A to B must be the only bicycle magazine in the world that knows next to nothing about quick-release skewers, because they’re rare on small-wheeled machines. If you don’t either, they’re the little rods that stop bicycle wheels falling off, with a handy lever on the end to help thieves make off with ‘em. So why are most (non-hub gear) bicycles fitted with quick-release skewers? Fashion alone, it seems – outside the racing world quick- release wheels serve little purpose.
One way to stop folk half-inching vital components from your bike is to fit some species of locking skewer, and in our limited experience of such things, the German Pitlock is a super-duper example.
These devices are available in a number of shapes and sizes to lock the obvious things, like front and rear wheels and seat posts, plus a couple of things we wouldn’t have thought of – ‘Ahead set’ forks and brakes.The pattern for each of the skewers is the same – all stainless steel, with a tamper-proof cap on one end and a shaped nut recessed inside a stainless recessed-thing at the other. On our examples, the nut is shaped like the Isle of Wight, and there’s a special tool provided which only fits Isle of Wight-shaped nuts so you can take things on and off.
There are 255 other replica islands available, so a thief would be very lucky to unfasten yours. Should you loose the special tool, the box contains a code number for reordering, unless, of course, you threw it away with the other packaging…
Not only is the Pitlock system a theft deterrent, but the skewers are almost certainly lighter than the ones you have already – the seatpost design weighing a mere 28g, against 40g for a more conventional pattern. Even the chunky rear wheel skewer weighs only 50g. Besides the price, our only slight grumble is that disassembly yields lots of fiddly little parts that would be irretrievably squelched into the mud during a night-time roadside calamity. But that aside, Pitlock skewers probably make a good investment, even at £20 for the front wheel, or £36 for a three-piece set including front wheel, rear wheel and seat pin (available in two lengths – 36mm or 60mm). Other special order bits include extra long skewers for tandems or bikes with ‘extra-thick drop-outs’. Sounds to us like troublesome teenagers, but we’re told it’s the bit the rear wheel fits into.
Pitlock anti-theft skewers £20-£36 Weight 28-50g UK distributor Orbit Cycles tel 0114 275 6567 mail sales@orbit-cycles.co.uk web www.orbit-cycles.co.uk Manufacturer Pitlock web www.pitlock.de
