Cheap Taiwanese superlight skewers

[tinozee]

I have broken several cheap Ti skewers. The ones that surprised me the most were Ritchey Ti skewers. I broke both of those within two weeks. I travel to ride and race a lot, so that means swapping wheels all the time. These both popped near the lever, clean break of the ti. Granted, the lever joints were dry, which increased strain, but the Ti snapped like a pencil in my hands.

BTW, I would never trust "I haven't broken one yet" as a proof of anything. There is some outdated assumption that Ti is indestructible, but it's not.

The only skewers I will really endorse are Campy, Fulcrum, DA, DT RWS and Tune AC-14 (the best). Watch out for Zipps too, I had the lever side screw off of one while riding!

[Oswald]

I actually like my Ritcheys a lot. The clamp nicely, are dirt cheap and have a reasonable weight (although nowhere near as light as the ones in this topic).
I hated my DT skewers. Have them a bit loose and they wouldn't hold. A little too tight and the lever was impossible to close. One time I was so fed up with them I just tried to close them even though they were a little too tight. They snapped like a twig...
I LOVE Shimano skewers, although they are very heavy.

[kode54]

I have broken several cheap Ti skewers. The ones that surprised me the most were Ritchey Ti skewers. I broke both of those within two weeks. I travel to ride and race a lot, so that means swapping wheels all the time. These both popped near the lever, clean break of the ti. Granted, the lever joints were dry, which increased strain, but the Ti snapped like a pencil in my hands.

BTW, I would never trust "I haven't broken one yet" as a proof of anything. There is some outdated assumption that Ti is indestructible, but it's not.

The only skewers I will really endorse are Campy, Fulcrum, DA, DT RWS and Tune AC-14 (the best). Watch out for Zipps too, I had the lever side screw off of one while riding!

i had an early set of Tune DC14...and the carbon came out from the titanium. either the glue was bad or it was a bad batch. nevertheless, Jason at Fairwheel swapped them. haven't had a problem with the replacements at all.

[tinozee]

Oswald, weird we had the opposite experience. Are your Ritchey's Ti or steel? Mine were nice til they popped, it was quite a loud surprise both times. I'm surprised u had trouble with the DTs but I believe it. My DTs have been awesome but there are a few variants. Unfortunately skewers seem to be pretty inconsistent even with those that are supposed to be good. God knows I have been through tons of them trying to find the best balance of light, strong and good clamping. I wouldn't mind using lightweight thru axles down the line, at least in the front. I keep like 3 pair of QRs in my gear bag. Some are better with certain hubs, etc. and I switch bikes and wheels a lot.

[Zigmeister]

IMHO, if you are popping skewers, the are too tight likely. You should only put enough pressure on the lever to leave a Slight impression on your thumbs. Your skewers end wheels aren't going to just fly off in normal riding. Probably overloading your bearings at the same time creating more drag also.

Zipp has a video about preload setting on their hubs, and they make a few points about skewers and load.

[crankdxb]

Its just skewers and doesn't give any impact on your ride. I'm also using this unbranded ones because it lighten up my bike in a cheap price, I can't say its better than Tune, Lightweight or other expensive light skewers but they're just there and they hold pretty well for almost 3 years now.

[Causidicus]

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[barsook77]

"This sounds like some pretty generic nay-saying. Just because something is 4x overpriced does not guarantee it is stronger.

Anybody have a negative experience with a cheap ti skewer?"


Actually, yes I have. And I've experienced all the issues with what the poster above has said.

BTW and FYI .. DT Swiss does make some of the strongest skewers around. Their workmanship is impeccable.

[kulivontot]

Thanks for your input. Actual experiences matter more than "you should never buy a lightweight <component x>, because they could fail."

[tinozee]

Zigmaster - your mean your assumption, not opinion. I popped the ritcheys because they are crappy and I wouldn't bother to warranty them or ever use them again. If I can give it anything, maybe lever joint was dry, but certainly not because of too much pressure. The Zipp on the other hand was fine until the lever end unscrewed. It was a faulty QR and they replaced it no questions. Whatever method they used to braze or thread lock that side failed. Those never went on with much force either.

Imo QRs should not break in human hands with normal pressure or require grease once a week. Trust me I know how to adjust Zipp hub preload and qrs. My opinion still stands that an internal cam QR is ideal and the ones I'd trust are DA, DT, Campy, Fulcrum and Tune AC-14. I have no idea about the other tune someone mentioned the DC version.

Another thing to note is the leverage it takes to install a internal cam vs ball lever QR. It's just a way better mechanism.

[Bridgeman]

Steel. I don't worry about a few extra grams with this component.

[dereksmalls]

I'm actually thinking of adding about 5 grams to my skewers to get these from Wheelworks to go with my custom wheels


http://wheelworks.co.nz/new-skewers/

[Oswald]

Oswald, weird we had the opposite experience. Are your Ritchey's Ti or steel? Mine were nice til they popped, it was quite a loud surprise both times. I'm surprised u had trouble with the DTs but I believe it. My DTs have been awesome but there are a few variants. Unfortunately skewers seem to be pretty inconsistent even with those that are supposed to be good. God knows I have been through tons of them trying to find the best balance of light, strong and good clamping. I wouldn't mind using lightweight thru axles down the line, at least in the front. I keep like 3 pair of QRs in my gear bag. Some are better with certain hubs, etc. and I switch bikes and wheels a lot.

These look exactly like the ones I have. I should weigh them to be sure, but I estimate they are +/- 35grams lighter then Dura Ace skewers, and I consider Dura Ace to be the best in skewers (for my needs).

[djtodd]

My only negative experience with the ultra light skewers was actually my LBS managing to snap the lever putting them back on after doing some work. They replaced them with a Dura Ace set.

But I found that the wrench that usually did the work on my bike would tighten the hell out of the skewers. I've personally never had an issue with them, and only tighten to the "Firmly but gently" sort of level.

Right now I'm using a 44g set made by "Token" I picked up from Wiggle. They seem alright to me. I'll let you know if they snap.

[myndog]

Theres is plenty of 50g skrewers on ebay for under 20$ price which i think is very very cheap. And those are from USA