Garth, an excellent observation, and I doubt they did read the instructions or watch the video because I think they have been really tightening the skewer down. I will try to get to the bottom of this with them. They really have been great to me and have put up with allllll the annoying fenders, wiring, etc that I drag in there on multiple bikes. I’ll report back! Thank you for bringing up this very valid point, Garth.
Leah

On Jun 13, 2026, at 2:08 PM, Garth <[email protected]> wrote:

I would assume said mechanic has read the instructions and/or seen the video showing the installation, and that after a hand tighten to go no more that 3/4 turn after that, which is 7 newton meters on torque wrench scale. "Or else the  axle can  break", from their own  FAQ page. Asking the ether, "axle can break, huh ?" 

I would also assume the threads are greased, or they should be. (Not mentioned by them.)
From the FAQ. https://hexlox.com/en-us/pages/faq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GLqll3p7Ko

7 newton meters is not very tight, and I can easily see how they could be over torqued by anyone who either hasn't seen or read the instructions and/or simply forgets and applies too much torque. I've never used a Hexlox so I can't say how well that amount of torque keeps the wheel in place. By the breakage though I'd guess they've been overtightened, or it's just a bad product.
On Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 6:53:19 AM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
Interesting, Armand! It’s the mechanics at the shop who do the work and complain that the threads strip.  At least two of them have had to call me and tell me the threads were stripped, so this is not limited to only one mechanic. And the master mechanic (who really does deserve the title) says that my Riv forks require a good bite into the steel nut to keep things locked down. Something about lots of vibration in the fork. 

I took the bike in because the wheel wasn’t spinning right and it was the axle causing the issue. I would love the issue to be our fault, however, because I love the design of the Hexlox systems and the key is so minimal. 

I hope yours continue to work for you and too bad we don’t live in the same zip code because I would love to have you look at my setup and see where/if I’ve gone wrong. Sigh.
L

On Jun 13, 2026, at 1:11 AM, Armand Kizirian <[email protected]> wrote:

I have two hexlox sets on two different bikes for years and have removed the wheels dozens of times without issue. I do apply some light grease on the axle threads, and reapply very rarely. Perhaps you are torquing them down too much? 


On Friday, June 12, 2026 at 12:16:24 PM UTC-7 Jamie D. wrote:
I put a rare earth magnet over the allen bolt head on the skewer to create confusion and deterrence. Not seeing an allen head is strange and I imagine a thief doesn't want to stand around staring at a potential wheel they're considering stealing trying to figure out what's going on. The magnet is strong and removing it is just fiddly enough that unless you know what's going ahead of time it would take you longer than expected to remove it. Allen keys are also attracted to the magnet so unless you fully remove the magnet from the skewer it makes it more difficult to get an allen key engaged.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 8:46:45 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
I have 4 that I got on sale and so they all have different keys…

On Jun 10, 2026, at 8:40 PM, Al in SF <[email protected]> wrote:


On Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 7:38:02 AM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:
I do have Pitlocks I bought from the marvelous Peter White that are just sitting here. I bought them when the aluminum Hexlox failed, thinking I’d have to give up those skewers. But I got those steel nuts and so these Pitlocks have sat in their packages. 

Before I tear apart my bikes again and have to carry 4 different keys around with the Pitlock system, does anyone have a better, slicker solution?

Wait, how many Pitlock sets do you have? If you only have one, you can buy new sets that are keyed to your existing key. It's just a tiny little nut that is different.

Al in SF

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