79pmooney

A couple of comments. 1) Tradition is that the QR lever is always on the left side (NDS) of the bike. This picture shows it on the right. (Many of us right-handers dismount on the left side, so when we stop to change a flat, the lever is on the same side we are.)

2) The "good" QRs are the ones with internal cams and the lever on the outside, This means the lever is asymmetric, not centered as your picture suggests. (The internal cam QRs are simply better, more powerful QRs than the symmetrical ones with the center lever. "Good" does not mean expensive. Cheap steel Shimanos are good. Even cheaper QBP ones are quite decent though I wouldn't ride them the decades I'd happily ride a steel Shimano. QRs with non-steel skewers will never go on my bikes.

I always point my front lever back so any debris doesn't catch it but just keeps sliding back. Rear lever forward to make it harder to be hit by another bike's front tire. This is what we all did in the Boston racing circles of the '70s, probably taught by John Allis, Boston's racing guru (who spent time racing in Europe,early '70s, came back and shared what he'd learned.) I like to fold the front lever over the fork so the end is just behind and easy to get my fingers under but unlikely for anything else to grab. With fenders and racks, this gets modified a bit. Rears either forward under the chainstay or forward and coming over so I can just grab it above the chainstay.

I've had QRs open on me twice. Both front, Both crashes. First time was out of the blue. Slight downhill on an absolutely perfect California road. Wheel came out of the dropouts, jammed against the fork, spun the handlebars around and bent that blade 30 degrees. (Why the wheel came out there is completely beyond me. The road was so smooth and my riding at the moment so steady the wheel should have been just fine with no QR at all.) I crashed fairly hard to the tune of a mild concussion (I was already prone to them), road rash and bruises. Thank you, fork for absorbing so much energy. Second time it was operator error, pure and simple. I'd just barely tightened the lever enough to hang the bike the week before and forgot. This time the consequences were far higher. I was not going as fast, but the wheel and fork did not slow me. Instead they steerered me into a steel and concrete bridge railing. Collapsed lung, several broken ribs and a wrecked shoulder. Pegged the pain meter.