Alox

Well I got the shock of my life this morning! I started out on my ride, and I noticed that the bike felt a little shaky while turning. I could not think of a good reason why that would be, since I do regular maintenance on my bike, so I figured that the front tire just needed a little air – no big deal, so I kept going.

When I was about two-thirds of the way to work, I started down a long hill that usually has a fair bit of traffic on it. When I went to hit the brakes to slow down, I noticed that the bike was very shaky – and I looked down at the wheel. The front QR lever was loose, and the front wheel was shimmying away in the dropouts! So I’m doing 40km/h down this hill, in traffic, and my front wheel is about to fall off at any second!

Fortunately I was able to stop the bike without falling (because that would have been ugly) and reached down and tightened the lever to continue safely on my way. But I’m pretty pissed off at this situation: I’ve been riding bikes for 30years, and twisted wrenches for ten, and now I'm an engineer. I know that these levers don’t come undone on their own, certainly not the way that I tighten them down.

I think that someone tampered with my bike while it was parked in the garage of my building!

Yan 

Did your forks have lawyer tabs?

Maybe someone tried to steal your wheel, and then realized that your front wheel was locked.

J.C. Koto

Glad you're OK!! That could have been horrible...

Out of curiosity, was your front wheel locked up to the rest of the bike?

I suppose checking the QRs is yet another pre-ride ritual, huh?

Pscyclepath

The League advocates the use of the "ABC-Quick Check" every time you get on your bike... even after the short coffee-shop stops:

• A - air in the tires: not flat, good pressure
• B - brakes - make sure they still work
• C - chain, cranks, cassette - make sure your drivetrain is still working
• Quick -- quick releases (wheel, seat post, and brakes) properly closed and tight.
• Check -- nothing (new) rattling around or falling off the bike...

HardyWeinberg

I hate these, I can't do any of them. Maybe monthly or even weekly, but not multiple per day. But yeah most every single fastener can rattle loose absent enough loctite so inspection is important, at whatever period can keep you from a wipeout.

My QRs do seem to loosen spontaneously by the way (not flip open, but rather unthread) so I do check them more often than say my chainring bolts, which I've also found loose.

gronk40

Looks like a good check list - a little time consuming at first, but eventually could just take a couple seconds (sometimes things are inefficient until one gets good at them).

AEO

it takes less time to do the ABC quick check than to unlock 2 locks off your bike.

HardyWeinberg

I hardly ever lock my bike either.

CommuterRun

getting up off the pavement after reinforcing that gravity can be a force to be reckoned with.

J.C. Koto

I actually do all those and one other (that goes with "Check", but not quite):

• Z - Zippers. Make sure all pannier, saddle/handlebar bag, trunk, backpack zippers are fully closed. Also, pockets and fly...

I almost lost a substantial investment the other day because I forgot to check the dang zipper. Now the checking habit is ingrained.

Okiegonian

Saboteur!! Who are your enemies?

I'm glad you're OK.

tate65

One quick check I do every morning, I pick the bike up about 2 inches and drop it. If anything is loose, or low you'll hear it.

Loren3

If you don't use your QRs, you can replace them with locknuts.

Jonahhobbes

Somebody has been playing silly buggers with your bike.

old_school_dave

Hose clamp on the QR, but then that kills the Q in QR.

Alox

Hi everyone,

Yes, thankfully I'm OK - happy to be able to tell the tale!

My bike was locked, but the lock wasn't looped over the front wheel. If someone had wanted it, they could have taken it. This was a deliberate thing. I hate to think it, but my 'saboteur' may have been one of the kids in my building. I've seen him hanging around where I park my bike before, and he's just got that awkward / creepy vibe.

I don't think that this was a malicious thing though. More a case of too much time on his hands, and a lack of understanding of the consequences of their actions (or respect for others' property).

I've got a set of allen bolt hubs I'll be installing this weekend, but part of me would prefer to hook up a 440V cattle prod to the QCR instead!

bkrownd

Not to worry, it would only have come off it you jumped a curb hard or hit a major hole. Typical kid pranks.

Throwmeabone

How tight do you have the quick release? It should leave an impression in your hand for a few seconds after closing it. It sounds like yours could be too loose because I know I couldn't close mine just by reaching down. I'd have to get off the bike.

srmatte

This is how I totalled my touring bike around 1998. The qr was undone, (wife says the kids did it, and she knew it was undone but didn't think I'd have time to go for a ride cause the whole (18 people) family were coming to spend the night for easter weekend.) and I was going kinda fast and attempted to hop a dip in the road. My next memory is waking up on the side of the road in the dirt, extreme pain, can't breath or stand up. After a few minutes a woman across the street came out of her house and I raised my hand, she saw me. I broke my back in 2 places, concusion, no skin on the left side of my face except a V where the strap was, chunk of ear gone, wrist required surgery a few months later. It was the first time I ever wore a helmet and I smashed it to pieces.

ok_commuter

I parked my bike outside a Walgreens last week and was inside for 10 minutes. I did not have my cable lock thru the front wheel. When I came out and unlocked my bike, I noticed the front tire scraping against the fender. That fender may have saved me a bad mess, b/c I doubt I would have realized that my QR was open. 99% sure somebody tried to take my wheel and I came out just in time.

ok_commuter

I can't get mine that tight w/o having the disc rotor scraping. In fact, I've never been quite happy with how particular I have to be about the QR setup in order to make the brakes not rub. Seems like I should be able to tighten the wheel a lot more and still get the disc brake mechanism dialed in/out enough to work out the difference, but I haven't figured it out yet.

HardyWeinberg

Should be able to recenter the caliper in that case.

ok_commuter

I can adjust it some, but not enough if the wheel is on real tight. Maybe (probably) doing something wrong. I'm certainly no disc brake expert, these are my first. Maybe I'll use one of my free tune-ups to get a lesson from the LBS guy.

starla

That is a damned fine reason to always check. Glad you were (eventually) okay.

I have a bad habit of not checking anything. I'm 99% sure no one will ever mess with my bike at work and when I'm at home, it's inside, but you never know. Better safe. Especially when I finally get rid of my car and my bike becomes my only mode of transportation.

breadgeek

Yes, but only for folks who are not vying for a Darwin Award. I, too, am glad that no mishap occurred, but it serves as a reminder to those of us who have QRs to check them all the time, every time. My bike has QR lawyer lips, but I would not rely on them.