Our bike’s quick releases are important safety parts. We can find them within a wide price range, made with different materials, offering more or less clamping strength. First of all, let’s look at the stress the skewers have to deal with.
Which are these, where do they come from, what’s their relation with the hub and the bike?
Whether it’s in static or in dynamic, the bike is suspended by the wheels through its hubs axis. The rider and its bike’s weight thus push on the hub axis. The quick release only locks the wheel on the fork or on the frame to ensure accurate directions (imagine yourself cornering without having clamped the quick releases…). They make the bike and its wheels a single machine in case where the wheels would have to leave the ground.
In theory, there are no bad quick releases since they all make the spinning components and the translationnal components a whole. In reality, some skewers gives a better safety impression.
Weight is also very variable.
| Mavic Titanium | |
| Weight (per set): | 83g |
| Clamping strength: | Excellent |
| Clamping feeling: | The closure is very reassuring and ferm. The closed and opened positions are very clear. |
| Opening: | It’s easy but not too much. |
| Miscellaneous: | We regret the rotation of the lever only goes up to 90°. If it would rotate up to 180°, it should be much easier to manipulate it. |
| Carbon Ti 2009 | |
| Weight (per set): | 29g |
| Clamping strength: | Excellent, it is distributed on a large surface thanks to an oversized washer. |
| Clamping feeling: | Perfect and reassuring, the titanium lever slides well on the anodised aluminium washer. |
| Opening: | Very easy, a little metallic noise appears sometimes during the loosening when the lever was too tight. |
| Miscellaneous: | We tested the previous version, which was pretty good too but didn’t fully convince us. On the contrary, these ones seem better studied. The washer doesn’t have to be perfectly aligned, unlike m2racer skewers previously tested (see link below), which is a real time-saver! The washer seems to be distributing the forces on a larger surface than the older version. Its spherical shape saves time: the lever doesn’t need a perfect alignment with the lever. Available in several colours. |
| Campagnolo (since 2007) | |
| Weight (per set): | 132g |
| Clamping strength: | Very good |
| Clamping feeling: | We have the unpleasant feeling of a loose lever even when it is closed as much as possible. The closed and opened positions are not clear. |
| Opening: | Very easy (too easy?). We feel the lever is opened with a very low force. |
| Miscellaneous: | We use these skewers for more than a year, since they’re originally supplied on all top quality Campagnolo wheels. We never have had any problem with them despite the unpleasant loose feeling. Although they’re efficient, Campagnolo skewers are very heavy and don’t provide a security feeling. |
| DT Swiss RWS Ti | |
| Weight (per set): | 72g |
| Clamping strength: | Excellent and very reassuring. The DT system is very special. It doesn’t work with the standard transversal rotation motion. The lever rotates on the axle and firmly clamp the wheel on the bike. |
| Clamping feeling: | The tightening is realised by the rotation of the lever around the quick release axle, such as a nipple on a spoke, which is dramatically efficient. The « declutching » button lets us choose the lever position without tightening the quick release. The lever can then be raised and rotated into any desired position. Ingenious. |
| Opening: | You just need to loose the system. Very easy. |
| Miscellaneous: | Full of promise at first sight, this system was in fact a bit disappointing. We thought we had to declutch, turn a quarter round and release, but it wasn’t the case. The system needs more time to tighten. The lever is thick and bump against the fork during installation. Those who use frames with big clamps should be careful. |
| KCNC | |
| Weight (per set): | 44g |
| Clamping strength: | Excellent |
| Clamping feeling: | Perfect and reassuring. |
| Opening: | Very easy. |
| Miscellaneous: | These skewers possess the same qualities as Carbon-Ti, a bit heavier but they stay very light. Also available in several colours. Very well finished and aesthetic product. |
| American Classic | |
| Weight (per set): | 86g |
| Clamping strength: | Excellent. The large closing lever and self aligning washer allows a high tightening strength |
| Clamping feeling: | Very good. Closing is very firm. |
| Opening: | Easy. Here too, the large levers allow a good handling in order to make easy the skewers openings. |
| Miscellaneous: | This is a very classic quick releases with a reasonable weight. The lever-sided washer can seem embarrassing at first sight but it stays well aligned with the lever and doesn’t intefere with handlings. |
| AeroZenith X1000 | |
| Weight (per set): | 92 g |
| Clamping strength: | The clamping strength is excellent and optimised by the long levers. |
| Clamping feeling: | The clamping is reassuring and ferm. The closed and opened positions are very clear. |
| Opening: | The opening is simplified by the long levers. |
| Miscellaneous: | These quick releases are excellent. They fulfill perfectly their clamping function. Unfortunately they are a tad too heavy for the wheels they are delivered with. |
And the winner is…
You may have understood, we liked the Carbon Ti the most. Beside being very light (the lightest skewers of our test), they are also the easiest to handle and one of the more efficient. They simply have all the advantages. Then, in second place, we would put the the KCNC, pretty close to the Carbon Ti, just a bit heavier, but as functional and pretty too. At first sight they were very promising, but the DT skewers disappointed us because they looked far more technical than they really are.
Mavic quick releases are the reliable things, their design was well proved for more than ten years : they have the same principle as the one used on the Helium several years ago. The
Campagnolo quick releases are not those we liked the most, we will keep them on our training wheels, in order to add some weight!. Concerning AMC, it’s a good product which is quite reliable, even if its technology is getting a bit older.
You can find the previous comparative test here: http://www.rouesartisanales.com/article-1712043.html