Cheap Taiwanese superlight skewers

[mattjevans]

Will I die if I buy and use these? X-lock Speciales being £80 for a similar weight...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-light-4 ... 3f0f2e8420

[Maximilian]

Nope you won't die. They're identical to the planet-x ones, we have 5 sets on our bikes. Work well.

[HammerTime2]

I'm not saying these aren't good, but ...

We always declare items as GIFT for low value.

So they admit to being dishonest (even if it's supposedly for your benefit). How can you believe anything else they're telling you? Never do business with a crook.

[bura]

I'm not saying these aren't good, but ...

We always declare items as GIFT for low value.

So they admit to being dishonest (even if it's supposedly for your benefit). How can you believe anything else they're telling you? Never do business with a crook.

Means this"gift-low value" is a request by customers worldwide.
Means it makes sense that governments should raise their efforts to go behind "disappeared funds" in off-shore accounts in places like Cayman or Virgin Islands to get tax payers money back rather than pursuing customs fees from bicycle parts.

On topic: What concerns me with these very light skewers is the fact that the front skewer axle is minimalistic i.e. not long enough. If you have a beefier designed fork and not a blade design like a 3T Funda fork then you may face that the fixing bolt will catch only two or three threads of the axle being to unsafe for me to use it on my Kuota fork.

[5 8 5]

As Hammertime says can they really be trusted?

Also just because they send it as a gift it may still be stopped by customs. You're best to factor the cost of the duty and the PO admin charge into the overall cost to see if it's actually worth buying them.

[1415chris]

I can't see anybody paying vat and especially duty on items with this value.
In the UK: Low Value goods up to £18, no VAT, up to £135 no duty.
I've been buying quite a lot of stuff from Taiwan and this part of the world, regularly chains, never had to pay vat.
For this amounts, probably administration costs are much greater than £5 so the tax man is not bothered to chase anybody.

Speaking about Taiwanese skewers, two sets about 26g each, they performed very well.

[mattjevans]

Will just buy Planet X then

[1415chris]

Price wise, it is more sensible choice, £17.49

[kulivontot]

I crashed hard on a pair of ultra light ti skewers from bikehubstore.com and the wheel did not get ejected from the dropouts. Left side of the skewer was all scraped up from the impact on the ground. Even if you weigh twice as much as me, I doubt your power will cause any problems during normal riding. Free grams, less than $40, zero impact on ridability? What's not to like?

[quattrings]

Can't fault these either. I bought some from Planet x for the road bike and they performed well.
An identical set branded as xlr has found it's way to the TT bike, and still very satisfied by both sets.

[oMatto]

I bought these ones which look like a similar design:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-L-Titanium- ... 3f1f245712" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What concerns me with these very light skewers is the fact that the front skewer axle is minimalistic i.e. not long enough. If you have a beefier designed fork and not a blade design like a 3T Funda fork then you may face that the fixing bolt will catch only two or three threads of the axle being to unsafe for me to use it on my Kuota fork.

I thought this might be a problem too but actually, on my forks there is about 2mm of thread sticking out past the nut (which is quite narrow).

However there are a few other issues with the design...

These skewers look quite nice and are certainly light but the clamping action is not actually very secure. I don't think there is enough cam action as you pull the lever. Also, because the lever is round it often rotates whilst you are trying to clamp it. Once you have clamped the lever (as tight as you dare because it feels like the thin lever may shear off) it is still possible to rotate the lever. All in all not very confidence inspiring; but having said that they are still on my bike at the moment and I can't see my wheels falling off as a result.

[Butcher]

I got similar copies and they work great. Sometimes they creak but only at the extreme limits. The front does stick out a little [3-4mm] and I everytime I see it, I think I should trim it down a bit. After 3 years, they have held up well.

[barsook77]

Anytime the word "cheap" is the defining word to describe a skewer ... I RUN!!!

Titanium always has weight limits and failure rates attached to it ... no matter what the part. Don't believe that? Look at ANY spec.

It amazes me where people decide to "save money". Your control surfaces and what they are attached to can and will save your life. Not exactly the place to save "weight".

[kulivontot]

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?

[kulivontot]

Lol already replied to this thread