For those that got a thru axle road and/ or cross bike

[Veloo]

What do you think?
Is it truly the way of the future or just another passing phase the industry is pushing?

[KonaSS]

It is the wave of the future for discs. Saw some speculation even for bikes without discs. Still probably some outstanding question as to the exact standard, particularly for the front. 12mm front and rear seems to be the front runner now. Could change I guess.

[sales guy]

What do you think?
Is it truly the way of the future or just another passing phase the industry is pushing?


The bike industry pushes ***** even if it isn't effective or worth while. I would know. I am one of those people who's done it. Sorry btw.

I think it makes sense for some people. For me, I decided not to get a couple frames in with thru axles. I didn't want o be loaning out a bike or demoing it and not be able to get parts or service. Also, it allowed a shop to switch something out wheel wise if a person wanted to see what they were like on that bike. Say a 650 wheel on a 700c frame.

Personally, i don't like them for road bikes. I see the advantages of them though. Something everyone forgets is the size of bearings used gets smaller and wear out faster due to it<--mainly on wheels that can convert to different size axles like the Reynolds ATR wheels.

I love stuff that lasts, looks good, easily serviced and has a sound design.

My opinions.

[oldpotatoe]

What do you think?
Is it truly the way of the future or just another passing phase the industry is pushing?

Like BBs and disc brakes..no 'standards', in spite of what the bike gurus say. Even some of the thread pitches are different and all of them say theirs is 'best'..another example of a flat market, sales rise by 1%, somebody else's falls by 1%.

Probably a good idea for disc brakes, not necessary for rim brakes, IMHO but no tellin' where that market(for road) is going..

Bikes are gonna get expensive, lower end ones who try to mimic high end ones, some will be pretty good, some will be junque.

[Lovetoclimb]

I've been riding my Soma Wolverine essentially as a drop bar mtb and with its QR front and rear axles I do not feel like I am missing out on much. But to be fair I've never ridden anything with TA except a full squish Ibis on actual trails. I'm too invested currently to switch to TA but if I got a major windfall of cash and could buy something like a Firefly with new wheels (dyno hubs all) I would consider it.

[FlashUNC]

Thru axle on my Giant cross/groad.

I like it, especially for disc.

[hummus_aquinas]

In regards to feeling the actual change in standards I definitely experienced the feeling of getting "left behind" in using an old standard. When I got my first stinner replaced they gave me an option for a rear thru axle instead of the originally specced QR. In a bitter mood and with lack of foresight I remained with QR dropouts as not to spend any more money on a project I already hated.

In converting the bike to 650b I had a hell of a time finding a rear QR 135 + 15 TA front wheelset without building a custom set. I ended up with a earlier generation stan's flow wheelset but had to do some mickey mouse converting to make it work. I definitely regret not using the TA standard (at the time, ha) when offered to me.

[Cornfed]

I've got thru axles on my touring bike and my gravel bike. Both disc. Love them. When your wheels line up just right, the same way, every time, with no effort and no adjusting, everything just works better.

[Veloo]

This is what I'm thinking about.
As I see disc frames that peak my interest, I'm wondering if I should continue spending money on QR if TA does indeed have benefits that will in the long run outpace QR.

In regards to feeling the actual change in standards I definitely experienced the feeling of getting "left behind" in using an old standard. When I got my first stinner replaced they gave me an option for a rear thru axle instead of the originally specced QR. In a bitter mood and with lack of foresight I remained with QR dropouts as not to spend any more money on a project I already hated.

In converting the bike to 650b I had a hell of a time finding a rear QR 135 + 15 TA front wheelset without building a custom set. I ended up with a earlier generation stan's flow wheelset but had to do some mickey mouse converting to make it work. I definitely regret not using the TA standard (at the time, ha) when offered to me.

