I seem to think XT QR skewers are available in longer lengths than the standard one that comes with a 135 rear hub. Does anyone know what the actual length is, or indeed the part number?

I need a couple for bikes that are going to have trailer hitches (hence needing a longer skewer length) and I’d rather have the security of the better Shimano QR mechanism.

Watching with interest. I spotted rear Shimano QRs for 135 fitment in different lengths when I bought a set of RX10s a while ago. I queried with Ribble and they weren’t sure why there were different lengths either. I guess some OE fitments have more material on the dropout? In the end I looked up the standard XT length and ordered the set with those.

Looking on bike24 they’ve got a 168mm and a 173mm version of the xt skewer.

I wonder which is the “normal” length, and more importantly, where the length is measured from.

As an update, I rummaged around in my spares box and found that I have both lengths of the skewer. My best guess is that the length refers to the length of the 5mm section of the skewer, from the shoulder just inside the lever housing to the end of the thread.

The longer version was just long enough to fully engage the threads in the metal part of the nut. It doesn’t quite thread all the way through the plastic part, so I guess it’s not quite acting like a nutloc. It will be strong enough to put the full tension through the skewer though, I guess there’s just a small chance of it coming un-done.