Axle size?

[Ddaybc]

My rear hub drive has an 18 mm axle nut. What is the size of the actual axle? Is the replacement nut an M9 or an M12 as my axle looks like it's about 13 mm across (measured with a tape and while the nut was still on the axle unfortunately.)?

I need to find out as I am going to purchase a Pinhead security system for the quick release for the front axle, the rear solid axle nuts as well as for the seat posts etc. I don't want to order the wrong things.

Dave

[h2ngo]

Hi Dave, did you ever get an answer to this?  I've got similar questions.  I emailed rad today.  Hopefully they reply soon.

[Ddaybc]

h2ngo, my bike has an M12 axle nut.

[Ddaybc]

Unfortunately I didn't get an answer from here. Pinhead answered me when I gave them my axle size and the nut size.

This forum is great, however sometimes one has to do some additional searching. I hope this helps.

[h2ngo]

Interesting. M12 is pretty big and i've seen car wheel locks for this size.  Curious if those would work as they're much less expensive.  It looks like pinhead makes a special more expensive M12 locking nut.
https://pinheadlocks.com/shop/en/solid-axle-locks/37-284-solid-axle-wheel-lock-one-wheel.html#/1-spare_key-_/103-axle_diameter-m12/3-key-with_key
Other question i asked Rad was the threads per inch or pitch of the M12 bolts.  I've seen different locking nuts from 1.25-1.75 pitch.  This is all fairly foreign to me so i'm trying to research as much as i can.

[Ddaybc]

H2ngo, I don't think auto lug nuts will work on our bikes as I believe they have a coarse thread. However I haven't tried them so it may be worth a try. The bikes are made elsewhere so I believe the thread pitch are metric, at least on the axles. I also don't know what thread pitch they are. Auto locking lug nuts are a good idea though. 

Yes Pinhead does make a special M12 locking nut. Part of the reason they are so expensive is the nut itself has some indents in it and a tighten/loosen "tool" is designed to fit into the indents to make taking it off more difficult. Each one is shaped slightly differently so one cannot just buy a tool and use it on all of them. Kind of like what they do with the axle quick release system.

I have two M12 nuts with one installed on one side of my hub drive. This winter I'm going to take my bike apart and see if I can figure out how to use the other one on the cable side. It doesn't look like the original nut or the Pinhead nut will fit over the cable connector so I think I'm going to have to remove the connector, remove the original nut and install the Pinhead nut on the cable. Then I'll have to solder the connector back on. Once again I'm not sure about everything I will need to do so, if I do it I will post the results on the forum.

[crorris]

The axle on my Rover 5 is M12-1.25. The 1.25 is harder to find. Most of the ones I found were M12-1.75 which will not work.



I purchased these lock nuts in M12-1.25 from Amazon and they worked great.


https://amzn.to/3POBMXg

[Ddaybc]

Corris, thank you for the thread pitch. I didn't know it was 1.25. the nuts you're showing are what we call Nylock nuts. They are great to prevent a nut from vibrating loose or simply backing off on it's own as they are self locking. However the one's h2ngo and I are talking about are for security purposes. They are to prevent or slow someone down from taking the nut off of the axle and taking the wheel.

I would post what they look like but the new server platform of the forum isn't allowing me to post pictures.

[crorris]

I did find a bunch of different auto lug nuts on Amazon that were M12-1.25. I actually tried an auto lug nut in that size and it fit, but the other one met what I needed better. You might be able to find a locking version of one of those auto ones.

[h2ngo]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  I didnt end up buying the auto lug nut locks but i think in theory they would work.  My concern was that they all have a conical tapered contact point with the axle and i was worried it could damage the bike if over tightened, as the contact surface area is small.  the cone shape is meant to fit flush with car wheels i think.  I ended up buying the ebike package from pinhead which has all the components i need and pinhead confirmed with me their solid axle security nuts fit with my Rad Runner.  It does cost an extra $20 to get the m12 size security nuts though.

https://pinheadlocks.com/shop/en/lock-packages/105-2969-e-bike-quick-release-and-solid-axle-2-pack-wheel-locks-quick-release-f-and-solid-axle-r.html#/1-spare_key-_/3-key-with_key/13-axle_diameter_lock_nut-3_8_solid_axle/97-quick_release_axle_length-125_mm_standard_front

[pnwetc]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  I didnt end up buying the auto lug nut locks but i think in theory they would work.  My concern was that they all have a conical tapered contact point with the axle and i was worried it could damage the bike if over tightened, as the contact surface area is small.  the cone shape is meant to fit flush with car wheels i think.  I ended up buying the ebike package from pinhead which has all the components i need and pinhead confirmed with me their solid axle security nuts fit with my Rad Runner.  It does cost an extra $20 to get the m12 size security nuts though.

https://pinheadlocks.com/shop/en/lock-packages/105-2969-e-bike-quick-release-and-solid-axle-2-pack-wheel-locks-quick-release-f-and-solid-axle-r.html#/1-spare_key-_/3-key-with_key/13-axle_diameter_lock_nut-3_8_solid_axle/97-quick_release_axle_length-125_mm_standard_front

Thanks for taking the time to share this. I've been debating a Pinhead nut for my RR+ rear wheel to complement a Pinhead QR skewer on my front wheel, so knowing that the M12 nut works on the real wheel is useful.