which is better/safer for cross country mountain biking? currently i have a 10mm nutted rear axle, it‘s bent so i will have to replace it. should i replace it with quick release one?btw i have an old aluminum hardtail which has no indentation and lawyers tab/lips for the skewer in the rear dropout, it‘s just a smooth surface, i‘m a bit concerned that the quick release might slip due to this. thanks guys!
Either buy a new bicycle or get ready to drop some serious coin on a complete new rear wheel assembly. The reason it bent is because it's known as a freewheel hub. Better wheels use what's known as a freehub and cassette. They will also use double wall rims. You most likely have single wall rims. I'd check with your local bike shop to be sure you're bike will even accept the newer/better wheel assembly. Sheldon Brown's website has a nice piece explaining the differences between hubs.
Switching a nutted rear axle to a quick release isn't cheap and is pointless on a cheap bike High quality bikes only come with quick releases for a reason. Theres your answer.
A good quick release grips as well as, or even better than an axles that uses nuts. In addition, quick release axles can actually be less prone to bending than axles using nuts. My first mountain bike had nutted axles and they were quite prone to breaking. The rear axle broke 3 times. Once I changed for a quick release axle it never broke again
