this is my first time with quick release axles here on this new olpran bike i just got today...followed the instructions for the install but im concerned about the reliability here...this is a trail bike...just flat dirt/paved trails, nothing crazy like jumps or anything, but should i go solid axle on the front or what?

Tear it up! You'd have a tough time dishing out more than they can handle.

Quick-release axles are under compression where bolt-on axles are not. QR axles are usually stronger, and it's been a long, long time since I saw a damaged axle of either sort.

Get out there and ride.

No worries. go for it.

sounds good, i found a guide on google about adjusting them https://www.bicyclinglife.com/HowTo/UseAQuickRelease.htm


and checked them both, front was a little loose but its good to go now, thanks for the help

Many times you will need to unscrew the nut-side of the quick-release (QR) - the opposite side from the lever - a few turns to get the wheel to drop out of the drop-outs. This is due to small tabs being added to prevent the wheel from falling out if the QR accidentally becomes disengaged. So unscrew the nut a few turns. When replacing the wheel, just tighten it down the few turns.

Happy trails!

heres hopin i did it right and i wont be breakin any bones in the coming weeks :rofl:

Long as your dropouts front and rear are properly aligned and parallel - QR axles are perfectly fine and can take alot short of flying off a 5 foot wall.

If dropouts are out of alignment - the axles will bend upon closing the quick release - a simple landing off a curb can be enough to snap the axle.

So check your dropout alignments - other than that - enjoy your QR setup.

And remember - QRs are not a permanent install - check 'em before and after each considerable ride. Especially if you have a disc-brake front.

=8-)

I wouldn't worry much about the front, but if that is a freewheel in the rear reliability could be an issue. If that is a freehub rear, don't worry about it.

You would have the same reliability issues with a solid axle on a freewheel rear anyways. Point is moot.

remember that the QR's are cams not levers. When you install the wheel all you need is enough pressure to get a mark on the palm of your hand that disappears in a few seconds. If you over tighten you can strip the threads form the QR.

Right, a qr lever is NOT a wing nut, it's a caming lever. If you have any doubts about how to use one properly, have the dealer or an experienced rider show you the correct technique.

Once you know how to use it, a qr is actually more secure than axle nuts since the cam goes "over-center" as it is fully closed. That means as the lever is released, the effort increases during the first part of the opening movement so it tends to be self-tightening. Once a nut is even slightly loose it will continue to loosen.

No worries whatsoever...unless their Titanium skewers, which yours is not. There had been some reports of TI quick releases not being able to hold as tight as normal skewers sometime ago, but that problem may have been corrected by now?

Regardless I have quick releases on my mtb and never had an issue, and I use to ride on some pretty rough trails up in the mountains of So. Cal.; but never did any radical jumps with it though, mostly because I didn't want to tear up the bike or me not because I was worried about the quick releases.

You do have to make sure their adjusted right. Follow what Panthers007 said above, PLUS the lever should start feeling slight pressure when the lever is half way between fully open and fully close AFTER you adjusted it has Panther007 said. Even if you don't tighten it properly the security tabs will keep the wheel from falling off, and you will be alerted that your wheel(s) have come loose when you hear a slight knocking sound everytime you hit a bumb.

We've been using QRs for almost 80 years. I think they are quite reliable. If your worried because you bought a cheap bike, that's your problem.

You have god QR skewers, the ones to avoid are those boutique ultralight ones with a plastic washer, you can't compress them as much as a Shimano or Campy, all-metal one.

No-the solid axle is stronger than those hollow qr axles and better able to handle the long gap between the hub under the 7 speed freewheel cluster than the hollow tube of a quick release hub- you have the additional support of that mass in the center of the axle keeping the axle straight with a bolt on axle. I've never had a bolt on axle fail, I've had plenty of quick release axles break under 5 and 6 speed freewheels.

Uh, you must not being using them correctly. The strength of an axle is determine by its outer-diameter; rigidity is to the 4th-power of outside-diameter. The hole in the QR axle causes no loss in strength or rigidity. Just bend a QR skewer by hand to see how much strength the inner core adds to the overall strength.

In the 10-years I worked in a shop, I've easily replaced 20x more solid rear-axles than QR ones. Simply because most QR axles are chromoly which is a material with 2-3x the strength of the lower-quality material used in most solid-axles. Very, very few solid-axle hubs come with chromoly axles, and you typically have to pay extra and ask for them specifically.

You've had plenty break? What the heck are doing to them? I've ridden over 35 years on 5, 6, and 7 speed freewheels and NEVER had one break even while riding hard up So Cal mountains, or even while racing. When I use to race amoung the few hundred people I knew of, I've only heard of 2 or 3 that ever broke a QR axle just from riding. I had heard of some odd (re: rare) things where a chain got caught between the stay and freewheel virtually locking up the driveline and snapping an axle but usually the chain broke first; or some sort of accident, again rare. These things were used for many years in racing with great reliablity.

Supposely the 7 speed freewheels had some minor issues with breaking due to the overall width being slightly wider then the 5 or 6 put extra stress on the axle; but again I've been riding a 7 speed for about 20 years now and never had an issue nor has anyone I've known using a 7 speed.

Some of later 8 speed freewheels I had heard problems with those, but those never really caught on due somewhat to the mechanical problems, but mostly because by the time those came out cassettes were already taking over.

I detect from your response you really don't know what your talking about and your just trying to sound intellegent. Don't do that around others who've been riding for more years then you have been alive!

It’s not the overall length-the freehub axles are generally the same length as the freewheel axle and the axle on the freehubs rarely break-it’s the longer unsupported distance between the right hub bearing and the right dropout on the freewheel axles that leads to the failures.

See these:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mcnamara.html
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mega7/
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

The last replacement axle I bought was chromoly.
Looks like most of the bolt on replacement axles on ebay are chromoly.
Looks like the bolt on axles sold at Harris are also chromoly.

The first, and only, qr axle I've seen broken was on a late-80's Trek with a Maillard 126 mm (6/7-speed) freewheel hub. I've never had one on any Shimano or Sun Tour freewheel hub and, of course, Campy freewheel hubs almost never broke one. In fact, years ago, the standard fix for chronic broken axles was to use a Campy replacement axle.

Nice thing about Campy axles way back then was they weren't slotted for keyed washers. That groove severely weakened the strength of the axles. Most factory solid-axles are keyed while most QR axles aren't. Replacement axles can go either way. Wheels Mfg is a good source for replacement axles.

Great, you found some web site that I already knew about. Problem is it doesn't lead to any conclusion that freewheel hubs or axles or hub bearings or whatever mechanical device you can come up with, had a higher failure rate then normal. These things (besides the front hub) was the MOST DEPENDABLE PART ON A BIKE!!!! You need to stop reading some site that shows that something broke; all mechanical things eventually break, that doesn't mean it's got a high failure rate. Like I said before, besides the front hub the rear hub and freewheel was and still is the second most dependable mechanical item on a bike.

Commonly called "lawyer lips".

Well, at least they are around here.

Man, you must be older than dirt!