So I’m all set to swap the rear wheel off my bike – and I can’t for the life of me get the quick release lever on the skewer to budge. Tried a little WD-40 and no dice. Ideas?
Is the lever tight/flush with the frame, or can you get some sort of cheater bar/wrench on it for more leverage without crimping into the frame?
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Good idea… I could get more leverage on it with a narrow length of pipe or something (though I don’t know if I have anything lying around that fits that description). It’s pointing toward the back of the bike. I just don’t want to brace myself against the carbon frame and damage it. Any ideas for what I might use as a “cheater bar”?
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User a breaker bar with a deep socket on it. Insert the deep socket over the quick release.
Pb blaster works better than WD-40 for breaking bolts free.
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Just make sure you throw it away after you get it off there.
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As it turns out it came off pretty readily, but it somehow wanted to turn a few times before the lever would open… I dont know if this is a zipp thing, or a weird one time fluke. Rocketman, wht would you advise throwing it away? Seems fine now. On another note, is it possible to damage the rear dropouts/frame by cranking the skewer to tight? It looked like the frame wants to flex inward somewhat as the skewer gets tighter.
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Check to make sure that your wheel axle flanges are straight. Stuff should not ‘flex’ other than that the dropouts might be spaced about (at most) 1 mm wider than the axle width. For road bikes the nominal width for a rear axle is 130 mm and if either your bike or the axle is substantially different from that then something has gone wrong somewhere.
It’s also poor practice (even though lots of people do it for the supposed “aero benefit”) to point the QR lever rearwards on the rear wheel. This leaves it in a position where you could easily snag it on something as you move the bike and inadvertently open it. The proper ‘closed’ position for the lever is diagonally upwards and forwards, between the chainstay and seatstay.
If you think you need to have it pointed out back so you can get enough leverage on there to tighten the wheel - then it’s adjusted way too tight and/or you need to lubricate the release cam.
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Thanks for the tips!
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Next time that happens just slide a t shirt or towel under the lever and pull. Plenty of leverage and no chance of scratching the bike.
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the closed end of a box wrench is my preferred method
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