Quick release coming undone on its own

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
3,012
1,627
Never heard of this before, but twice in the last 4 weeks I have found my front wheel loose.
I tightened up the nut and lever both times and am now keeping a watch on it.
I am certain that the bike has not been tampered with, the rear wheel and saddle clamp are as firm as ever.
Any ideas anyone?
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
they can fail and come undone over time in some cases but i got rid of mine long time ago to totally avoid this in the first place and stop anyone just taking the wheels of as well.


 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
my bike has thru axles front and back so unless the frame and fork use them they wont work.

best you can do is get better new ones of what you have.
 
D

Deleted member 25121

Guest
How did you do that?
Did you buy new wheels or is there some way of replacing the skewer with nuts?
I wonder if your QR arm is getting knocked anti-clockwise?
How about something along these lines:
 
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davell

Pedelecer
Jun 6, 2017
154
64
Doncaster
You can buy replacement skewers with Allen heads if you don’t want to spend a lot on the high security ones. Typically less than a tenner on eBay or amazon.
 
D

Deleted member 25121

Guest
When you push the arm in to lock the skewer it should need quite a bit of force and be sure to align it parallel with the fork.
 

Tarka

Pedelecer
Jan 29, 2019
115
90
and on the correct side of the fork so that the fork stops it rotating loose.
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
3,012
1,627
As usual, the Great Sheldon Brown has the answer,
Apparently, they do come loose, particularly if they are the cheap plastic external kind
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
3,012
1,627
Also check the axle bearing pre-load nuts have not come loose due to worn ball bearings.
Problem is that the wheel itself is as firm as ever.
The skewer is to thick to stretch (although I see that avid mountain bikers change their skinny skewers to 15mm ones) and there is no sign of anything wrong at the acorn end.
I have put a spot of paint on the acorn and also cable tied the lever on the other side.

Should find out soon
 

marcus84

Finding my (electric) wheels
Aug 10, 2019
9
0
if it loosens again try this it as always worked for me tightened up the nut and lever both at the same amount as you do by hand but now turn the leaver one or two more time then with the hammer tap the lever down only problem is that the lever will be hard to remove on the road if you need to remove your wheel
 

marcus84

Finding my (electric) wheels
Aug 10, 2019
9
0
if you think someone is trying to remove the wheel you can also use a wire tie around the fount fork and the lever and if you see the wire tie is gone then your right someone is messing with the wheel