If I have to graps the fork with one hand and use considerable effort to unhinge it that’s way too tight I think ....

Also the forks and the rear part of the frame seem to pull in quite a bit when too tight...it’s an aluminum frame and carbon forks.

There must be a spec for this and I could not locate it in the manual

Can someone tell me what has worked best for them ?

Also this forum I have found is an incredible wealth of information and full of lots of helpful people

I appreciate you guys thanks a bunch

jag

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair...icle-section-2

That quick release want to be tight! When you brake hard, that caliper is trying to stop the edge of the disc which is traveling up. Physics and all that - also trying to force the hub down; out of your dropouts. That force, because of leverage, is far higher than your weight; the only thing besides your quick release holding your front wheel in place.

There are two things you can do for both more security and ease of use. 1) Don't line up the lever with your fork. Rotate it a little clockwise so it points to about the saddle. Then you can get all your fingers behind all of the lever. (Feel free to fin e tune the "point" to where works best for you. But keep it pointed roughly back so if it ever gets tangled with anything, it won't open.) And 2) get a better quick release. You see how your QR is aluminum, symmetrical and you can see the two cams on either side of the lever? All bad. The good skewers are steel (well the lever only can be aluminum on a racing quality QR), have just one steel cam inside the head of the skewer, completely out of sight, and the lever comes out the side of the head and takes a right angle turn. These good levers generate far more clamping force with less effort and are far more secure. Common, cheap Shimano QRs are what you want. Any bike shop. (On your bike, the front is the only one that you need. The rear disc brake is in front of the hub, trying to force the hub more solidly up into the dropout. Any old QR will work there.)

Don't worry about the QR squeezing your frame and fork. Both are made to be about a mm wider than the hub to make putting the wheel in easy. That tiny squeeze in, while you can see it, won't hurt anything at all.

Ben

How strong are you?

The traditional guideline is that a quick-release should be closed hard enough to leave an imprint in your palm as you close it. Opening, will be whatever it is.
It is recommended NOT to use a q/r with an open cam - as yours - on disc brake fronts, as braking does create a force that will try to eject the wheel. Internal cam q/r have a greater pinch force for a given amount of hand effort and does a better job of keeping he front wheel secure.
And no, there’s generally nothing like a repeatable, tested torque value.
It wouldn’t be horribly difficult or expensive to create such a q/r, but apparently the current system is considered adequate, flawed as it is.

I found with a pair of external quick releases they would not stay tight on the front wheel, but to answer your question were incredibly tight to undo. I switched to internal cam QR's and both problems went away.

wish it was more descriptive than "Quick release: tighten the axle so that the lever meets resistance at 90° from the frame or fork."

I've found on some old bikes if the QR is pressed too tightly it will affect wheel/hub rolling. but I've read if your hubs are adjusted properly that should happen. it's hard to describe how tight I make mine. in this video he doesn't seem to be straining too hard to lock them down & I guess that how I do it


I like this guy for a lot of stuff & he does a better job showing how firmly to lock it in

The second video makes a good point about tightening a QR but his insistence on positioning the flags the way he shows is overdone. Having the flags pointing backwards making them prone to snagging and inadvertently opening is not an issue. I've heard this claim before but never heard of an actual case of it happening.

I had a front wheel pull out of the fork on a disk brake bike. The lawyer lips kept the wheel on the bike, fortunately. I can't possibly diagnose whether I had the QR tight enough or some other neglect caused the problem, so I hesitate to generalize about it. Instead, I installed a fairly new internal-cam QR skewer and got it good and tight.

My habit with positioning the QR is to think about whether I'm going to be able to get my fingers under the lever before pushing it home, so I can get it back apart again.