rear wheel removal logistics

spot on said:

Was wondering about some issues related to rear wheel removal:

1. Do you let you newly lubed chain just drag on the dirt while you're changing a flat? Or is there something to hold it in place? I'd flip my bike over but am afraid of scuffing up the computer.

The computer doesn't come out of the cradle? Well, consider carrying a plastic grocery bag to put the chain in when you lay the bike on its side.

spot on said:

2. I carry a wrench about 8" long for the axle nuts. Any way around this?

Well, since MY single-speed isn't a fixed, I've been thinking I should change to a quick-release ...

But, what I chose to do was to re-tap some old Shimano (any "brand" will do) wingnuts (the Shimano wingnuts are alloy) to fit on the solid Shimano axle that I installed in an old hub -- it took me TWO (!) hours to do the first, and 15 minutes to do the second. It might take someone else only 15-minutes-or-less to do two.

[center]SOMEONE MUST MAKE WINGNUTS WITH MODERN THREADING![/center]

BTW. I changed the nuts from the ones in the pic to ones that are serrated (which I cannibalized from a 40h tandem front hub I wasn't using since they fit on the axle) to reduce the likelihood of the wheel slipping ...

Thanks for the advice! It never crossed my mind to snap my computer out. Silly.

By the way, is there any rear wheel slippage using those hand tightened wingnuts? Do you use a chaintug as well?

spot on said:

By the way, is there any rear wheel slippage using those hand tightened wingnuts? Do you use a chaintug as well?

Fortunately (!?!), it occurred to me before taking the bike on the road that the significantly OLDer nuts with FLAT faces probably weren't going to hold ... so, for the time being, with the serrated/knurled/whatever faced nuts (common on MOST modern hubs) it hasn't slipped ... yet!!

Maybe, I'm not pedaling hard enough ...

I think that (as long as the 'outer face' of the nuts that lock the cones in place are knurled) you simply need to be sure your dropouts are as close to parallel to the center plane of the bike as possible so that there is maximum surface contact.

I certainly hope that if/when the wheel slips (!) that I won't be grinding uphill. If I ever determine that slippage is because I can't tighten the wingnuts enough (I think it IS as tight as a skewer tightened wheel, but perhaps not), I'll probably "cut" some radial "gooves" in the washer that faces the outside of the dropout ... and, hope that provides enough additional "grip" for the wheels OR I'll just switch to "standard" nuts.

Remember, I'm just using a BMX Freewheel ... but, maybe I should consider carrying some "regular" nuts + a wrench just-in-case!

BTW. For some reason, I do have some MONKEY NUTS dropout "spacers" ... but, they really wouldn't do too much on the forward facing dropouts ... like the adjustable chaintug, I think there may be a benefit with rear facing TRACK dropouts ...