From time to time there’s always chatter about lubricating the thru-axles and QR skewers and there are different opinions on the topic among many people.
Everyone has different opinions about the topic and there’s no definitive answer to the question some would say it’s not necessary others say it’s not recommended but good and some even say that it’s dangerous but here’s what all of its about
Lubricating thru-axle and QR skewers become necessary in certain conditions like in the rainy season and it’s not really required unless manufacturers say that it is but it’s good if you lubricate them or clean them or clean them with isopropyl alcohol or any cleaner.
and that’s a very simple answer to it do it if you feel like your bike needs it or you are having trouble opening them or getting stuck and if you are not encountering any problems just don’t do it.
As they say, “as long as it works it works”
It doesn’t play a vital role in overall bike performance or anything surrounding it QR skewered or thru axles stay in there in a place where are not under any stress of constantly moving with the wheel there are there to make sure that wheels don’t come off and it’s easier for you to mount or unmount the wheel.
As for as greasing goes there are benefits to it and If you had like to read along some other things as well then you are welcome to do so.
should you grease them or oil them :
Greasing or oiling the QR skewers or thru-axles is just to make sure that they don’t cease up and you can tighten them with more ease
But oiling is not a really good idea in this case for one thing oil would wash off pretty quickly unless you perform daily checks on your bike and check your wheels otherwise oil is perfectly well as well
but for most of us greasing them is better than oiling them because it stays longer takes a longer time to dry and protects the bike parts from rusting to some extent which is the biggest reason for the bike parts to cease.
how often you should grease them :
You can grease the thru-axle and QR skewers as often as you had like there isn’t a set time limit to it, mostly you wouldn’t open up your wheels unless they become untrue due to a spoke breakage or other reasons or you need to patch a big puncture in them so while you are on that usually people grease the bike’s ball bearings and other parts so you can do that then as well
and wheels going untrue is far too common for mountain bikes because they are constantly under so much stress anyways, but normally you can grease QR Skweres or thru axles them once a month or once every two months except
when you feel the need to do it or it’s the rainy season because these parts can get dirty far too quickly and you should wash them and grease them as often as possible during that season.
what are the benefits of greasing QR skewers or through axles :
there are two main benefits of lubricating the Qr skewers and thru axles
- saves from rusting
- saves from ceasing
these are the only two benefits that you get and as I said above lubricating them during certain months can be necessary otherwise it’s okay if you lubricate them or not there are so to say no side effects of not lubricating these parts
But lubricating them occasionally is better than not lubricating them at all other than that if you don’t have lubes readily available on your hands then cleaning them is more than enough.
Which parts to lubricate threads or the whole body :
lubrication of the whole body is not really necessary and if you want to lubricate those parts then cleaning the internal parts of the wheels where the QR skewer or the quick release passes through make sure that you clean them as well otherwise it would do more bad than good because the dirt present in those parts in the presence of a lubricant
would start damaging the bike rather than any kind of advantage, as far as lubricating the parts goes you can do both you can lubricate the cylinder or whatever you call it and the threads as well but lubricating the threads is better than lubricating the whole thing.
how much grease you should apply to these parts :
Apply minimal grease on these parts I use the word “finger comb” for the grease on these parts since the more amount you apply the more they can catch dust and mud so just apply a gentle brush grease on these parts
So that they are greased enough to keep the parts moving and don’t accumulate dust or mud as well.
what kind of grease you should apply to them :
I would recommend applying dry grease or oil on these parts so that there’s a thin coating of the lubricant on these parts that doesn’t accumulate dust or mud but also keep the parts from rusting or ceasing these types of greases are better for these kinds of parts
Because they are more prone to dust and mud you can also apply wet grease or any other grease that’s readily available as well but if you happen to have dry grease on your hand I would recommend using that instead of wet grease.
wouldn’t thru-axle and QR skewers become loose if you apply grease or oil to them answered :
Some people think that applying grease would loosen the QR skewer or the thru-axle which is completely wrong because we apply grease or oil on some parts of the bikes to ease the process of tightening them and protecting them against rust
Tightening and loosing of the parts is solely based on the threads of the part, not on the greases or oils and the vibrations from the bikes are not that enough to make them loose on their own unless you are driving a supercar these kinds of things do not matter
another case would be broken or bad threads due to wear and tear of the materials, in that case, yes it can be dangerous but that is a very rare case if you are facing problems like that then avoid lubricating them.
Conclusion :
It’s really not that big of a deal in both cases whether you had like to apply grease or not in both cases there are advantages but if you don’t apply and things are working just fine then there’s no need to but if you had like to apply them I explained each and every part so you have a reference if you are having trouble what to do and what not to do.