Why can't I just do it - Lawyer's lips drive me mad!

[figbat]

Except that you've turned a quick release wheel into a non quick release.

It depends how you define “quick release”. The tension is still ‘quickly released’ by the lever, allowing easy, tool-less undoing of the skewer and removal of the wheel. I’m never in a pit stop race so a couple of seconds more really doesn’t worry me.

 

[Smokin Joe]

It depends how you define “quick release”. The tension is still ‘quickly released’ by the lever, allowing easy, tool-less undoing of the skewer and removal of the wheel. I’m never in a pit stop race so a couple of seconds more really doesn’t worry me.

But pointless.

 

[Venod]

Yes they are annoying
Is it a major problem ?
No, unless a quick wheel change is important.
Do I need to get rid of them ?
See sentence three.

 

[Sharky]

I changed the front tyre on a bike once, went for a 10 mile ride to test it was all okay, turned into my road at the end of the ride and noticed the QR was completely loose, I'd not even attempted to close it. Without lawyers lips I'm convinced I would have had an accident. I still don't know how I didn't realise the wheel was so loose.

Same happened to me, during a 10 mile tt.

But it is my conclusion that it was the LL's that caused me to loosen the qr tension in the first place and I messed up the retightening.

 

[C R]

Same happened to me, during a 10 mile tt.

But it is my conclusion that it was the LL's that caused me to loosen the qr tension in the first place and I messed up the retightening.

Indeed, without the lips you only have to set the tension once, and after that you only have to lock or unlock the qr. They are a massive pia.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I now understand that there are some special people who do need LLs. God bless them.

 

[Gwylan]

I'm going to ask: What are Lawyers Lips?

Thank you.

 

[brommieinkorea]

File them off, very little risk of altering the heat treatment (as opposed to a grinder). I've rolled off on my bike with the quick release undone, it felt a little wobbly , I stopped and fixed it. Disc brakes,no lawyer Lipps, no crash. Redundant and idiotic thing designed to protect morons from themselves.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I'm glad you asked that as I had no idea either. A quick Google reveals they are serrations on the fork ends to help keep the wheel in place.

By chance a video popped up about grinding them off. Seems like a lot of fuss about nothing.

Er, no, they may well have serrations but that’s just a detail. In the past, before the good old U S of A got involved, drop outs were flush. If you undid the QR lever and raised the bike off the ground the wheel would literally fall out. But then companies like Specialised and Trek got involved and suddenly a raised lip was added, so undoing the lever wasn’t enough, you now had to unscrew the spindle a few times as well. I rode for many decades without them and never had any issues, as far as I’m concerned they serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

[Gwylan]

Er, no, they may well have serrations but that’s just a detail. In the past, before the good old U S of A got involved, drop outs were flush. If you undid the QR lever and raised the bike off the ground the wheel would literally fall out. But then companies like Specialised and Trek got involved and suddenly a raised lip was added, so undoing the lever wasn’t enough, you now had to unscrew the spindle a few times as well. I rode for many decades without them and never had any issues, as far as I’m concerned they serve no purpose whatsoever.

Change, but change isn't always progress or forwards.

 

[mustang1]

I am not bothered by lawyers lips. If it's a safety mechanism then I would leave the fork as is.

 

[Marchrider]

never heard of them, my bike certainly doesn't have them - but I think it had some annoying washers with a bent tab that somehow was designed to stop the wheel coming out ? anyone know what I am on about ?

 

[Gunk]

never heard of them, my bike certainly doesn't have them - but I think it had some annoying washers with a bent tab that somehow was designed to stop the wheel coming out ? anyone know what I am on about ?

Bromptons have them, they’re a throwback to the 1960’s

 

[EckyH]

Probably drilling two holes in a fork and two washers are cheaper than bodged dropouts.

Lawyer lips are some kind of hostile architecture: a pseudo-solution which makes the life harder for nearly everyone.

E.

 

[lazybloke]

Except that you've turned a quick release wheel into a non quick release.

LLs don't negate the chief benefit of a QR, which is you don't need tools to operate them.
When I replaced a faulty QR with a hex skewer, I found it a bit of an unnecessary faff.
So QRs are very much my preference now, and when the time comes to buy a new bike, I'll have to do my research on the lever version of Thru Axles.

More importantly, even though I'm not particularly precious about my bikes, I'd NEVER take a file to any part of them.