BayAreaRider

It may seem obvious, but I've always wondered when enough is enough when tightening your wheel's quick release skewer. Is it finger tight? Just a smidgen over finger tight? I don't think ParkTools make a fancy calibrated torque wrench (do they?).

There have been times where I have over-tightened the QR and there is obvious drag on wheel spin (not to mention the inordinate stress it must have on the drop-outs).

On the flip side, someone at work this summer broke his collar bone in a crash due to this front QR disengaging mid-ride.

Thanks.

ovoleg

I usually do it as tight as possible, I use the fork to help with the tightening. I have had the rear QR disengage and I almost flipped over the bars, and this was at 5mph(thank goodness). From then on, I've been tightening them with full strength, no problems yet.

I dont know about drag on the wheel, I highly doubt that because of the design but does anyone know for sure??

RhumbRunner

Bay, if you can tighten your QR or even bolts to the point that your wheel rotation is affected, you have a problem with your hub, not your QRs!

You need to check that the lock nuts are tightened against the "bearing" nuts...I'm not sure the "wording" is right here.

You have two nuts on each side of the wheel hub. The first inside set determines how "tight" the bearings are compressed (held) in the races. The second set locks the first so that it can go no tighter or looser.

If tightening your QR causes drag in the wheel, you have a MAJOR problem!

DannoXYZ 

That's why you adjust the wheel-bearings to be a little loose. When you put the wheel on and have the QR barely tight enough to hold it on, wiggle the rim sideways at the brake-pad and you can feel it rock back and forth with a solid stop at the limits. Tighten the QR all the way down and the rocking looseness stops. The only movement comes from lateral-stiffness dictated by the spokes, a more springy type of give.

Different QR skewers have different "squeeze" amounts based upon the cam-eccentricity. But for the most part, I usually have them just start to grip at 60-degrees away from the frame (90-degrees with the skewer straight-out parallel to axle). Then squeeze in from there so the lever is parallel to the frame. Some of the skewers, like the Ringle CamTwists tighten after you flip the lever down, then add a 1/4-turn twist.

RhumbRunner

Danno, I'm not trolling you, but that is crap!

Your wheel bearings are properly set to hold the two races exactly where they should be... the lock nuts will not allow the bearing nuts to move, in or out, more than the stretch of the central hub. You can't put enough stress on that hub with the skewer to affect anything. If tightening ore loosening a skewer affects the wheel rotation, you have a problem with the wheel hub...period!

DannoXYZ 

"Danno, I'm not trolling you, but that is crap!

Your wheel bearings are properly set to hold the two races exactly where they should be... the lock nuts will not allow the bearing nuts to move, in or out, more than the stretch of the central hub. You can't put enough stress on that hub with the skewer to affect anything. If tightening ore loosening a skewer affects the wheel rotation, you have a problem with the wheel hub...period!"

Just because you're not aware of something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I can claim all I want that the sun comes up in west and sets in the east, but that won't change anything about reality.

Try it and see. There's a slight difference between cartridge-bearing hubs vs. old loose ball-bearings & cone hubs. Try the older style first. Set your bearings so they're a little loose so that the cones are adjusted just 1/32nd of a turn out from where they should be for perfect smoothness. Install the wheel lightly and you WILL feel looseness at the rims when rocking laterally by the brake-pads. Fully tighten the skewers and the looseness will go away.

Have you even calculated how much clamping force a QR applies? Or what kind of clamping you get out of solid-axle hubs with the nuts torqued to 20-lb*ft?

AnthonyG

To answer the original question, the correct tension on the QR skewer is set when you tighten by hand the skewer to the point that when you move the skewer to the lock position you find the first resistance with the skewer lever parralel to the hub axle. IE, it sticks straight out. If it moves further its too loose and if it doesn't reach parrallel before meeting resistance then its too tight.

Regards, Anthony

Cornbread

Holy crap. A real, easy to implement answer!!

Thanks.

berny

Sorry but that can be way too tight for many QR's. My FSA skewers lock from roughly 20 degrees out from full locked whereas my Ultegra units lock from about 30 degrees out. If I set them to start clamping from "sticks straight out" they would be too tight. You need to remember that skewers do break and that can be disastrous. Just take a look at the diameter of the shaft (aprox 4mm or a little over 1/8") and it's even smaller at the root diameter of the thread so while they strong they are not unbreakable.

Jakey

To begin with your hub should have just a tiny amount of play in it. (almost un-noticeable) If your hubs are tightened all the way down, and then you tighten the QR down, its going to wear out the bearings faster. That said... I make sure my QR is tight, but not so tight that i need to brace myself against something to open or close it.

BayAreaRider

Thanks all for the excellent inputs.

I suspect we will find that there are many BKMs (best known methods) with skewer QR usage. Maybe pro wrenches have a tip or two on this.

My Bontrager QRs start to lock at around 20deg (similar to berny's FSA skewers). I usually hand tighten the skewers and back off ~ 1/4 turn or so, and finish off by closing the QR.