Quick Release Bike Axles May Disappear

This is kind of unnerving. It looks as if some clueless politicians in New Jersey are trying to ban quick release axles, because of some issues with bikes being sold in Wal-Mart.

What'd be great is if bike companies such as Schwinn stopped selling to big-box stores and started supporting the small bike shops again.

http://www.sportsonesource.com/news/spec/spec_article.asp?section=5&Prod=2&id=22324

Quick-release Axle Under Attack in N.J.
SportsOneSource Media Posted: 2/29/2008

Following an initial contribution of $7500 last summer, the board of directors for the National Bicycle Dealers Association Board has voted to spend another $7500 to defend the widely used quick-release axle.

The latest contribution will be matched by the supplier side of the industry, NBDA Executive Director Fred Clements said in the association's Friday newsletter.

The SBDA is fighting against a ban on quick-release axles proposed in the New Jersey legislature. While the law, if passed, would affect only New Jersey, it might set a national trend, making the fight a national issue. The bill exempts axles that also have a “secondary safety device,” but fork tips apparently do not qualify for the exemption and there is currently no other technology that would.

The proposed law was a response to injuries to children riding Wal-Mart bikes with quick-release wheels, Clements said in the NBDA newsletter. But with the exception of some high-end BMX bikes, the kids bikes sold by independent dealers do not have quick-release axles anyway. The New Jersey bill as written would ban quick-releases on all bikes, adult as well as juvenile. Funds contributed by the NBDA and the Bicycle Products Suppliers Association are to be used to hire a lobbyist to make the case against the bill.