[Spiderman]

I think I read this on sheldon brown once, but somewhere he suggested that its possible with any standard quick release axle to cut off both ends of the axle so that they are flush with the lock washer (essentially removing the part of the axle that normally sits in the dropouts) and you should have enough amount of play to tension a chain in a vert. dropout frame.

Assuming your QR skewer is strong enough (i'd get the through-axle bolt-on things) it sounds like it would work. Any thoughts, anyone ever try this?

 

[AllUpHill]

I wouldn't be too confident this would give you enough freedom within truly vertical drop-outs. No doubt it would give you more freedom, but you'd most likely have to play with your cog/chainring sizes as well (or get extremely lucky).

I believe sheldon brought this up mainly as a way to get just a little more rear-ward range on short-ish horizontal (or diagonal) drop-outs.

Personally, even at my small weight, 135lb, I wouldn't trust the skewer in such a set-up. Not even a tough steel one.

 

[LC]

More like a death wish

It is going to hurt alot when you hit a bump and break that skewer

 

[biknben]

well...

I remember reading that you could file it down to give you room for adjustment. IE: file off the back so that you just had a crescent shape left. This would give you room for adjustment but still leave something for support in the dropouts.

Saw the things off completely is asking for trouble.

If you saw them off completely, what will you be threading the axle nut onto. If I'm visualizing this correctly, you be forced to use a skewer. I doubt you could get it tight enough to keep the wheel from moving around.

 

[FixedPip]

Wouldn't trust it

I once had a budget fixie with a quick release rear axle. In a year I broke the axle and skewer twice, partly cause they had to be cranked down so tight to stop the wheel slipping in the frame and partly cause these were fairly old bits I was using.

However, I wouldn't trust it myself.

Have you tried adding halflinks to your chain or tried a different gearing? With older road frames, there are normally a number of different ring combinations that give close to the same gearing.

 

[Spiderman]

Just to clarify, this is all theory, I haven't done any of this, nor would I so I wouldn't need a half link. I was curious if anyone out there had any experience with it.

I currently have a fixie that i use a QR lever and nothing has happened so far (knock on wood). No slippage, nothing.

Biknben - the way it would (theoretically) be done is saw off the axle right in front of the lock washer, flush with it, so that the lock washer is still on the axle, but there is nothing beyond that.

I desperately want the ENO hub as I have an old frame that would make a KILLER singlespeed, it would fit just right too. Anyway, thanks for the comments!!