Cycling UK Forum

Can anybody suggest a source?
I am seeking a supplier of quick release skewer springs.

I need a price that is sensible, the only price seem to be 99p each I want large quantity for use in servicing of cycle .

I am somewhat inclined to the view that, unless you are racing, the little springs are pretty much a waste of time. Even if you are racing they are of marginal benefit.

Racing or not, they often get mangled or go rusty...

I note also that in many implementations, the idea is flawed anyway, in that when the QR is open, the gaps will never be even both sides unless the springs are different lengths each side. The reason for this is that the axle protrusions are set equal, but there is a recess in the nut which is nearly always a different depth from the recess in the lever end, when the lever is open.

cheers

Philip Benstead wrote:Can anybody suggest a source?
I am seeking a supplier of quick release skewer springs.

I need a price that is sensible, the only price seem to be 99p each I want large quantity for use in servicing of cycle .

how many to service a cycle? 4?

As brucey said a complete waste of time. I never understood what they were for and never used them - they got lost any way the first time I removed the QR...

I wouldn't want my bike without these springs. Yes some do get mashed or corrode, finding spares is virtually impossible.

I borrowed a pair of Fast Forward wheels not long ago, they had quality stainless steel springs that amazingly stayed stuck in the skewer ends when all unscrewed. Sometimes the little things make a big difference.

Anyway back to the original request - do JD Whisker still exist? Years ago they would have been the place to try for stuff like this.

Brucey wrote:.... the idea is flawed anyway, in that when the QR is open, the gaps will never be even both sides unless the springs are different lengths each side.

Not in my experience.
They always sit equidistant and wouldn't be without mine.

I have no knowledge of the problem of which you describe.

I used to use them for racing (lots of different types), and unless you set them up very carefully, you were probably better off without.

cheers

What do you mean by, "set them up"?

They are spiral springs, narrow end inwards pointing at the hub ends. The skewer is held between the hub ends in bouncy springy suspension so the flats of each end are "balanced" equidistantly. Push either end of the QR, and it bounces back and forth.

I fail to understand your point of view.

well take a look at a few more hubs and perhaps you will.

cheers

I'm with Mick on this one, they don't function properly without the spring. If they weren't necessary the manufacturers would have dumped them long ago!

Campag have got it right and so had my old Wienmann hubs.

Which ones are you talking about, Brucey?
Why have they got it wrong?

Still puzzled.

which weinmann hubs are those, Mick?

Re the springs; as have already noted, if you actually look at what they do, it isn't much and it usually isn't much good either; the gaps each side are rarely equal when the QR is open. In addition the springs variously can

- get lost (and one is worse than two or none)
- get snarled up between the axle and the QR skewer
- get snarled up in the QR mechanism as the nut is turned
- go rusty
- snag on the dropouts themselves
- pop out of the nut and get trapped in the wrong place
- take up space that you might need for use with thin dropouts and larger than normal axle protrusions.
- if the QR skewer is even slightly bent or draggy, the springs won't centre it anyway.

The above things have happened to my wheels and other peoples; there is no manufacturer that makes parts that are immune from these things; if you go racing the wheels come in and out very often and you soon get to realise what a useless PITA these things are.

If they actually did anything very useful then I might support their use despite the above shortcomings. But in reality if you simply remove them, all the possible problems above disappear and your wheel changes are hardly slowed in any way, certainly not enough to be worried about outside of a racing context. Probably those who support their use regardless either don't really understand what they do/can do, have (somehow) not experienced any of the above, or have never tried using wheels without them.

cheers

Brucey wrote:which weinmann hubs are those, Mick?

The ones on my 531 Raleigh Clubman circa 1982.
Before the Clubman, I had a cheapo bike, and that had QRs too.
Since then, I've only been Campag - Record, Mirage(still got them) and Chorus.

I had brand a brand new Centaur front and a brand new Record rear, both of which I stripped down for spares. The QRs were perfect and springy and centralised ......... just like they should be.

I have no experience of any of the symptoms you describe, except perhaps slight rustyness as they age, but keep 'em greased and they're fine.

If you have a proper LBS, they will have a box of used (and probably new) hub QR's - scavenged from replaced worn out wheels, and customers replacing QR's with anti theft skewers when they buy new bikes/wheels. Where ever I have worked, there has always been a stash of hub QR's - usually kept for the springs more than anything else. If you are stuck, let me know, would you believe it - I have stash of old QR's kept for the springs....

Agree that hub QR's are better with 2 springs than without - helps the QR's miss the drop outs when fitting/removing wheels.

Mick I've never seen a set of weinmann branded hubs from that date. IIRC a Raleigh clubman from that date could have had weinmann rims but would most likely have had Maillard hubs.

I note with interest that if QR springs were such a wonderful idea, brilliantly implemented, I would suppose that they would never get lost or mangled, and therefore never be in need of replacement.....

cheers

Another vote for using springs here, sorry. The fact that something gets damaged in use doesn't mean that it has no purpose. And I do find it helpful, when one hand is holding the frame and the other the wheel in order to put the latter back, that the sides of my QR line themselves up evenly and the wheel just drops into place.