unterhausen

Those QR bikes may have forward facing dropouts. It lowers the likelihood that the wheel will be ejected. I have an All City disc brake bike that I bought after TA showed up, and it still has rearward facing dropouts. But I have never had an issue with the wheel coming out. The funny thing about QR and disc being mostly available on low-end bikes is that most low-end bikes are sold to people that don't know how to use a QR and don't know that they should learn about it.

Rick

I believe that the problem with the quick release was started by the CPSC. They started an annoying safety design called layer lips in the 80s. It appears to me that the manufactures of low end bicycles decided they could make cheaper QRs for their bicycles. Then disk brakes enter the fray. My 2013 Co-Motion came with disk brakes and QRs on it. I new nothing about the safety concerns with the disk. I didn't like the cheap looking QRs that came on my touring bicycle and put on some Phil Wood QRs. They have never slipped. I don't care for lawyer lips because they defeat the purpose of the QRs. I file them down so they are not a problem. I agree some of these problems have to do with lawyers and poor practices of the manufacturing industry.

tyrion

I've never seen a QR disc fork without the forward facing drop outs. Have any of you?

Polaris OBark

My wife and I have Trek Fuel EX 8 and 7, respectively, from 2008. Her's are forward-facing (Fox), mine are not (Rock Shox) ...



Rear-facing drop-out

Polaris OBark

Finally, I have a valid excuse to get a new mountain bike.

tyrion

We're here to help.

Polaris OBark

I never noticed they were different before today.

They came with Avid Juicy brakes, so my guess is they never applied much ejection force, since they were so feeble. I finally replaced them with XT.

wolfchild

There is nothing annoying about lawyer tabs. Grinding them off is just dumb.

indyfabz

noimagination

My wife and I ride our tandem, which has disk brakes and QR hubs. (Edit: standard drop-outs, i.e. not forward facing) So, we're talking a bike/rider system that's in the neighborhood of 350 lb. Zero issues in about 10 years of riding. I do most simple maintenance for our bikes, so I've changed the pads several times. We also frequently travel to ride. So, the wheels have been off many, many times over the years. Again, zero issues.

I think that the concern about using QR wheels with disk brakes is (a) largely theoretical; and/or (b) related more to the likelihood of user error when closing (or, failing to close) the QR lever; and/or (c) related to marginal gains (e.g. "stiffness") that are not important to rec/fitness riders such as ourselves.

KerryIrons

Do your quick releases somehow get loose every couple of rides? I go thousands of miles without checking my QRs. They only get opened when I get a flat. And unless I for some reason adjust them, they go back to the same setting as before without any need to do anything other than close the QR.

Maelochs

I have been using bikes with QRs since they were on the market, and I have been riding my QR/disc Fuji since 2017.

I have never lost a wheel or had wobble due to improperly adjusted qr skewers, because ... well they are simpler than tying shoes. something I learned to do while I was on training wheels (and which no one does any more in this Velcro Age ... maybe there is a correlation?) I have had to carefully reinstall the wheels on my Fuji every time I have removed them. Sometimes they fall right back into place, sometimes they are off by half a millimeter ... but that is enough to cause brake drag.

msu2001la

Quick release skewers worked fine, but I don't actually see any downsides to thru-axle and don't understand why anyone would intentionally avoid them on a new bike.
I guess that makes me one of the "thru-axle fan boyz".

noimagination

True.

Even before disk brakes you had to be careful when installing a wheel. Sometimes the dropouts wouldn't be on the axle on one side (or the wheel could be off-center from the axle itself, with more of the axle projecting from one side of the wheel than the other), or the wheel wouldn't be exactly centered and would drag on one brake pad, or the wheel would be cockeyed and would drag on one side, etc.

Disk brakes may be slightly more sensitive to this - which is debatable, because the rim is further from the axle so if not seated properly the rim would be further from the "ideal" position than a disk rotor would be. The tolerances for disk brakes are tighter, but I like to run my rim pads pretty close to the rim, and as just stated the magnitude of the deviation is greatest at the rim.

In any case, attention/care has always been required when installing a wheel.

CrimsonEclipse

Never had a problem with QR's and disks on regular bikes

Now with a fat bike 4.8" tires and 203mm rotors, it WAS a problem, dislodging the axle.

I fixed the problem by replacing the hollow QR axle and fitting it with a solid threaded axle.
Note, many wheel sets for QR bikes built today are through axle hubs with QR adapter caps, so a solid axle replacement using an adapter CAN be completed.... Assuming you can find new end caps..... which is a BIG assumption

Would I buy a new bike with a QR today?
Absolutely <explicative deleted> not.

ClydeClydeson

Not in a couple of rides, but a QR can definitely get loose over a season on a bike with disc brakes.

Rick

​​​​​​​ Lawyer lips are the result of apiezing functionally illiterate people, in an attempt to protect them from themselves. QRs were designed to allow quick removal and instillation of the wheel I grew up with QR. Lawyer lips are annoying to non functionally illiterate people. Lawyer lips encourage people to improperly mount their QR wheels by holding the adjusting nut and winding on the cam lever. They also encouraged the manufacturer's to make cheaper QRs thinking this is safe because of the lawyer lips. Lawyer lips didn't completely solve the problem they were trying to fix. They added new stupidity to it all. Readjusting your QR everytime you take the wheel on and off will prematurely wear out those 5mm threads. I have seen this several times on customers bicycles when I worked in a bicycle shop.

smd4

Ah...no. I'm definitely going with "annoying." Along with "defeats the purpose."

chaadster

I’m also in the camp that believes QRs and discs are a non-issue. I rode such a bike for nearly 15 years, through all sorts of weather, hauling cargo, on trails and all across town and never had a related issue.

As noted upthread, there are plenty of boneheads who don’t know how to properly use a QR irrespective of the braking system.

wolfchild

I highlighted the part of your reply which is a total complete BS....Only an illiterate person would remove an extra safety feature for the sake of saving themselves few seconds when removing and installing a wheel.

smd4

Have you ever removed the reflectors on a new bike? How about the dork disk? Or maybe you can't read this?

Rick

I don't use most of the reflectors that come with a new bicycle. My schwalbe tires have better reflectors. My B&M Tail Light has a high quality reflector. My helmet, handlebar pack and panniers have reflectors that are also florescent. The CPSC reflectors are outdated and inadequate for a bicycle without lights.

smd4

Don't you mean "Outdated for a bicycle with lights?"

Steamer

There isn't a safety issue.

Thru axles are mostly about the industry selling new stuff. They have some minor advantages, but again, it's mostly about selling stuff. To do so, they have to champion the awesomeness of the new thing, whatever that is this year.

Even if you buy the latest thing, chances are good that it will be "obsolete" within a decade in some way.

tomato coupe

That's like hoping your next meal will be your last.