It's not about holding on the wheel. It's about French culture. When you operate the quick release, for a second it's as if you're blasting down the Route Nationale in a Chapron DS23 Decapotable, Sophie Marceau next to you, a bottle of Condrieu in the pique-nique basket in the back and Edith Piaf on the stereo.
Of course, it could also be that the plastic wing nut on every Simplex QR that was ever used is broken.
Leonard Bulger
Ann Arbor, MI