9mm QR orbolt through wheels...Help what fits what!

[wookiee]

I have currently been running standard 9mm QR skewers on the wheelset on my Santa Cruz. However these are getting a bit tired, and I'm looking at getting a new set. So my dumb question:

- If I get a wheelset with bolt through axles do I need to change my forks/dropouts?

Whats the deal with the different bolt through axle sizes?

Very confused!

Doug

 

[02gf74]

Bigger diameter means stiffer.

You can take the same amount of metal in a 9 mm axle but make it larger diameter with obviously thinner wall and it will resist bending, the is a limit as you can get to a wall thickness so thin it has little strength.

 

[Osella]

I have currently been running standard 9mm QR skewers on the wheelset on my Santa Cruz. However these are getting a bit tired, and I'm looking at getting a new set. So my dumb question:

- If I get a wheelset with bolt through axles do I need to change my forks/dropouts?

Whats the deal with the different bolt through axle sizes?

Very confused!

Doug

Possibly, possibly, and possibly..

Your 'basic' QR has been around a loooong time, and is for convenience. [start with Sheldon Brown's article about Quick releases]..
However..
You can get a bolt-up 9mm axle - which will potentially be stiffer/more secure. There are also larger QR axles (Azonic, Hope and I'm sure others) which fit in a standard 10mm (QR) hub. As the hole through the hub is 10mm, there's a bit of clearance you can play with as a manufacturer between 9mm and 10mm.

Then, there's 10mm 'male' axles which are also able to fit in standard dropouts, give or take and fit an M10 nut on the outside to bolt them up. These often have no hole through the hub, and I've never seen a front wheel made this way. They are more common on Park/Street/SS bikes.

Then you get 12mm, 15mm or 20mm axles. 12mm are hollow 12mm exterior axles which fit through the wheel hub and usually have a chunky QR to fasten them. The axle will be fork-specific - although I think some are multi-use. You can commonly get adapters to take a 12mm axle to 9mm QR if you don't want to change forks.

The same roughly applies to 15mm and 20mm as well, but 20mm are as far as I know bolt-up only and these days are primarily used for DH. You will however in many cases be able to again convert these with adapters down to 15mm 12mm (in some cases) or down to QR. some adapters are tubes which sit inside the hollow hub, and others are end caps which replace the bearing covers. Be careful however, as some manufactures produce adapter kits which don't fit all of their own hubs (thanks again Hope...) 12mm and 15mm are known sometimes as 'maxles' which is a trademarked term but now common-use.
Some manufacturers produce licenced maxles and these are cross-compatible in the main. (i.e a SRAM maxle hub will fit a Magura fork as they are purposely designed to work together). Research is the key..

The above is front-only. Rear wheels there are even more varieties with 142mm and 150mm axle widths..

 

[wookiee]

I have currently been running standard 9mm QR skewers on the wheelset on my Santa Cruz. However these are getting a bit tired, and I'm looking at getting a new set. So my dumb question:

- If I get a wheelset with bolt through axles do I need to change my forks/dropouts?

Whats the deal with the different bolt through axle sizes?

Very confused!

Doug

Possibly, possibly, and possibly..

Your 'basic' QR has been around a loooong time, and is for convenience. [start with Sheldon Brown's article about Quick releases]..
However..
You can get a bolt-up 9mm axle - which will potentially be stiffer/more secure. There are also larger QR axles (Azonic, Hope and I'm sure others) which fit in a standard 10mm (QR) hub. As the hole through the hub is 10mm, there's a bit of clearance you can play with as a manufacturer between 9mm and 10mm.

Then, there's 10mm 'male' axles which are also able to fit in standard dropouts, give or take and fit an M10 nut on the outside to bolt them up. These often have no hole through the hub, and I've never seen a front wheel made this way. They are more common on Park/Street/SS bikes.

Then you get 12mm, 15mm or 20mm axles. 12mm are hollow 12mm exterior axles which fit through the wheel hub and usually have a chunky QR to fasten them. The axle will be fork-specific - although I think some are multi-use. You can commonly get adapters to take a 12mm axle to 9mm QR if you don't want to change forks.

