This brings me to my request. I don't have one of the unique Hi-E not-so-quick release levers, and probably would'nt trust one on the rear wheel anyway. But I remember not long ago, someone produced some skewers that had a hex socket rather than a lever. One tightened the skewer with a small allen wrench. The idea was to discourage theft of wheels since the thief would have to have the appropriate size allen wrench handy in order to remove the wheel. Although I'm not so worried about wheel theft, these strike me as somewhat in the spirit of the original Hi-E skewers. Anyone remember the name of these skewers or know of anyone who sells them? Anyone have these skewers for sale or trade? Jerry: They are or were Quik-Lox Security Kit, made or marketed by Kool Stop.
But, Jerry: The instructons on the back say : "DEALER INSTALLATION IS RECOMMENDED" [caps in the original].
What you missed from your description was the clever innovation that would have a frustrated thief who had planned, Mad Comics, "Spy vs Counterspy" fashion to get the goods when he/she returned with the correct sized allen wrench: The hole has a pin in the middle, and the wrench is drilled to fit it.
Must be from the days when middle North Americans were clever enough to invent and adopt velcro, too. <smile> Well, more likely, they date from the mountain-bike boom--sorry to be OT--, when quick-release seatposts appeared just a little quicker than thieves could establish their tastes for which single saddle they wished to harvest.
I have a card in front of me with 1 of them shrink-wrapped to it.
Harry Travis
Washington, DC