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NOTE: If you have a mountain bike equipped with
through axle front or rear wheels, make sure that your
dealer has given you the manufacturer’s instructions, and
follow those when installing or removing a through axle
wheel. If you don’t know what a through axle is, ask your
dealer.
1. Wheel Quick Release
!
WARNING: Riding with an improperly adjusted wheel
quick release can allow the wheel to wobble or fall off
the bicycle, which can cause serious injury or death.
Therefore, it is essential that you:
1. Ask your dealer to help you make sure you know
how to install and remove your wheels safely.
2. Understand and apply the correct technique for
clamping your wheel in place with a quick release.
3. Each time, before you ride the bike, check that the
wheel is securely clamped.
The wheel quick release uses a cam action to
clamp the bike’s wheel in place (see fig. 6). Because of
its adjustable nature, it is critical that you understand how
it works, how to use it properly, and how much force you
need to apply to secure the wheel.
!
WARNING: The full force of the cam action is needed
to clamp the wheel securely. Holding the nut with one
hand and turning the lever like a wing nut with the other
hand until everything is as tight as you can get it will not
clamp the wheel safely in the dropouts.
a. Adjusting The Quick Release Mechanism
The wheel hub is clamped in place by the force of
the quick release cam pushing against one dropout and
pulling the tension adjusting nut, by way of the skewer,
against the other dropout. The amount of clamping force
is controlled by the tension adjusting nut. Turning the
tension adjusting nut clockwise while keeping the cam
lever from rotating increases clamping force; turning
it counterclockwise while keeping the cam lever from
rotating reduces clamping force. Less than half a turn
of the tension adjusting nut can make the difference
between safe clamping force and unsafe clamping
force.
b. Front Wheel Secondary Retention Devices
Most bicycles have front forks which utilize a secondary
wheel retention device to keep the wheel from
disengaging if the quick release is incorrectly adjusted.
Secondary retention devices are not a substitute for
correct quick release adjustment.
Secondary retention devices fall into two basic
categories:
(1) The clip-on type is a part which the manufacturer
adds to the front wheel hub or front fork.
(2) The integral type is molded, cast or machined into
the outer faces of the front fork dropouts.