Is QR on a gravel bike a deal breaker?

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
Finally in the position to look at a couple of second hand ones. One has a QR wheelset and the other a 10X12 12X142 wheelset. For gravel bike riders here do you consider QR to be a deal breakeer. QR would certainly make it easy to pick up a cheap 2nd wheelset to run slicks on....
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
Not a deal breaker in and of itself necessarily but personally I'd avoid it for the exact reason you've flagged as positive. It's only going to get harder and harder to find second hand QR disc wheels of any quality. Unless you can build something up to take DT RWS axles, I'd stick to something with 12mm if possible.

What's the bike?
 

droenn

Fat Man's XC President
I've been fine with QR - not my first choice but works all fine.

Hunt also have gravel wheels with adapters between axle types - I was thinking of getting some to put on a QR bike that I can later change to TA.
 

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
Not a deal breaker in and of itself necessarily but personally I'd avoid it for the exact reason you've flagged as positive. It's only going to get harder and harder to find second hand QR disc wheels of any quality. Unless you can build something up to take DT RWS axles, I'd stick to something with 12mm if possible.

What's the bike?
Looking at a Merida Silex 300 or a Giant Anyroad Comax. Silex is alloy with 100X12 etc, the Comax has the CF frame with QR
 
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Calvin27

Eats Squid
It's only going to get harder and harder to find second hand QR disc wheels of any quality
Nah the opposite actually. All thru axle wheels are effectively qr compatible with endcap changeover. Most wheels come with the kits as well, then there are third party adaptors.

I have two bikes with 12mm F/R qr and finding a wheelset is areal pain in the ass. All the 12x100 wheels are roadie focussed and it's a bit of a struggle to find anything with more than 24 spokes in a 12x100 configuration, you know for actual gravelling. It would usually be easy to find 29er wheels in 15mm axle configuration and swap caps over (sometimes you can't just chuck a sleeve in, it doesn't fit) but now all 29ers are going bullshit boost. Bike industry at it again....

Personally though, I am almost fully thru axle for all my bikes bar the ebike (not really a bicycle, more motorbike haha) - probably the bike that needs it the most lol.
 

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
if you leave qr loose (or it comes loose on ride) it could have wheel release, thru axle won't - has to be open and unscrewed completely and removed, qr only has small tags to retain wheel.

If qr axle fails - wheel is off ... a quick release, if thru axle fails, wheel is retained on one side of fork.

I've had qr loosen on descents under heavy disc braking the axle has enormous load - and minor floats/flex wheel within fork can cause qr to loosen.

thru axle is a more robust and safer option. all my bikes are thru axle, I like looking down on a high speed descent knowing that there's no qr there myself.
 

Staunch

Eats Squid
Figured that too. My first Reign was QR and I didn't have an issue with it at the time.
I had a 06 Reign with QR front and rear. That thing was a wet noodle.

In my opinion it comes down to your weight/power/riding style. If you're a bigger/stronger guy and just hammer your bike, QR will be flexy no matter what. Not necessarily a negative, but something to keep in mind.
 

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
I had a 06 Reign with QR front and rear. That thing was a wet noodle.

In my opinion it comes down to your weight/power/riding style. If you're a bigger/stronger guy and just hammer your bike, QR will be flexy no matter what. Not necessarily a negative, but something to keep in mind.
All true but I bet at the time, because you didn't know better, you still loved the bike.
 

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
I doubt you'd notice the difference at all riding.
That said, for the forwards compatibility and future sale value, I'd pay at least $200 extra for a current thru axle spec bike than a QR one.
Looking like the Silex then really. Plus it's newer and 1X over 2X
 

DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
I haven't looked at your bike choices but 1x is good with a decent range cassette, unless you are punching out big flat or downhill road miles
I like the idea of the simplicity of 1X. Rides will be things like the BVRT..
 

Daniel Hale

She fid, he fid, I fidn't
still a qr fan, wheel changes are much quicker also, at the high price point buyers want thru axle, most others don’t care - there are some great deals on qr wheels around -esp high end xc wheels to be had for cheap

more importantly does the 1x bike have sram groupo, being able to run mtb cassette without any mods is a very big win, esp if you are keen on 1x, i would rate those twice as important as qr/12mm -if it’s shimano maybe the 2x is better? i have a feeling both run shimano, a mate just picked up a silex -he loves it for the price/groupset versus most other brands - he did comment it’s fairly racey -i’d compare with giant tcx, not super comfortable - made for speed. choose your front ring carefully - i have 3 that i swap around if need be, a 46t oval for long bitumen/gravel, a 38t normal ring (w 11-34 rear) , i’ll also swap in a 34t ring if i’m racing a really heavy clay cross course, or climbing something like buller/baw baw

fyi i had a carbon comax, perfectly reasonable bike but i just couldn’t like it -ride seemed dull, bike felt lifeless, don’t know why, i flipped it quickly, was light, cheap well specced -the wishbone shape felt good, also had generous clearance
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Fuckheads who flip a QR skewer closed without actually thinking what the repercussions are of it not being tight should not be riding a bike or even breathing... yeah I know some and shake my head.

QR was good enough for bikes since 1911, it was good enough for DH until thru axle (cant be bothered looking at the year)

Still got QR on my gravel bike and CX, the kids XC bikes have QR fronts with bolt up... its never been a problem and the fix was bullshit. It may be stiffer but I have never noticed it.

EDIT: Ops, meant 1911 when Mr Campagnolo made that QR standard shit that worked for 100yrs.
 
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DMan

shawly the least hangeriest guy on rotorburn
still a qr fan, wheel changes are much quicker also, at the high price point buyers want thru axle, most others don’t care - there are some great deals on qr wheels around -esp high end xc wheels to be had for cheap

more importantly does the 1x bike have sram groupo, being able to run mtb cassette without any mods is a very big win, esp if you are keen on 1x, i would rate those twice as important as qr/12mm -if it’s shimano maybe the 2x is better? i have a feeling both run shimano, a mate just picked up a silex -he loves it for the price/groupset versus most other brands - he did comment it’s fairly racey -i’d compare with giant tcx, not super comfortable - made for speed. choose your front ring carefully - i have 3 that i swap around if need be, a 46t oval for long bitumen/gravel, a 38t normal ring (w 11-34 rear) , i’ll also swap in a 34t ring if i’m racing a really heavy clay cross course, or climbing something like buller/baw baw

fyi i had a carbon comax, perfectly reasonable bike but i just couldn’t like it -ride seemed dull, bike felt lifeless, don’t know why, i flipped it quickly, was light, cheap well specced -the wishbone shape felt good, also had generous clearance
I ended up buying the Silex for $1200. It's a 2021, like new. It is a Sram Apex groupset, 11-42 cassette. Hopefully it's not too racy as I was looking for more comfort than my Giant Defy. But with the gravel tyres and ability to run low pressures now on our shit roads it should still be more comfortable. But I'll take on board your chainring comments.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
a mate just picked up a silex -he loves it for the price/groupset versus most other brands - he did comment it’s fairly racey
Hopefully it's not too racy as I was looking for more comfort than my Giant Defy.
The silex has one of the most relaxed geometries of all gravel bikes and they are pretty relaxed already. From memory, the stack height is the highest of the brands so it will feel a lot more mtb than road bike. Definitely more relaxed than a defy.
 
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