Skipjacks

I just picked up a 20 inch bike for my kid.

It doesn't quite fit in my car with the front wheel on and it's a little small for the trunk rack.

The wheel comes off easily enough but it's held on with normal bolts on each side.

It's is possible or terribly difficult to add a quick release to a wheel without swapping out the whole hub or anything?

This is a generic image of the wheel. The axle is solid so it would have to be replaced I'm sure.



If it's not doable of worth the effort I can get a cheap extra wrench to keep with my kid's bike gear. Not the end of the world. But if it's cheap and easy to install a thing like that, it's worth it.

Thoughts?

DiabloScott

If you've got good lawyer lips on there, you could probably just keep them hand tight.

Assuming rider doesn't hop curbs and such.

SkyDog75

In theory, it's easy enough. Just replace the solid axle with a hollow one of appropriate length. The catch -- and of course there's a catch -- is that the new axle has to have the same diameter and thread pitch as your original axle, otherwise you won't be able to use your original bearing cones and locknuts. And there's a good chance that you'll find hollow axles aren't available in the same diameter & thread pitch as your original solid axle.

When my daughters were riding kids' bikes with solid axles, I just kept a small wrench handy to deal with the axle nuts.

elcraft

There are three ways to do this. The first is to swap the solid axle in the hub for a hollow one that will take a quick release skewer. You will have to rebuild/ re-pack the hub to do it, as well as acquire a skewer axles run about $10 to $12, and the skewer another $10 to$15 in your LBS.
The second way is to locate wing nuts that will fit the existing axle. These wing nuts can often be a bit flimsy and difficult to find. The last way is to use quick releas converters:
https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...fJ6Bm8Q8wIImgE

Or:
AXLE RELEASE CLASSIC M10xP1.0 | Store | Axle Release

Which to use depends on the threading on the hub, metric or English. It is probably the second or Metric version.

Skipjacks

The wingnut idea is flipping brilliant.

Might take some searching but I'm sure I can find a durable wingnut with the right threading. Doesn't have to be too strong. It's just holding back minimal lateral stress of the wheel. It's not supporting any weight at all.

Home Depot has a surprisingly deep assortment of little parts like that. I'm going to go pull the nuts off of it now (that didn't sound right) and go run over to Home Depot and see what I can match up.

Thanks, friend!

The converter idea is sound, but $20 per wheel....I only paid $60 for the bike. I bet I can make removing the wheels a simple task for $3 in wing nuts. I'm kind of embarrassed I didn't think of it myself.

SkyDog75

Solid bicycle axles often use an uncommon thread pitch (26 tpi, IIRC, even on some metric axles), meaning wingnuts may not be as easy to find as you'd think. But there've been a bunch of different diameters and threadings used over the years, so it doesn't hurt to give it a shot. If Home Depot and Lowe's don't have something, other hardware stores often have better fastener selections.

elcraft

Home Depot won't have the type of wing nut you will need. These are made especially for the threading found on hubs, usually 9mm x 1mm. Check these out on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gripfast-No...25.m3641.l6368

While a bit on the pricey side, they are well made and you can transfer them onto the next children's bike that your child moves onto. Sometimes similar wing nuts can be found at a bicycle co-op. They were more common in the early Seventies just as the bike boom was hitting. Happy hunting!

sweeks

Steve

Skipjacks

Awesome. I didn't make it to the store tonight. I'll take the nut later this week and check it against the big board of sample bolts to see what the thread pitch is.

This isn't 1970. This is 2018. What I want exists on the internet. It must. If it doesn't, what's the point of the internet?

Gresp15C

As an alternative to wing nuts, keep a wrench in your car. I have several nutted axles among my bikes, and of all the ways to deal with it, I finally decided that a wrench is the simplest. Loosening the nuts takes a few seconds.

CliffordK

CHECK YOUR THREADING if you can. Do you have any spare cones from QR axles? 9mm? 10mm? Try threading them on by hand, and you'll know.

I've found that many bolt on wheels use English threading. And, almost all QR wheels use Metric threading.

I've done the conversion on two rear wheels for Fuji Ace bikes (24" & 650c). Invariably I also have to touch up the dishing. But, front would be easier.

Anyway, if you have English threading, then it usually means finding new axles, cones, spacers, lock nuts, and oil seals, with the oil seals being the tricky part to fit. QR axles tend to be cheap.

