Skewers working themselves loose: How do you fix it?
 

In decades of riding, I've never had this problem. Now, I find that both my month-old titanium skewers work themselves loose during a ride. They don't open -- the tension knob seems to back off. Last week, the rear skewer backed off just enough to create a creak. Just a nuisance. But this weekend, after 100 miles, the front skewer had lost enough tension that my front wheel was oscillating in the dropouts at speed. It sounded as if the road had tiny, uniform grooves cut across it. The wheel didn't fall out of the dropouts and I wasn't close to losing control, but the wheel was very loose.


How do you fix this problem? I COULD drag my old Mavic QR's out of my wheel bag, but would rather fix these, if I can.

Have you perhaps tried just swapping out for now the tension knobs from the mavics onto your Ti skewers? Sounds like a faulty design.. what kind did you get?

They are ENVE Ti skewers.

I wouldn't ride those skewers.

I 'd definitely figure it out before I rode with them again, that's pretty scary.

Yeah, the Mavic QRs have been installed in their place. Maybe ENVE will have a remedy. Until then, the Mavics.

Maybe not, but most likely you have been riding internal cam skewers like Shimanos and Campagnolos until now...and the Mavics. They have a much stronger grip than external cam skewers like the light weight models even big name ones like Enve. It is just the inferior design. You have to put a lot more force into the clamping in order to get the same grip on the dropouts. Also check that the threads on your skewer rod and nut are deep enough to hold under high tension. You may have just bought a crappy pair. Most people can get external cam skewers to do the job, but every now and then someone just can't make them work, especially on horizontal dropouts. External cam skewers were never intended for anything but vertical dropouts.

Do ti skewers stretch?

If it's an external cam skewer, I make sure it's clean and add a little wax on the cam portion. This makes it easier to tighten with higher pressure.

^This was my initial thought as well - external cam skewers. They sure are a terrible design, and seem to be everywhere now, and I could see a Ti version being even less reliable than a steel version. I have them (steel versions) for the first time on a newer bike I put together and I dont have a lot of confidence in them.

Yes, they are external cam. And there's not really much "cam" to them. Very subtle. Very little "over center" feel to the lever travel. But, at any rate, it's not the lever side that's the problem. The levers are staying in the closed position and are staying in the same orientation as when I close them. Even the very loose front skewer was still closed with the handle pointing at 3 o'clock when I checked it.

[I'm not sure where the idea came in that these are horizontal dropouts. They're not. Is there even such thing as horizontal FRONT dropouts?]

Of course they can. If the loading is high enough. I don't know how tight one would have to make them, but this is what I thought first too.

But as Rpen points out one does need more force on this style. The levers should not be easy to close or open. Also I would mark the skewer nut to absolutely make sure its not really rotating.

Can you mark the nut to verify whether or not it is turning?

I think one of the issues with the external cam skewers is the plastic washer compresses to take up tension.

I've got them on one bike, and try to get them quite TIGHT. Essentially as tight as I can get them.

Yeah, forward facing. I think MTB shocks had them during the transition to disc as an insurance policy for the braking pulling the wheel out.

I think the time is past for that. Knowing that they loosen on their own, do you really want to give them a second shot at you?

Sounds like an I.Q. test to me.

Ti proving to be too elastic, get steel skewers.

the stretching and relaxing of that tension lets the end unscrew a little at a time..





...

I have Enve Ti skewers and they've worked flawlessly and without issue. If the above remedies doesn't work, maybe a bad pair. Can you contact Enve for a replacement?

Skewers are not a place to skimp on weight/strength, IMO

I don't know but I bet the carbon ones asplode.

What is life span of a carbon skewer?

I'd contact ENVE and see what they say. Maybe you'll get a replacement set! Or it's just as likely they will say there is nothing they can do for you. At least you have some backup skewers

Yes. Awesome customer service from ENVE. I didn't expect my email to be read until tomorrow, but they've already responded and are shipping a new pair.

Incidentally, I didn't ask for a new pair. I just asked for advice on what to do about these. Their first response was to go the whole mile.

Awesome!

How tight do you adjust them? Can you really "lean" on them without worrying about it?

(At some point, even if the skewer is strong, I worry about the effects on the wheel hub, fork or frame. I've flexed a titanium frame -- using thru axles -- enough to pull the brake disk out of alignment. It's possible to get things too tight.)

Good question that may deserve a thread of its own. :innocent: