Check your quick releases!

[ColinJ]

A couple of tips about quick releases ...

I haven't used my mountain bike for some time and thought I would check it over before starting to ride it again. I put the bike on my workshop stand and discovered that the back wheel did not freewheel for long before coming to a stop - only about 5 seconds. I thought the rear brake must be dragging but it wasn't that ...

It shouldn't be the bearings because they were all replaced a few months before I stopped riding the bike.

I went to undo the quick release and found that it was done up ridiculously tight. Either I had been in gorilla mode when I did it up, or a mate who does some work on my bikes was responsible. Whoever was to blame, I could not undo the QR by unaided hand. The QR lever was lined up along the chainstay so there was not room to get a good grip on it. I would have been stuck if I'd had to undo it out on a remote bridleway somewhere. In the end, I resorted to sliding an old seatpost over the QR lever to get adequate leverage.

I adjusted the QR to give a more sensible tension and did it back up. The wheel now spins on the stand for nearly a minute before coming to a stop!

The excessive tension across the rear dropouts must have been squeezing the hub bearings. No wonder the bike felt hard work to pedal - I had been blaming its sluggishness on a huge new rear tyre that I'd fitted at the same time as the new bearings!

Obviously, QRs need to be done up tight enough not to allow wheels to twist in the dropouts, but b*st*rd-tight should not be necessary!

Oh, and another thing ... lining up a QR lever along a chainstay (or fork leg) looks neat, but it could be awkward trying to undo it on a freezing morning. I have now turned mine slightly so I can get a good grip on the end of the lever,

 

[Rooster1]

I remove my front wheel almost every day, and a few weeks back, as I descended a very small incline, the quick release level opened up!!! I hadn't tightened it properly.

 

[rualexander]

Lining up the lever with the chainstay, seatstay, or fork leg is not a good idea for two reasons. It is harder to get a grip of when you want to open the quick release, but also can prevent the lever from being properly and safely located in the fully closed position.

 

[ColinJ]

I remove my front wheel almost every day, and a few weeks back, as I descended a very small incline, the quick release level opened up!!! I hadn't tightened it properly.

Yikes, that could have been very nasty ...

Yes - tight enough, but not too tight is what we are aiming for!

 

[mjr]

At least twice, for completely different reasons, the main thing holding my front wheel in the fork has been the hooked washers on the nutted axle! Oops...

 

[voyager]

A couple of tips about quick releases ...

Oh, and another thing ... lining up a QR lever along a chainstay (or fork leg) looks neat, but it could be awkward trying to undo it on a freezing morning. I have now turned mine slightly so I can get a good grip on the end of the lever,

Over 4 decades ago when I did a bit of cycle racing I was always told to fold the qr lever along the front forks and at the rear across the lug and if you leave your bike amongst idiots put a piece of tape around the qr lever to see if they had been tampered with

regards emma

 

[compo]

For off road riding I was always told not to have the QR lever aligned with the chainstay, ie, pointing forwards. If you hit a branch or something and it catches the lever it could possibly come undone. I have never had this happen or actually met anyone to who it has happened so it might just be an urban myth!

 

[Nigeyy]

From the very first time I used QRs, I figured the best way was to make sure the position of the QR lever was in such a way to prevent a branch from grabbing it and pulling it open.-which meant along the fork arm (seemed the best place to protect against this) and for the rear one, pointing backwards (not along the chainstay). Never had an accidental release from this.... so I figure it's a good rule of thumb. Course, now I have a thru axle on my front fork, but still am in the habit of doing the same on the rear wheel.

But yeah, I wonder how much difference it really makes -mind you, I suppose all it takes is just one time for it to be worth your time to do this though!

For off road riding I was always told not to have the QR lever aligned with the chainstay, ie, pointing forwards. If you hit a branch or something and it catches the lever it could possibly come undone. I have never had this happen or actually met anyone to who it has happened so it might just be an urban myth!

 

[Pale Rider]

For off road riding I was always told not to have the QR lever aligned with the chainstay, ie, pointing forwards. If you hit a branch or something and it catches the lever it could possibly come undone. I have never had this happen or actually met anyone to who it has happened so it might just be an urban myth!

Having the QR pointing backwards is sound advice for a mountain bike, not so important for a road bike.

As regards tension, tight enough for the lever to make a small indentation in your hand is what I was told.

 

[bpsmith]

Just in front of front fork and in between the stays in the rear triangle is allegedly best. Tightening up, I usually have them where tension starts at half closed. Always been great for me.

 

[ColinJ]

I tried reclosing my overtight QR once I had got it undone. The tension was starting about 1/4 way through the lever's travel, which is way too soon, and It took far too much pressure to tighten the QR up. That makes me think that my mate was responsible because I always adjust a QR so the tension starts at half-closed, and only a firm push is required, not virtually having to hammer the lever to get it to do up!

I've only had a rear wheel pull round once through not having the QR tight enough. Standard Campagnolo and Shimano QR skewers are usually very reliable. The one that pulled free was a Mavic, and a slight increase in tension on that was enough to secure the wheel properly.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

The excessive tension across the rear dropouts must have been squeezing the hub bearings. No wonder the bike felt hard work to pedal - I had been blaming its sluggishness on a huge new rear tyre that I'd fitted at the same time as the new bearings!

Hi Colin it seems to me the fundamental issue is not just about qr pressure, but about hub bearing adjustment (where qr tightness is part of the factor, but not the only factor). While the wheel appears to spin well now, your hub bearing preload might be too low, resulting in excessive play, which can be no less detrimental to the hub's longevity than excessive preload.

When adjusting hub bearing preload, I use a pair of spacers around 10mm thick or so with a 10mm+ hole in place of the dropouts. With them it becomes easy to set initial play (a hub should have a little play when the qr is not on) while letting you know what angle the qr lever is at (in relation to the vertical plane) when it starts to bite, but still allowing the axle to spin freely in your hands without play when the qr lever is full on.

 

[ColinJ]

Hi Colin it seems to me the fundamental issue is not just about qr pressure, but about hub bearing adjustment (where qr tightness is part of the factor, but not the only factor). While the wheel appears to spin well now, your hub bearing preload might be too low, resulting in excessive play, which can be no less detrimental to the hub's longevity than excessive preload.

When adjusting hub bearing preload, I use a pair of spacers around 10mm thick or so with a 10mm+ hole in place of the dropouts. With them it becomes easy to set initial play (a hub should have a little play when the qr is not on) while letting you know what angle the qr lever is at (in relation to the vertical plane) when it starts to bite, but still allowing the axle to spin freely in your hands without play when the qr lever is full on.

It's a good point, but I've just checked and all appears to be well. There doesn't seem to be any excessive play - I can't really feel any lateral movement when I try to rock the wheel from side to side with the bike on the stand. The Hope disk hubs have 3 or 4 sealed bearings.

 

[themosquitoking]

I'm sure there is a rule about qr lever positioning.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm sure there is a rule about qr lever positioning.

People have all sorts of funny ideas ... The most important thing is to do the QRs up properly, and as I pointed out above - if you force the lever up against a fork or stay, then it can be hard to undo, and as rualexander pointed out - it might not be done up tight enough.