Cube bike unusual front wheel quick release

[Sofram]

At the outset I should explain that I am not into bicycles at all. However, I do need to maintain my kids bikes. My son's Cube bike has a fairly standard spring loaded front wheel quick release. ITH my daughter's bicycle has a quick release as shown in the photo. Unlike the "standard" quick release there does not appear to be an easy way to swing out the release lever arm and spin it to tighten or loosen the wheel - the axle frame gets in the way. How can I be sure that I have tightened it properly when there is no reassuring spin till tight action?

 

[Ajax Bay]

Open the lever (it might have 'open' and 'close on either side of the lever) and undo the nut the other side till it clears the lawyers' lips. Remove wheel. When you want to reinstall, have the lever open, tighten the nut 'enough' (iteration may be required) and then close the lever (enough force to dent your palm is about right).
I do not recognise a "spring-loaded QR" (Cube). Are these thru-axles? What model of Cube? If they are QRs, then you may be doing it 'wrong' and the wheel may not be secure (especially if disc brake front wheel).

 

[figbat]

You don’t ”spin till tight”. You put the lever arm in the ‘open’ position, then hold it in the orientation that mean it’ll be where you want it when closed, then gradually tighten the other end of the skewer until it’s the right tension to close it - it might take a couple of goes to get it right.

My sister used to think you tightened a QR by simply screwing it tight with the lever but I had to point out that there is a clamping action of the lever when you flip it from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. You should never have to actually spin the lever end.

 

[Smokin Joe]

My sister used to think you tightened a QR by simply screwing it tight with the lever but I had to point out that there is a clamping action of the lever when you flip it from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. You should never have to actually spin the lever end.

I've come across a few cyclists who think the same - and I'm talking full Lycra and serious bikes, not casuals. People's lack of basic mechanical skills nowdays is astonishing (And that is not a dig at the OP who points out bicycles are not his interest).

 

[neil_merseyside]

I was taught to get the lever to close pointing to the rear at 3 o'clock , any other orientation (but 9 really) risked it getting caught and being opened, so more of an MTB risk I think, but lots of folk prefer to line (and clamp) the arm up with the forks, not realising that getting it open from that position is way more difficult than it need be.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I line the lever up (obviously 180 from final desired orientation) so that it closes adjacent and behind but not too close the fork blade, so I can lever it open (with fingers) using the fork blade as a fulcrum. At the rear I orient it to end up closed, bisecting the angle made by the stays (same reason). These positions mitigate the risk @neil_merseyside articulates.

 

[Sofram]

Thank you for the various replies. I had managed to lock the wheel in place but was less than convinced by the locked position of the lever - on the front wheel the lever sticking out or pointing at 3 O'Clock is what I got and neither seemed safe or convincing. I used Ajax Bay's suggestion, ensured that the lever was 180° from its final position (9 O'Clock), tightened the rear nut and then swung the lever back into its locked position.

In the process I realized that the QR on my son's bike was not quite safe either and fixed that too. To keep this thread complete - the two Cube bike models in question are Access and Aim.

I have only had the maintenance of these bikes for under a year - thanks to massive, COVID driven, government subsidies my kids ended up with rather expensive bikes.