Bicycle Mechanics - Trick to closing the quick release?

Ok I know this is a big idiot question, but today I got my first MTB bike and the LBS had to take off the front wheel so I could get it in my car.

Now I was reading the manual about putting the wheel back on. I have the Quick Release lever on the left side (correct side). Now I have it hanging down with the "Open" side facing out and I tighten the other side by hand until it won't tighten anymore. Now when I try and flip the lever to the "closed" side, I can barely get it to the halfway point, because the resistance is too great. I'm pretty strong (me and my friend lifted up a heavy dune buggy the other day so the tire could get changed), but I can't get this bad boy to move very much.

Thank you in advance for any advice.



eb

You tightened the one side too much. Lossen it off until it takes quite a bit of strength to close the QR completely.

And a side note...there is no right side. ;)

The rule-of-thumb (no pun intended) I go by is to tighten the nut until the QR lever starts meeting resistance when it is parallel to the axle. When it's in the closed position and perpendicular to the axle, there should be enough clamping force to keep everything in place. The amount of reistance should be enough that it leaves a small temporary impression in your thumb upon closing but not so much that you can't get the lever totally perpendicular to the axle.

Overly vigorous torquing of the QR can result in stretched threads and breakage of the QR skewer,
which can be catastrophic. Done it, but didn't crash.
It should take only a little force to close, heel of hand
or more than two fingers, but not both hands. It should
easily flip open. The bearings don't do as well when compressed either. Steve

I have the Quick Release lever on the left side (correct side).

Especially on a MTB, I think it's important to always have the QR lever pointing to the back of the bike. If the QR lever is pointing to the front of the bike and I hit something, I'm too stupid to notice if it pushes the QR lever back and opens it up. My front QR lever is always on the right side (my right when I'm sitting on the bike), with the QR lever pointing back.

Thanks for the help :D

And a side note...there is no right side. ;)

well, there are tires that specify rotation(direction).. in this case, there will be a right side.
:)

And a side note...there is no right side. ;)

If you use a cycle computer, it won't work if the magnet is too far away from the sensor.

The general rule of thumb is to have your quick releases on the Non-Drive side of the bike.

However, with a bike equipped with disc brakes, this should be reversed.

The reason is, that disc rotors can be contaminated just by touching them. The oils on your skin are enough to contaminate them. Also, the rotors can heat up significantly on long downhill runs. If the quick release is on the non-drive/disc brake side of the bike, there is a high possibility of you touching the rotor.

L8R