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FSA Quick Releases
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Key Search Terms: FSA quick release; skewers; Salsa Flip-Off.
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 Serving cyclists, runners, swimmers, skateboarders, and others with the best gear and the latest information.
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Product: FSA Scatto quick releases. Configuration: Road (100 mm over-locknut dimension front; 130 OLD rear). Test Platform: Fuji Team. Product Put in Service: March 2010. Reviewed by: Rich Ries. Cost: $49.99 MSRP. Mass/Weight: 144 g./5.08 oz. for the pair. Recommended? Yes.
Executive Summary: Your QRs shouldn't fight you. These don't.
Ratings
(1 is lowest, 5 is highest)
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Comments
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Effectiveness
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5
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Solid clamping.
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Ease of Use
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4
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Love that internal cam.
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Cost/Value
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4
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Lots of less sophisticated QRs cost more.
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Style
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3
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Black. Silver. Laser logo. Ho-hum.
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Our FSA XC-300 wheels came with FSA Scatto quick releases and I've been wanting a pair of those slick QRs for my road bike ever since. (Read our review of those wheels here.) Problem was that FSA didn't sell QRs separately. Until now. FSA offers four models of QRs, from the chro-mo-shafted Series 2 to the carbon-levered Mercury Carbon. The Scattos have aluminum levers and stainless steel shafts. All have 12 mm skewers; all but the Series 2 come only in 100 mm front and 130 mm rear to fit road bikes. The Series 2 also comes in a 135 mm rear for mountain bikes. If you have a fork that fits 15 mm axles or a rear hub with a 150 mm OLD, look elsewhere. (OLD, or over-locknut dimension, is the width of the hub with the locknuts in place. The most common front hub OLD is 100 mm. Rear hubs vary a lot, but 130 is fairly common. Do check your hubs before ordering QRs, however. And note that especially thick dropouts, as on some forks, can require longer QRs. The threaded part of the skewer should extend all the way through the QR nut when installed. The end of the skewer should be flush with or extend slightly beyond the nut. Do not over-tighten the skewer to achieve this fit. Proper QR installation and use are critical to your safety. If you're not sure what you're doing, get help from your local shop.)
Of the four models of QRs offered by FSA, the Scattos are the only ones with the internal cam. On most quick releases, the head of the lever has a cam profile to provide clamping action. But with the Scattos, and with a limited number of other models from such manufacturers as Mavic, there's an internal cam that provides powerful clamping strength with minimal hand effort. Flats are annoying enough with engaging a cranky QR in battle. The more often you have to remove a wheel - for cleaning brake pads, for mounting a bike in a car rack, to fit a bike into a car trunk - the more you'll come to appreciate the ease-of-use offered by the internal cam.
The Scattos have replaced a pair of Salsa Flip-Offs that were provided to me years ago by Ross Shafer when he still owned Salsa Cycles. Ross sold the Salsa name to QBP, or Quality Bicycle Products as it was then known, in 1997. QBP is a wholesaler and distributor of bike parts headquartered in Bloomington, a southern suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Because I got the Flip-Offs directly from Ross, because Ross is such a great guy, because these QRs have the treasured Rasta finish, and because today's Salsa line is a dim shadow of what Ross pioneered, I'll never part with these parts. But I'm mighty tired of fighting their traditional clamping mechanism and I'll never put them on another bike. The 50-gram increase from the ti-skewered Flip-Offs to the stainless Scattos is hardly noticeable and is a small price to pay for convenience.
In general I've been pleased with every FSA product I've ever owned. The Scattos have added to my satisfaction with the brand.
Photos
Here's the retail box of FSA Scatto quick releases. They're sold only in pairs.
Rasta Flip-Offs (top) are art. FSA Scattos are just parts.
The Scattos have internal cams (above and below) that greatly reduce the effort needed to open and close the quick release levers.
With the Flip-Offs and most other QRs, the QR handle itself has an eccentric that provides cam action to tighten the quick release. It's a simple, effective, and lightweight design but it can be a real booger to open, especially when your hands are cold and/or wet.
The FSA logo is laser-etched into the Scattos, but it's no more art than is the tag in the back of my BVDs.
The end of the skewer just protrudes from the nut. This ensures maximum strength of the quick release.