That Quick Release

Quick releases are handy mechanisms that safely attach your bicycle’s wheels to the bicycle. This is a good thing because if you ever need to remove your bicycle’s wheels to change a flat tire or transport that bicycle the wheels come off quickly, easily and with no tools. Hence the name, quick release!

What can be bad about quick releases is that they can be dangerous if they are not closed correctly. Dangerous because in a worst case scenario, the wheel can detach from a moving bicycle and can cause serious injury to the rider and the bicycle. A common error is to turn the lever like a nut until the wheel seems tight. Used this way the lever and wheel can loosen while you are riding along. Even a correctly closed quick release can cause problems if the wheel is not installed straight in the bicycle rear frame or front fork, as the rim can rub on the brakes or the tire can rub on the frame.

Now, with all of that said – don’t let a quick release scare you. If you can put a seatbelt on in your car, you can manage a quick release.

The key thing to remember is that the quick release is a lever, and a lever operates effectively when it is closed. Also, many front forks have “safety tabs,” which are designed to prevent the front wheel from falling out if the quick release was improperly closed. Those safety tabs are fairly effective, but their presence does require that you have an additional step with the quick release when installing a front wheel. Rear wheels do not have safety tabs – yet!

A properly closed quick release on a front wheel. The lever is aligned with the fork blade and fully closed.

Here is how to properly remove a quick release front wheel – assuming the bicycle has safety tabs on the front fork.

Detach or release the brake
This has to be done because when you try to remove the wheel, the tire which is wider then the rim, cannot get past the brake pads. Letting the air out of the tire isn’t necessary! With sidepull brakes, which are most frequently found on road bikes, release the brake by fully rotating the lever on the brake upwards. You may have sidepull brakes that are opened by pressing a button on the lever. Look for this button if there's no lever on the brake itself. With linear-pull brakes (also called "V-brakes"), which are found on most hybrid and mountain bikes, lift the end of the "noodle" out of its holder by first compressing the brakes to the rim to remove the tension and then threading the end of the noodle through the clip. To open cantilever brakes (these feature a cable that runs over the top of the tire) by lifting the cable end on one side out of its holder. If you have disc brakes, you can skip this step!

Examples of closed brake calipers - road on the left and linear-pull on the right. Note how close the brake pads are to the rim.

Open brake calipers. The road brake has its black lever rotated up and the liner-pull brake has its cable un-hooked.

Open the quick release lever
Hold the bicycle with one hand, grasp the lever in the over and open away! Remember, quick release levers are usually curved. When the bend protrudes outward like a bump, the lever is closed. When the bend is cupped, the lever is open. Closing and opening the lever requires flipping it 180 degrees, not spinning it.

Those Safety Tabs
Loosen the nut side on the front wheel, once you’ve opened the lever, but don’t remove the nut. There are some small springs that help your quick release operate correctly and removing the nut from the skewer can cause those springs to come off and roll across the room or disappear in the parking lot. You need to loosen the nut side in order to get the quick release to clear the safety tabs so you can remove the wheel. Remember, righty-tighty, lefty-loosey!

The quick release demystified
a) lever; b) rod (also called a "skewer;" note the threaded end);
c) cap; and d) springs (these rest against the axle ends).

Take the front wheel off
Grab the wheel in one hand, the handlebar in the other and lift. See, simple!

(picture of removing wheel)

Closing the quick release
Think reverse. Put the wheel in the fork, close the brake. There are three critical things to remember – hold the bike straight, or have a friend hold it. Leaning the bike against something or having it leaning on the kickstand can cause the wheel to go in askew and awry and the rim will rub against the brake. The second critical thing is to make sure the axle is down pushed in the fork drop outs all the way. The third is to tighten the nut side correctly so the quick release is closed with the correct tension, not too much, not too little.

To achieve the correct tension, with the wheel mounted in the forks correctly, turn the nut side to the right to tighten it with the lever in the full open position. Turn the nut and check the lever tension, turn the nut a little more and check the lever tension again by trial to closing the lever.

The nut is correctly tensioned when the lever starts to feel snug about 2/3 closed. You can wrap your hand around the fork to provide some leverage.

(pic hand wrapped around fork for leverage)

The rear wheel is even easier
There aren’t any safety tabs in the rear drop outs on the bike, so you won’t have to mess around loosening or tightening the nut. Here are the steps:

1) Shift onto the small cog and small ring
This creates slack in the chain, which makes wheel removal much easier. If you're riding, shift as you slow to a stop so that the chain is on the smallest rear cog and the smallest chainring in front. If you're not riding, shift the levers (one at a time), lift the bike by the seat and pedal by hand to shift the chain.

2) Undo the brake

3) Open the quick release lever all the way.

4) Lift the back of the bike up by the saddle and push down hard on the tire.

The wheel should come right out!

Check out that quick release
Like checking your tire pressure, this is something you need to be doing on a regular basis! Make sure the lever is closed properly, most levers are marked "open" and "closed," so look for these markings. Even if the lever reads "closed" and looks ok, get in the habit of testing how tight it is by trying to open it by pulling on it. If the lever resists easy opening, it's tight and safe. If it opens with only a little effort, it's not tight enough, so close it correctly!

Tips

• The quick-release levers should be on the left side of the bike.

• Quick releases must be fully closed to ensure safety.

• If you close the lever in such a way that it aligns with the fork, it'll keep the lever tucked away where it can't snag anything, which might happen when leaning your bike next to another in a bike rack, or mountain biking through brush and bramble.

• If you do undo the nut side too far and the little springs escape, you can reinstall them - just make sure that the narrow ends point inward like in the above photo of the quick release skewer not through the axle.

Maintenance

• About once a month, lube your quick-release levers because dry levers won't work well and can feel tight when they're not.

• Aluminum quick-release levers usually press against bushings as you close the lever. Lightly lube where the lever contacts the bushing to keep the quick release operating properly.

• Steel levers usually pivot inside the cap. Apply lube to trickle inside the lever's pivot point.

• If there's a nut or screw holding the lever (look beneath the cap), snug it with a wrench or screwdriver to make sure it's tight.