quick release vrs bolt on hub

[crawdadslim]

what is the general opinion on skewers as opposed to bolt on hubs?
I am building an offroad touring  rig out of my old mountain bike, and have an old set of suzue hubs with bolt axles. heavy loads and rider on rough road/trails.  the only skewer ever to fail me was on a mountain bike, and got me to wondering.
I am thinking about this issue on the other bikes that I put loads on.  thanks, jason.
 

[whittierider]

In spite of being on a tandem forum with over 2,000 other subscribers for seven years or so, I don't think I have ever heard of a skewer failing.  You could take an extra skewer with you if it makes you feel better, and it would be lighter than the wrench you would need for the bolt-on hub.

The axles of rear hubs used to break sometimes back in the days of freewheels, especially as they went to 6- and then 7-speed; but that was taken care of by going to freehubs and cassettes which allowed the right-side bearings to be closer to the dropout.  Even when the axle broke however, the rider usually didn't know until he took the wheel out, because the skewer continued to hold things together.

This message was edited by whittierider on 11-4-07 @ 5:53 PM

[ptaylor]

I have never had a problem with skewers. In fact I prefer them, not only for the convenience, but because I don't need to worry about 'accidentally' adjusting the bearing cones.

I think that we can look to the dependability of Bob trailers, which attache to a modified skewer. Bobs fail, but from what I understand, rarely due to a failed skewer.

Paul

[DaveB]

Properly designed and installed qr skewers (internal cam types like Shimano and Campy make) are actually more secure than nutted axles.  The cam goes "over center" as the flag is fully closed and actually gets tighter as you first begin to open it so it is almost impossible to loosen by itself. Nuts can and do vibrate loose.    

Avoid the external cam boutique light weights as they don't generate the clamping force that an internal cam will and are more fragile.

I too have never heard of a Shimano or Campy qr ever breaking.
 

[litespeed]

A broken skewer? Never heard of such a thing. Are you sure it was tight?
I once had a stem break. Now THAT was exciting.

[litespeed]

A broken skewer? Never heard of such a thing. Are you sure it was tight?
I once had a stem break. Now THAT was exciting.

Oops. I double clicked this.

This message was edited by litespeed on 11-5-07 @ 7:44 PM

[DaveB]

I once had a stem break. Now THAT was exciting.

Me too and it was all the excitement I wanted for quite a while.  I had just come down a winding 35 mph hill, stopped at a red light about a mile later and the stem broke just as I was leaving the traffic light so the resulting spill was at very low speed. I still think about what would have happened if it had broken 5 minutes earlier.

[crawdadslim]

Are you sure it was tight?
 
It may not have been, but I sure want to deny it.
it actualy broke right after putting the tire on at the trailhead.  it rode about sixty feet before the lever side of the skewer broke.  it was on my gary fischer Kiatia, fairly new at the time, with the GF spooner type QR levers.  I imagine they were shimano.
never broken a stem, but have had two frames break, lucky they were while climbing.

I once came out of a post office and this guy had my front wheel off.  he was showing his girlfriend/wife how they worked and was actually trying to put it back on when I came up.  no shame, no embarrasment on his part, though I was pretty upset and "verbal".  since then I have always checked wheels several times a day.
 

[ptaylor]

I once had a stem break.

Are you talking handlebar stem, as in the thingy that lets you steer the bike, as in the thingy that supports 30% of your weight? Geese! Scary.  

I once had a crank break in the middle of a busy intersection. That was embarrassing, but not scary.

Paul

[DaveB]

Are you talking handlebar stem, as in the thingy that lets you steer the bike, as in the thingy that supports 30% of your weight? Geese! Scary.  

Yes, that's what broke.  And yes, it certainly was scary.

I called Profile (it was one of their stems) after the incident and they sent me a new, stronger model right away at no cost.  I think they were grateful I wasn't hurt and wasn't threatening to sue.