Are all QR skewers created equal..?

[Hawk]

In need of a QR skewer and some of the results I'm finding online are very cheap (£3-4), but all the reviews are for people who have used them for their turbo trainers.

Are all QR skewers strong enough to take on the road or are some only meant for turbo trainers?

 

[ColinJ]

No, they definitely are not!

I know two people who used lightweight Ti skewers and couldn't get them tight enough to stop their rear wheels slipping. I have had a wheel with a Mavic skewer slip once, but it hasn't done it again since I made an effort to do it up tighter.

Generally, I prefer to stick to standard Shimano or Campagnolo QR skewers because they are chunky and reliable. A few grams of extra weight at the centre of your wheel is neither here nor there.

 

[PpPete]

The Planet-X Cro-Mo ones here have worked fine for me in the Hope Hubs on my Audax bike.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Zipp titanium skewers on Zipp wheels work fine for me

 

[Hawk]

The Planet-X Cro-Mo ones here have worked fine for me in the Hope Hubs on my Audax bike.

Thanks for that

I managed to find these on Amazon which are allegedly genuine shimano (a bargain then!). I would guess they should be up to the job!

All the best
Anton

 

[lukesdad]

No, they definitely are not!

I know two people who used lightweight Ti skewers and couldn't get them tight enough to stop their rear wheels slipping. I have had a wheel with a Mavic skewer slip once, but it hasn't done it again since I made an effort to do it up tighter.

Generally, I prefer to stick to standard Shimano or Campagnolo QR skewers because they are chunky and reliable. A few grams of extra weight at the centre of your wheel is neither here nor there.

Well if the Ti owners had made the same effort theirs would not have slipped either

 

[ColinJ]

Well if the Ti owners had made the same effort theirs would not have slipped either

I can assure you that the couple in one of those examples did get rather fed up of stopping every 5 minutes to straighten the rear wheel and made strenuous attempts to tighten the skewer enough and failed. I'm talking about extremely experienced cyclists, not beginners. One of them was an audax super randonneur.

Actually, I've just checked... that example was a pair of cheap Decathlon skewers. The other was expensive Ti.

 

[TheDoctor]

For horizontal drop-outs I'd use Shimano or other steel ones.
For vertical drop-outs, anything will work as the wheel can't slip.

 

[andrew_s]

Agreed.
If grip is important - i.e horizontal rear dropouts or disc brake front, you should only use Shimano QRs (or others of the same internal cam design, such as Campag).
Everything else is only good for vertical dropouts.

 

[User482]

For horizontal drop-outs I'd use Shimano or other steel ones.
For vertical drop-outs, anything will work as the wheel can't slip.

Not quite. Many MTBers report problems with QRs coming loose on bikes fitted with suspension forks and disc brakes. Manufacturers now routinely spec through axles, which solves the problem.

 

[TheDoctor]

Well, the OP was asking about road stuff...

 

[User482]

Well, the OP was asking about road stuff...

Yes, but you implied that any QR is ok in any vertical droput. I thought it would be useful to provide a qualification, should anyone else read this thread.

 

[TheDoctor]

Fairy nuff. I know little about the muddy side of things...