewheel hub or even a rear wheel in the OP?

sjanzeir

Alright, folks, simmer down. It's actually a rear hub, with a seven-speed freehub body and a supplied quick release skewer, which I upgraded my old Raleigh Flyer to from its original, nutted spin-on hub and five-speed freewheel way back in 1996, when freehubs still were a relatively new invention. The hub was a 130mm when I bought it, which I converted into a 120mm (123mm, to be exact) to fit my Raleigh by removing the spacer between the left-hand cone and locknut. I then reused that same spacer to take up the slack in the now too-long skewer.

This was a bad idea to begin with, as the skewer never seemed to have enough clamping force to keep the wheel from moving around and damaging the dropouts. Hence my move to rectify the situation.

ThermionicScott 

I've had minor issues keeping a QR wheel in place when the axle was slightly too long. Just figure out how much excess you have and hacksaw it off. But put a locknut on first and thread it past the spot where you're going to cut so that you can chase the thread after making the cut.