History
The mechanism was invented in 1927 by Tullio Campagnolo, an Italian bicycle racer. He was frustrated when he needed to repair a flat tire during a race. The weather had turned cold, and his hands were numb, so he could not operate the wingnuts which retained the wheel. He had been well-placed prior to the puncture, but lost valuable time. Another Campagnolo invention that made use of the quick-release mechanism was the Cambio Corsa, a multi-gear changing system consisting of a rear wheel quick-release lever with a mechanical extension that placed the lever itself near the bicycle's saddle, combined with a fork that served as a primitive version of a rear derailleur (without idler pulleys to take up slack), that also had a control lever near the bicycle saddle. This innovation enabled bicycle riders quickly to change gears while in motion by releasing the axle, moving the rear wheel slightly forward by applying tension to the chain, actuating the fork to change to a larger sprocket, and tightening the quick release again; or else releasing the axle, actuating the fork to change to a smaller sprocket, moving the wheel slightly rearward by braking, and tightening the quick release again. The quick-release mechanism, along with other innovations and high standards of manufacture, enabled Campagnolo to become a leading road cycling and track cycling component manufacturer.
Read more about this topic: Quick Release Skewer
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“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)