Do I really need a solid axle and track nuts in the rear? My fixie is a road frame with horizontal dropouts and I use it for road training and commuting not racing on the track. Benefits of QR in my opinion are: quicker flat repair, easier to get chain tension (axle wants to move when I torque the track nuts), fewer tools to carry. Thanks in advance for your ideas. Flame away to your heart's content if you're a track nut purist. :-)

Single speed, I'll go with a QR. Fixed, no way. I don't want to deal with the "ouch" if the QR slips...

I'm all for preventing the ouch. So the solid axle it is. Hope my Alien tool has a 15 mm becuase I really dont want to lug a big wrench everyhwere I go.

Would I be ok to use a quick release in the rear if I have chain tugs such as the "Surly" brand installed?

I'm all for preventing the ouch. So the solid axle it is. Hope my Alien tool has a 15 mm becuase I really dont want to lug a big wrench everyhwere I go.

and have never had a problem. but I understand the caution. As for the chain-tension issue, I'm told that real track nuts (with the attached washers) do not cause the movement problem, and it's actually easier to get proper tension than with QR's.

I don't know if any multi-tool has a 15mm that's robust enough for this purpose. There are some pretty compact wrenches available.

When I had many fixies I got tired of switching saddle bags. Instead of having a saddle bag, I put the tubes, wrench, CO2, etc in a water bottle. When I want to ride another bike, I switch the bottle to the other bike. Of course this works best if you have two cages so you still have one for water.....

WHy would you go nutted on fix and QR on single speed. Its the same torque. You do not need a Solid axle if you know how to tighten things properly. If your running lighter gears and arn't smashing pot holes all the time you will be fine. My beater has a 70", QR on the rear, And its a old Sekini with the cheapest drop outs in the world. It sees at least 12 sprints a week of various intensity and lengh, aswell as standing starts all on roads in witch I have to eventualy stop by back pedaling. I havent had to once adjust the chain tention from slipping the wheel. Its been like that since May! Im not a lightweight either, at 195lbs and with a 200m time of 11.2 I think if it wasnt up to par yet I would know about it.

WHy would you go nutted on fix and QR on single speed. Its the same torque. You do not need a Solid axle if you know how to tighten things properly. If your running lighter gears and arn't smashing pot holes all the time you will be fine. My beater has a 70", QR on the rear, And its a old Sekini with the cheapest drop outs in the world. It sees at least 12 sprints a week of various intensity and lengh, aswell as standing starts all on roads in witch I have to eventualy stop by back pedaling. I havent had to once adjust the chain tention from slipping the wheel. Its been like that since May! Im not a lightweight either, at 195lbs and with a 200m time of 11.2 I think if it wasnt up to par yet I would know about it.

Simple. It's a comfort level...I've had a QR release slip on single speed and since I could free wheel, I didn't crash.

And if using QR's then make sure to use an internal cam like the basic shimano. Not an external cam QR like a salsa. Internals have higher clamping force.. I used QR's on my former singlespeed but I'm more comfortable and have had less slippage with nutted hubs. But I'm a relative newcomer to this game..

Bingo. Shimano skewers. Nice steel clamping surface. That is what I used single speed.

I still wouldn't be comfortable with them fixed....They might be fine but I won't take the chance

Alot of people confuse the wheel slipping for the chain coming into propper tention from being over tightened. BMX ers are bad for this.

If the wheel is aligned in the drop out properly before tightened it will also be less likly to slip.

Do I really need a solid axle and track nuts in the rear? My fixie is a road frame with horizontal dropouts and I use it for road training and commuting not racing on the track. Benefits of QR in my opinion are: quicker flat repair, easier to get chain tension (axle wants to move when I torque the track nuts), fewer tools to carry. Thanks in advance for your ideas. Flame away to your heart's content if you're a track nut purist. :-)

QR's have been used for decades in horizontal dropouts on geared bikes, and the forces that would make them slip forward are more present in the forward stroke than on a resisting stroke. Further, the greater range of gearing on a geared bike makes it (in theory) far more likely there, due to the greater torque that can be applied.

That said, Dave's point is well taken - what happens if there is slippage is considerably riskier.

For consideration: What about bolt-on skewers? The same tightening leverage as solid axles and nuts, but tighten with an allen wrench that's on every minitool. Best of both worlds. Some will argue that a skewer isn't as strong as a nut and solid axle, and that's true, but irrelevant. The nutted skewer has finer threads, and so ought to allow more clamping force than a nutted axle, at least given tools of similar size.

2 words - wing nuts.

haha, that's what i have on my track bike/commuter/fixed gear. though they do slip from time to time, i do have to admit they are more for form then function. but they don't function all that bad.

I'm all for preventing the ouch. So the solid axle it is. Hope my Alien tool has a 15 mm becuase I really dont want to lug a big wrench everyhwere I go.

Well, it's not as if you need to carry a 16" crescent wrench. For standard 15 mm track nuts, you can use a fixed "stubby" wrench that doesn't weigh much at all and fits easily into a seat bag--sears craftsman made a really nice one for about 8 bucks, but they seem to have discontinued it; any sizeable hardware store ought to have a look-a-like. Another option is a hub (e.g., phil or white) that takes a hex wrench, which is not much to carry.

I changed from solid axle to bolt on skewers, which I had sitting in the spare parts bin. Feels good to me, and its easy to torque a lot of pressure with a multitool.