The same roughly applies to 15mm and 20mm as well, but 20mm are as far as I know bolt-up only and these days are primarily used for DH. You will however in many cases be able to again convert these with adapters down to 15mm 12mm (in some cases) or down to QR. some adapters are tubes which sit inside the hollow hub, and others are end caps which replace the bearing covers. Be careful however, as some manufactures produce adapter kits which don't fit all of their own hubs (thanks again Hope...) 12mm and 15mm are known sometimes as 'maxles' which is a trademarked term but now common-use.
Some manufacturers produce licenced maxles and these are cross-compatible in the main. (i.e a SRAM maxle hub will fit a Magura fork as they are purposely designed to work together). Research is the key..

The above is front-only. Rear wheels there are even more varieties with 142mm and 150mm axle widths..

Thanks thats a help and a good starting point!

 

[suburbanreuben]

I have currently been running standard 9mm QR skewers on the wheelset on my Santa Cruz. However these are getting a bit tired, and I'm looking at getting a new set. So my dumb question:

- If I get a wheelset with bolt through axles do I need to change my forks/dropouts?

Whats the deal with the different bolt through axle sizes?

Very confused!

Doug

Possibly, possibly, and possibly..

Your 'basic' QR has been around a loooong time, and is for convenience. [start with Sheldon Brown's article about Quick releases]..
However..
You can get a bolt-up 9mm axle - which will potentially be stiffer/more secure. There are also larger QR axles (Azonic, Hope and I'm sure others) which fit in a standard 10mm (QR) hub. As the hole through the hub is 10mm, there's a bit of clearance you can play with as a manufacturer between 9mm and 10mm.

Then, there's 10mm 'male' axles which are also able to fit in standard dropouts, give or take and fit an M10 nut on the outside to bolt them up. These often have no hole through the hub, and I've never seen a front wheel made this way. They are more common on Park/Street/SS bikes.

Then you get 12mm, 15mm or 20mm axles. 12mm are hollow 12mm exterior axles which fit through the wheel hub and usually have a chunky QR to fasten them. The axle will be fork-specific - although I think some are multi-use. You can commonly get adapters to take a 12mm axle to 9mm QR if you don't want to change forks.

The same roughly applies to 15mm and 20mm as well, but 20mm are as far as I know bolt-up only and these days are primarily used for DH. You will however in many cases be able to again convert these with adapters down to 15mm 12mm (in some cases) or down to QR. some adapters are tubes which sit inside the hollow hub, and others are end caps which replace the bearing covers. Be careful however, as some manufactures produce adapter kits which don't fit all of their own hubs (thanks again Hope...) 12mm and 15mm are known sometimes as 'maxles' which is a trademarked term but now common-use.
Some manufacturers produce licenced maxles and these are cross-compatible in the main. (i.e a SRAM maxle hub will fit a Magura fork as they are purposely designed to work together). Research is the key..

The above is front-only. Rear wheels there are even more varieties with 142mm and 150mm axle widths..

I'm not sure this is correct.
Front QRs are 9mm, rear is 10mm. You won't get a 10mm bolt to fit a 9mm QR.
If you're intent on using the same forks, 9mm through axle wheels are available which are a bit stiffer but no comparison with 15 or 20mm axles. 12 mm are , I think, rear only.
A lot depends on the fork design though.

 

[02gf74]

I'm not sure this is correct.
Front QRs are 9mm, rear is 10mm. You won't get a 10mm bolt to fit a 9mm QR.
h.

Yeah i was surprised by that, pretty sure i measured it to confirm as they look to be same diameter.

 

[coomber]

Wookie

Unless you are changing wheels/forks, I would buy a good front quick release like a hope - the better quality ones do make a difference. I find shimano later models are as good as anything though. Some bling ones less so.

 

[jimo746]

Hope hubs (and others, check which ones first) allow you to buy adapters to suit the majority of different axle standards out there. I recently went from front 9mm q/r to front 15mm bolt through to suit the new forks, easy and painless, adapters cost £10-15 or so a set (got mine used form eBay).

 

[superstu]

Superstar do hubs which allow you to but adapters that switch between all axle types.

Are your current front forks qr or bolt through?

 

[wookiee]

Re:

Right so heres what I'm getting so far.

My current forks and drop outs are standard 9mm QR.

So I can buy hubs with the 9mm QR, or buy bolt through and get some adapters to take them down to 9mm.

Right?