Just a Quick Question about Quick Release..

VeloUSA wrote:

I'm with guyrwood on QR lever positioning. Makes it a lot easier to unfasten and no worry about marking/rubbing the frame. When group riding it also prevents the rear lever tip hooking another bike. My rule of thumb is tighten enough so the lever leaves an indentation on your palms.

I just don't see how hooking another bike could happen. Except if the lever was backward and the rider behind overlaps and catches it with their front wheel. No possible chance if the lever is tucked away inside the rear triangle agreed but bikes shouldn't come that close to each other.

wycombewheeler wrote:

I just don't see how hooking another bike could happen.

I think it's as much about establishing a 'best method'. Tasks like this are always easier and done properly every time if you always do it the same way.

Unless you are an especially powerful rider doing standing starts in competition (which only applies to the rear wheel anyway) I'd err on the side of using a lower clamping force rather than one requiring a big effort to open or close. The nut should begin to grip the dropout face when the cam is a little past half way closed.

I always position it beside the fork or chain/seat stay, not against it. I also only use steel internal cam skewers. The external cam type that were on my kids' bikes were poor and have been replaced with Shimano Deore and I wouldn't be comfortable with the superlight type for everyday year-round use.

guyrwood wrote:

I generally have the front one pointing backwards and the rear one midway between the seat- and chainstays.

Having both pointing backwards avoids the risk of them catching on something.  And if you have disc brakes, provides a bit of protection to the rotors.

MadHatter wrote:

It requires an amount of force to open so I'm guessing it's safe.

No, unless it's gone past the "peak" of the cam then it's not properly closed, and vibration may cause it to gradually come undone.  Once it's past the peak, then the cam is actually forcing the lever to close and it should stay closed.  On every QR I've come across the lever will be pointing inwards a bit when fully closed.  If slackening off the nut on the other side a bit allows you to close it further, then it's not properly closed.

MadHatter wrote:

Safe and sound, screw the rules >_<

This rule is good one to stick to. By lining up directly with the fork it limits the space available to get your fingers in to open. If you have large hands like me that is quite important...