[oldpotatoe]

I've been riding my Soma Wolverine essentially as a drop bar mtb and with its QR front and rear axles I do not feel like I am missing out on much. But to be fair I've never ridden anything with TA except a full squish Ibis on actual trails. I'm too invested currently to switch to TA but if I got a major windfall of cash and could buy something like a Firefly with new wheels (dyno hubs all) I would consider it.

TA on even disc brakes has a lot of market speak involved, for road and even GRoad bikes..'way stiffer, more responsive'..Like a lot of things 'BIKE', it 'implies' a QR wheelset, even disc, is soft and squishy, which it isn't. But ya GOTTA upgrade to TA and oversized fork steerers and...blah, blah..

or else!!

[happycampyer]

I agree that for a road bike with caliper brakes, it add little benefit (yeah, perfect alignment, a little stiffer if you can even tell the difference) but adds a lot of nuisance (makes transporting on a fork mount more complicated, differing "standards," etc.).

For a bike with disc brakes TAs make a lot of sense, especially with suspension forks. Having the wheel and disc perfectly aligned is a big plus, and adding rigidity to a fork with suspension is noticeable. A rigid fork not so much.

Notice how companies are already introducing "quicker release" thru-axle...

[ColonelJLloyd]

What do you think?
Is it truly the way of the future or just another passing phase the industry is pushing?

I have used and ridden disc bikes with QR and TA. I wouldn't spec a disc bike with QR, but I'm not saying they're crap either.

I'm not sure about this "inferior bearings on TA hubs" assertion from Sales Guy. Perhaps that's the case on one brand of hubs. I know the dynamo hub I bought claims to have upgraded "stronger" bearings on the 15x100 hub versus the QR version.

If you don't think that the advantages of a thru axle are applicable that is absolutely fine; only you can know. But, they are actual differences that a lot of people are happy to have.

Now, if I were spec'ing the bike today that I spec'd 6 months ago I might choose 12x100 front instead of 15x100, but the type of hub I wanted wasn't available in that standard at the time.

The different thread pitches is a red herring. You get the axle that correlates to your frame or fork. It's now part of said fork or frame. Done. Sure, you may have several different styles to choose from, but they all do the job. I don't know why having multiple options is a detriment. I use DT Swiss ratcheting and Paragon combo head (M12 wrench, M6 hex or M5 hex all work) types on my bikes.

In my experience, however, there is a genuine disadvantage to thru axles. You cannot remove and replace a wheel as quick as a . . . . . . right, a QR skewer. The difference can be seconds to a minute or more, but it's a difference. I can see trying to remove or install my PMW axle in the freezing cold during Tour Divide or something being a real issue (Tullio is yelling from the grave "I already solved this problem, ya dummies!"). If I were doing something like that I would choose a different style axle that behaves like a traditional QR (there are plenty).

[dustyrider]

Don't forget about boost!

[joosttx]

I am a fan of them on my cross bike. It definitely makes aligning a disc wheel to the disc calipers easier. Plus the mechanism is simpler than a QR. Also, it feels more solid. The latter two are marginal gains, placebo effect or personal preference.

[rkhatibi]

Had noticeable side flex from a standard QR steel fork with disc brakes. Could feel the brakes rubbing as I cornered. Upgrading to a tapered Enve QR fork made most of it go away. I spec'ed the new cross bike with 15x100 thru in front. Feels stiffer even with larger tires. I suspect that is some of the advantage, you take fork flex out of the equation and all the input should be coming from the tire allowing you to make better decisions.

[Lewis Moon]

I have them on my super six. Really stiffened up the front end.

[sandyrs]

I like thru axle for rotor alignment on my cross bike. Stiffness has nothing to do with it. I like it even more for full suspension bikes but that's not what we're talking about.

Funny side note: I'm probably one of the only people in the world who has ridden a boost-spaced cyclocross bike extensively (long story, bike got made with the wrong spec and was replaced eventually but I had it for a couple months). Boost is not the way for rigid bikes.

