US bike trade veteran says he could put the quick back into QR

Neugent’s Quick lever opens outside of the fork bosses and has two locking positions so you have to hold a button to open or close it. It can’t open by itself, he says.

The Quick lever is made from extruded 6000 series black anodized alloy, is chrome plated and has a 5mm shaft. Chrome-plated steel inserts bite into dropouts for additional security. And there’s a plastic insert on an adjusting nut which helps prevent nut loosening.

Interestingly, there’s an ‘open/closed’ indicator. The cam has two locking positions: one in the true closed position, the second in a position that is still inside the fork bosses in case the user didn’t really close it right the first time.

Neugent told BikeBiz.co.uk his lever would still need beefing up if it was to be a possible cure for the QR/disc brake problem.

"With the addition of a set screw on the adjusting nut, you would have a skewer that literally locked into position and would not unthread itself. You can also remove the wheel quickly."

But does he have loads and loads of stock, just in case there’s a run on his levers?

"I have some stock in the US on the current generation and have just asked the maker to get me some adjusting nuts with set screws to try it out."

Neugent’s website makes no mention of the QR/disc brake problem but does contain interesting asides on QR safety in general.

"[When] mountain Biking became extremely popular, people noticed that if they went over a jump and the quick release was not secure, the wheel could come off. This is not a good thing. On road bikes, this almost never happened but Mountain Biking changed everything.

"Enter the fork bosses that are now on all bikes. This was not mandated but anyone who makes bikes knows that safety is the most important concern – especially when it comes to front wheels falling off.

"[Existing QRs} took the quick out of quick release – which, of course, is better than doing a face plant when your wheel falls off. Other people file off their bosses so that they can put the quick back into their current quick release. You can easily spot these people because they are the ones with the noticeable face-plant scars."

"The thought occurred to me that if you just make the travel longer (to avoid the "lawyer lips") you could get in real trouble because the wheel could fall out. So we added two safety locking positions on the cam pin so that you have to push the little button to open or close it. Now even that proverbial branch cannot pop these open without human assistance."

It’s now over to the tech-head readers of this site to appraise Neugent’s possible solution…

http://www.neuvationcycling.com/5%20MM.htm#Face%20plant%20story