Carbon Unit

According to the late great Sheldon Brown the enclosed cam lock skewers first invented by Campagnolo have a lot more locking power than the boutique exposed locking skewers. So, I just buy the cheap antique looking skewers. They might weigh a few more grams but they work better.


Here is an article:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html

fa63

Another vote for Shimano Dura Ace. Fit and forget, no creaks, no problems. Save 50g somewhere else.

Carbon Unit

I agree with this, or Campagnolo skewers but I think the Dura Ace version would cost less.

bobonker

Another vote for Dura-Ace.

I've tried other lighter options, but always come back to D-A.

Bob

tctdvm

no one mentioned these:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...4&category=160

control tech race sl

26g for the set. I carry the little 5g tool with me.
super light. super low profile (very aero). They seem super strong, but I'm a small guy. They can be tightened much more aggressively than quick release, if necessary.

I'm a fan. I take my front wheel off a lot for transporting, too.

T

Pb_Okole

Go find a Campagnolo equipped bike from the early 80s and use the skewers from it. Mine are almost 30 years old and going strong.

IRideTiBikes

Another option Omni Racer - https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...ewers&_sacat=0

WW bargain for shaving a few ounces

Homebrew01

I like strong ones. I have a 1970's Campy skewer on my Zipp 404

tcwayne

thanks for all the replies

johnybutts

I don't upgrade forks either.

merlinextraligh

Taht's because we're talking QR skewers. The only possible reason you'd want these over a good QR skewer would be to save 50 grams or so. The only possible reason to do that would be to save every last gram racing.

Yet, it would make no sense to race with those given that the time lost in a wheel change would dramatically outweigh any possible advantage in saving 50 grams.

I can see it now, neutral mechanic from the wheel truck, goes to flip lever, says WTF, rider says you need this wrench, Rider fumbles through jersey pocket to find wrench (as peleton pulls aways) Paniced rider, and confused mechanic fumble wrench handoff as rider finally pulls wrench from jersey. Wrench bounces into ditch. Search for wrench in grass ensues. Race over.

IMHO, those skewers are only for posing.

Brian Ratliff

If you don't race, Shimano skewers (Ultegra or DA) are pretty much the best available.

caloso

If you do race, they are still the best available. I have 20 year old RSX (!) skewers on my carbon tubular race wheels. The exposed cam skewers that came with the wheels went into the spare parts bin.

Seattle Forrest

(... which is a good reason to consider them for an upgrade, it's not like you're going to order the wrong one and mess up a perfect fit.)

People seem to have strong opinions about which ones are and aren't best, and better than all the ones other people like.

tctdvm

I guess I just don't get your angst.

OP said "weekend warrior." I find these great for training/club rides. many cyclists carry a tool kit anyway. I never understood why anyone would want to carry 2 more wrenches on their wheels (aside from needing a fast wheel change from a 2nd party).

It's almost 200g savings for me.

Strong, light, aero, problem free, simple, cheap...
It's a bolt.
Nothing works itself loose. nothing pops off. You spin it till it's tight, a quick 1/3 turn with the wrench, done. It's actually faster then some of the QR's I have.

meh, do whatever you want. I've got 1600 miles on mine. I was apprehensive before I bought them, but the price was right. I'm really happy with them. Thought I'd share.
I've seen some really bad light weight QR's.
These aren't.

T

Brian Ratliff

Heh... 1600 miles. Get back on this thread after you've done 10k.

QR skewers are so small in diameter, I'd never trust threads that size to take torque. A quick release works with those threads because you are applying tension without torquing the threads. In fact, I've seen "bolt on" skewers fail before; in this case, it was during a race on the track. Don't know if the failed skewer caused the wheel to come off which caused the crash or the other way around, but it doesn't change the fact that in the aftermath, the wheel was off the bike and the skewer had failed at the threads.

There are a few absolutely critical bits I don't care to save weight on. One of these is the skewers.

refthimos

I use these on my TT bike. If I get a flat on a TT, there is not going to be anyone around to hand me a wheel and make a quick swap, so a "quick release" feature is not needed. When I nab that spot on the UCI Seniors Tour and have a team car following me for TT's, I will revisit my choice in skewers.

merlinextraligh

First, the actual weight savings over a robust QR lever such as Dura Ace is 73 grams, (47 grams versus 120) and even less compared to a moderately weight weenie QR skewer. https://weightweenies.starbike.com/li...p?type=skewers

That amount of weight savings offers virtually no advantage, and any slight advantage would only be relevant if you race.

Yet, no reasonable person is going to race with those, given the need to carry the wrench, find the wrench and apply the wrench. Even if you just loose a few seconds, those seconds are precious when you're talking about running down a quickly vanishing peleton.

Thus, they only make sense for bragging rights.

As you point out, they're bolts. If you want wheels that bolt on, why not just use a threaded axle?

tcwayne

For the record I never said anything about weekend warrior. I'm far from that and carrying that extra tool is just ********.........to me. There has been some excellent info on this thread regarding skewers and I'll bet some folks are now questioning the quality of their skewers when before they overlooked them.

I believe that the Shimano or similar skewers are the way to go. Previously I had Zipp skewers and hated them. The Skewers I have now came with my new wheels and I hate them. Hence the need for some help.

Carbon Unit

Here are some Record Skewers that seem to be reasonably priced. I would either go with Shimano or Campy or some other similiar skewer.

https://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/item/CCCDXRE8

veganeric

On older bikes without vertical dropouts I've had external cam skewers slip. However, since this is the road forum, and virtually all modern road bikes do have vertical dropouts which require far less skewer tension than most people use, virtually any skewer will work just fine.

That said, I want some Extralite Streeters just because I think they're sexy.

valygrl

I'm glad you mentioned this - I didn't realize tension was more important for horizontal dropouts, and I have those on my TT bike.

2manybikes

How long have you had them, or how many miles on them? What kind of riding do you do?

MegaTom

This. You really can't go wrong with Shimano skewers. The look good, they're as strong as any other skewer out there, not much of a weight penalty, and the cam mechanism is the best out there. I have both Ultegra 6700 and Dura-Ace 7900 on two bikes and there is no functional difference between the two... only finish and weight.

veganeric

Actually, Campy has more pull in their cam. Both are excellent skewers though.

It isn't an issue if your tt bike has track end style dropouts with set screws, because you pull the wheel up to the set screws, then clamp it down. The chain tension while pedaling isn't going to be able to pull the wheel forward. If it doesn't have set screws (which I've yet to see), or has forward facing dropouts like used to be standard on road bikes, then you need to make sure you have a very secure skewer. So as to not worry any ****zy readers, I've never seen anyone pull their rear wheel out due to a slipped skewer. At worst it will slide forward on your drive side and the tire will rub on the inside of the non drive side chainstay. Annoying, but not dangerous.