[hummus_aquinas]

Boost is not the way for rigid bikes.

Could you please expand on that? Are you commenting on the potential of feeling too stiff on that type of bike? I ask because in building a custom bike with TA, I imagine taking steps toward using boost spacing would essentially "future-proof" it. Funny how "future-proof" means very little this time around...

[sandyrs]

Could you please expand on that? Are you commenting on the potential of feeling too stiff on that type of bike? I ask because in building a custom bike with TA, I imagine taking steps toward using boost spacing would essentially "future-proof" it. Funny how "future-proof" means very little this time around...

For mountain bikes boost spacing can make sense for tire clearance and maybe wheel stiffness reasons but it widens the chainstays even more and makes heel interference more likely on road/cx length chainstays. It also messes up chainline with road/cx drivetrains and moving the rings out can lead to a wider than necessary Q factor. It's not especially bad but it definitely doesn't provide anything that most drop bar disc brake bikes need.

[RudAwkning]

For mountain bikes boost spacing can make sense for tire clearance and maybe wheel stiffness reasons but it widens the chainstays even more and makes heel interference more likely on road/cx length chainstays. It also messes up chainline with road/cx drivetrains and moving the rings out can lead to a wider than necessary Q factor. It's not especially bad but it definitely doesn't provide anything that most drop bar disc brake bikes need.

I had a boost crank on my boosted Salsa Woodsmoke. The chainline was **** with the short 40cm chainstays. I couldn't ratchet backwards in the 42 or 36. I went to a non-boost crank and everything is peachy now. Go figure.

I solved the heel clearance issues by going with the ISSI pedals with +6mm axles. Shoe size has a large effect on heel clearance, boosted or not.

[Rimbaud]

If I ever get another disc road bike it will have TA's for the alignment benefit, but my current mindset is to devolve away from disc and many other recent tech advances. Just ordered a custom frame with centerpull brake and DT shifter studs!

[PacNW2Ford]

My current evolution is this:
Most of the QR bikes that have lawyer tabs now have DT Swiss RWS skewers, got tired of fiddling with the adjustment every time the front wheel came off. Non-lawyer tabbed QR bikes have high quality QRs (Dura-Ace, Deore XT, Paul, Mavic)

My lone MTB with thru-axles came with the much and deservedly maligned Maxle Lite and it now has a Maxle Stealth on the front and an RWS TA on the back. This requires that I carry a 6mm hex key, but that's fine. I'm waiting for Paragon to make a Maxle replacement with RWS.

My latest Specialized Sequoia has thru-axles with 5mm sockets, they look clean and with discs work just fine, although I need to carry the 5mm hex key. I think I will have to buy an adaptor for my Feedback work stand for the 12mm TA.

I am pretty much axle agnostic, I even have a QR disc steel fork MTB and one of the last Fox QR forks with disc.

[oldpotatoe]

If I ever get another disc road bike it will have TA's for the alignment benefit, [/B]. Just ordered a custom frame with centerpull brake and DT shifter studs!

Isn't that illegal in 34 states?:p

[Mark McM]

Is a wheel change with through axles any slower than with a fork with lawyer tabs (where you have to unscrew the QR nut to be able to remove the wheel, and then re-adjust the QR after installing the wheel)?

Are through axles harder to mis-use than QR skewers? I have seen many people that misunderstand and mis-use QR skewers - once with disasterous consequences.

[sales guy]

Is a wheel change with through axles any slower than with a fork with lawyer tabs (where you have to unscrew the QR nut to be able to remove the wheel, and then re-adjust the QR after installing the wheel)?

Are through axles harder to mis-use than QR skewers? I have seen many people that misunderstand and mis-use QR skewers - once with disasterous consequences.


Personal opinion, yes, they are slower. Not a decade slower, but yes, slower. And yes, they are harder to mis-use than regular QR's. Most people who have QR's twist them anyways and not close the cam which is where you end up with loose wheels.