Why Quick Release?

[Bobsiii]

My Magnum Metro comes with QR front wheel and seat post. I'm wondering how much use they are for me, thinking about replacing. I'd like to know why having them is important/very helpful, and suggestions for replacement if you have done so.

I'm not mechanical, unlikely to do much work other than check/clean/lube; I will frequently have to lock bike up outside and QR means more cables to carry, more things to do. I'm not a speed racer any more, only daylight ride paved trails with a few forays onto roads to get to next paved off-road trail (have a huge fear of oblivious car drivers that only grows as I get older and more fragile) so I don't expect lots of issues. If a front tire goes flat it's simple to remove/repair/replace tube; if rear goes flat on me it means walk mode and probably a trip to LeBS. We do have goatheads in Denver.

I've got a Serfas Tailbones saddle I use on my me-power bike, I'm thinking about replacing the Magnum suspension post and seat with solid post and this seat, planning on removing QR at same time.

If replacing the QRs is a mistake, please tell me why.

 

[christob]

My only use so far for a front-wheel quick release, is that I have no bike rack on my car -- so I must put the bike in the back of my Prius (such as to take it to LBS for work, or if I were to drive to a biking location) -- and the bike will not fit with front wheel attached; the QR is pretty handy in those cases! (Last year, I had a flurry of times that I needed to take the bike into the shop. Fingers crossed those days are now long behind me!)

 

[J.R.]

QR hardware was originally used in competition for speed when speed is all important. Most cyclists are prepared with a multi tool. If you change the front skewer and seat tube clamp to hex head hardware, I can't see a QR would save more than a few seconds over using your multi tool. I replaced my QR on one bike, for security reasons, and I never felt inconvenienced. I still used a cable through saddle rails and front wheel when leaving bike locked up for long periods. Fixed hardware gives another security option when just locking the frame up at the rack for a quick dash into the store. I never forgot seeing a cyclist ride home after his saddle and post were stolen I'd hate to forget that saddle wasn't there!

 

[Jaxx]

Some folks I know, have QR post fasteners. They take saddle with them, to put off potential thieves. Like a pal of mine years ago, drove a Fiat. He modified gear stick (floor change) simply screwed it and took it with him!!!

 

[6zfshdb]

Ebikes are heavy. The QR on my seatpost, front wheel skewer and rear rack bag let me quickly remove some weight before loading the bike on a vehicle rack. My suspension seatpost & seat are worth over $200 so as Jaxx and J.R. mentioned, I take them with me to avoid theft when locking up the bike.

 

[Jaxx]

The most expensive saddle Brooks make is over £250 - as in POUNDS STERLING. You don't wanna be leaving that around.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

There are a number of known, but thankfully rare, problems associated with QR skewers and disc brakes.

In 2015 there was a large recall by Trek relating to the possibility that a loose QR skewer handle could lodge in the disc brake and cause a crash. Apparently this did cause a few crashes which did serious injury to the rider.

There is a related problem where, depending on the arrangement of the brake, the dropouts, and the type of QR skewer, the braking force itself can work the skewer loose and possibly lever the wheel out of the dropouts. Which again would be bad. This is a very rare problem but the nature of the catastrophic failure is kind of scary. It is also very hard to evaluate since there are so many variables.

You need to be careful about not over-tightening QR skewers as well.

For all that, I ride bikes with QR skewers all the time. I am fussy about checking them and will often recheck them once or twice over the course of a day's riding.

In the future, I am going mostly to bikes with through-axles and placing the lever on the side opposite the disc brake. Since I strongly prefer internally geared hubs having the lever on the drive side is a very small risk.

 

[Alex M]

Front QR saves maybe 1 minute when replacing tire. I don't find undoing the hex nut a difficult task, and it does take thief 1 minute longer (without QR), so - my vote is for hex nut. Unless you load it into a hatchback car where removing front wheel is a must. Even then, 1 minute before and after the ride is nothing.

Seatpost QR is a totally different creature. If safety is a concern, the most secure thing you can do is taking it with you. Leave QR on, then.

 

[steve marino]

I always have a light duty cable lock securing the seat on my bikes, and on bikes that have quick release skewers I wrap the dropouts with tape at that point and use a hose clamp around the clamp part of the skewer to deter the casual thieves.

 

[christob]

Oops... gotta clarify my earlier post... I have a thru-axle w/ flip lever on front, which quickly lets me remove the wheel for car packing... perhaps not as quickly as a QR skewer set up, which I've not used.

 

[Alex M]

I think from security standpoint there isn't much much difference btw QR and through-axle with lever. Both save roughly the same time to remove the wheel (less than a minute saving, compared to nuts?)