That would be the advantage of the double quick release kit that elcraft found, if it is 3/8 x 26.

If you already have 9mm metric, then the swap is quick and easy, and you can probably find skewers and axles at your local bike co-op.

Check E-Bay for your wheel wing nuts. There should be vintage ones from before 1970 or so. Perhaps new ones too.

xenologer

find a used QR front hub

transplant the axle, and cones (since the threading will be different)
-assuming the cones are a 'close enough' profile. and they almost certainly are for most cheap chinese hubs...

Retro Grouch 

Cheapest, easiest and probably safest way would be to buy a 15 mm wrench to keep in your car.

dsbrantjr

+1, and if you get a thin one or grind it a bit you can use it on pedals, too.

Skipjacks

I've got a full socket set in the car at all times for roadside emergencies.

Down side of that is it doesn't help with a flat tire 5 miles from the car.

I'm expecting with this new bigger bike my kid can extend from the 2 miles we used to ride from the car to about 5 miles. I don't want to be 5 miles from the car and have a flat tire I can't fix. Nor do I feel like carrying a wrench with me. I'd like to be able to yank the wheel off without tools so I can do whatever I need to do where ever I need to do it.

It's a solid idea for just getting the bike in and out of the car. But I'd like that flexibility away from the car.

I'm rolling with the wingnut plan. It's the cheapest easiest way to do what I'm looking to do. And I can't possibly screw up the wheel by doing it. (I mean...I COULD....but I won't)

Gresp15C

Do you plan on fixing the flat without tools? This is purely a personal choice, and I certainly understand. In my case, if I'm equipped to fix a flat while on a ride, it means that I've brought along the means to do so. Having a little wrench in my tool bag is a pretty minimal burden. Some of my bikes have IGH's or nutted front axles, so a wrench is de rigeur anyway. It weighs less than 2 ounces.

Skipjacks

No I don't plan to fix a flat without tools. My magical powers are somewhat limited these days.

I have tire levers and a patch kit on my bike at all times (which is going to be right next to my daughter's bike on a ride more than walking distance from the car). I don't have a spot for a wrench in my tiny tool bag. And I don't like to carry a larger bag when out of a joy ride. More importantly, I don't want to need a wrench. I want it to be doable by hand, so the wingnut idea is the winner for me.

fietsbob

If the front axle is not 9mm diameter, , you probably wont be able to simply swap the solid axle for a hollow one..

because standard front hubs use 9mm, axles solid and hollow.. leaving a wrench in the car would be simple

finding wing nuts that fit that axle more difficult.. that washer that hooks in the hole in the fork is important.





....

dedhed

with the kids bikes i just carried a small crescent wrench

xenologer

Get this:
https://ridepdw.com/products/3wrench...nt=24674533569



It's a Tire Lever
and a Wrench

put it in your patch kit bag in place of your exiting tire lever
now you can have your wrench, but not be carrying around anything more than what you already had.


and really, wingnuts make me worry about safety. They're always only 'hand tight'....


P.S. how do you fix a flat on the kids bike, if you patch kit doesn't include some way to remove the wheel nuts? patching on bike? cumbersome, and what if the hole is so big you need a tube swap? Yeah you definetly need that wrench/tirelever combo in your pack.

Skipjacks

I keep a spare tube zip tied to her frame.

Tubes are cheap. Patching is silly for what a new tube costs. I don't keep a patch in my kit in the unlikely event I blow TWO tubes on a ride.

The wrench lever is a nifty gizmo though

Bike Gremlin

Can the washer be swapped for a non-hooked one as long as the bolts are properly torqued?

bikeme

I did that on my daughter's old 20" Specialized Rockhopper. Took it to the LBS and they figured it out really quick and it was cheap too--like $5 for a diff axle. I had a spare QR laying around.

CliffordK

Are you putting the QR on both front and rear, or just the front, in which case, you'll still need to be able to repair your rear.

In many cases, it is possible to patch a tube without removing the wheel from the bike, but it wouldn't help with a bad valve or similar.

You could also slime your tubes, but you could probably make it home if you slimed the tubes.

It appears as if the Gaadi tube (which can be removed without removing the wheel) is available in 20", but is hard to find in the USA). Also kind of expensive.

GAADI TUBE - open bike tube :: Mitas-velo.cz
https://ebike.hu/products/wheel/tube...7-57-406-sv40/

fietsbob

I would not do so, ( but its not my child riding it )