Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
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Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby familyguy » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:11 pm
So, to chuck a digital cat among the pigeons, are through axles any advantage over traditional QR for road disc use (140mm to 160mm)? There are a lot of sharply-priced second hand deals on road/cross/commute/gravel bikes with traditional QR about.
With the growth (driven by...??) of through axles on road/cross/commute/gravel bikes, is the traditional QR/disc combo going to go the way of the dodo in the next five years?
I can understand the marginal stiffness improvement touted and tested (going by the articles I've found) for off-road use, but is it an overkill at this stage for road/light trail use for a gravel bike?
Jim
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Velt » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:22 pm
As its for your commuter you probably aren't looking to change wheels at all and you aren't going super hard so I would say QR is fine.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:59 pm
Re lining up the pads, i always just squeeze the brake lever before closing the QR lever, works every time.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Duck! » Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:03 pm
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby familyguy » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:11 pm
Thanks for the opinions.
Jim
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby queequeg » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:34 pm
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby robbo mcs » Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:05 pm
In terms of riding you are not going to notice the difference on a commuter bike.
If you are going to take a wheel off and on often, then the through axle is quicker, simpler and less to go wrong. Not that there is anything wrong with QR, but you can just do it quicker and with less fuss with through axle.
So for me, if I was going to take a wheel off everyday, eg to chain it up with the bike when parking etc, then I would pay a premium for through axle. If you are hardly ever going to take the wheel off, then go QR if it is cheaper.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby baabaa » Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:55 pm
Doses of "opinion" following…..
Three disc frames all with steel forks and QR front and rear; four wheelsets which get the swapped around treatment. All run 32 spokes and 160 mm front and rear but still think I should be on 160 fronts and 140 rears.
With this investment cant see a move away from QR as I have what I need and to be honest, is really specked way above my needs. I also think I am soft on gear.
BUT do look at the hub outer flange i.e. the surface area where the inner drop out clamps onto. Up front, DT and Hope have large "donuts", shimano are or at least appear much smaller. In the rear Hope are large, while DT and Shimano are smaller but look much the same. Phils front and rear are like a big jam donut. SP dyno hub is also 9mm and could do with more meat as can take a bit of a fiddle to clamp firm and square, once in seem pretty firm on fire trials and single and double track.
I don’t know if this helps but….I am a road/light trail user and never had an issue even if I load up any of the bikes with frame bags. The phils are on my ss drop bar 29er (which I will use as my main commuter but will take around Manly Dam or do the Convict 100 on) as it is ss I use a bolt on in the rear.
Just consider the potential of having multi wheelset options from now and for the next 5 years forward. QR seems to be easy to find in high end stuff now, but companies like hope give you swap out options which also include bolt on front and rear.
If I could I would have all sets as bolt ons front and rear as different breeds of qr levers also seem to play better with different dropouts and not just same brand hub and levers but, that may put you right off the good old 9mm qr....
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Calvin27 » Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:52 am
Is it worth it. That depends. qr has had a long history, is not going away and is generally cheaper.
On a side note I found a bike with 'boost qr'. Go figure.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby MichaelB » Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:03 am
I've had QR's with disc roadies for last 8 or so years and not had an issue. Sometimes it moves in the dropouts a smidge, but that's it.
If I were to buy a new bike, I'd go for TA's, only because I think it's a better system rather than any performance benefit that I'd get.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby familyguy » Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:08 am
Cheers.
Jim
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby silentC » Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:45 am
The reason I was given for the TA on the front is that the downwards force applied to the wheel under braking can cause the QR to come loose.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby familyguy » Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:58 am
http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/techni ... ty-issues/
All things being equal and my pockets being deeper, TA is the way things are going though.
Jim
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Velo13 » Sat Jun 24, 2017 9:02 am
That said, we've all run QRs on disc MTB for 20 years, and survived.
Practically, thru axles are a better solution from a stiffness perspective, but that's all really (and it's not likely to be perceivable/needed on non suspension frame). They are still heavier and more of a pfaff. Rotor/pad alignment is the same on both.
My personal take on it is that it's industry driven, to convince you that the disc gravel/CX/road bike that you bought two years ago is superseded.
However, the market is going that way, and the stiffness may be welcome. I'd just buy whatever you get the best deal on (and avoid funky disc hub standards - Specialized have some weird ones out there on some models).
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Duck! » Sat Jun 24, 2017 7:11 pm
Comes back to my previous comment; T/A is a bit more idiot proof than Q/R. That is all. Properly tightened quick release skewers are no less secure, and with very little practice, no harder to align in the brake. And they're actually easier to put in, because you hold the wheel by the ends of the skewer, use your thumbs on the fork tips to guide it in, then tighten it up. You have no guidance with a through axle, and you have to hold the wheel in just the right place to stuff the axle through.silentC wrote:I have TA on the front and QR on the back.
The reason I was given for the TA on the front is that the downwards force applied to the wheel under braking can cause the QR to come loose.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby mikgit » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:05 am
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Calvin27 » Mon Jun 26, 2017 9:13 am
You can't be serious? 10 minutes? No exaggeration?mikgit wrote:I dunno if they're idiot proof, I could have chucked my bike out the door today, flapping around with the rear TA, took me a good 10 minutes geto get the damn thing back in. Garh. Personally I'll take QR any day of the week.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby silentC » Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:55 am
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby kb » Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:07 pm
Took me 10 minutes to take my wheel out the first time. I didn't realise I had to rotate the lever, then settle it into a notch to unwind. A bit obvious in retrospect thoughCalvin27 wrote:You can't be serious? 10 minutes? No exaggeration?mikgit wrote:I dunno if they're idiot proof, I could have chucked my bike out the door today, flapping around with the rear TA, took me a good 10 minutes geto get the damn thing back in. Garh. Personally I'll take QR any day of the week.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby mikgit » Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:57 pm
Actually probably longer, damn it was p'ing me off, it just wouldn't thread in the other side, could't get it aligned for some bonkers reason and it was pushing the frame apart instead of threading in. Not that I haven't taken the wheel out before, just wasn't working.Calvin27 wrote:You can't be serious? 10 minutes? No exaggeration?mikgit wrote:I dunno if they're idiot proof, I could have chucked my bike out the door today, flapping around with the rear TA, took me a good 10 minutes geto get the damn thing back in. Garh. Personally I'll take QR any day of the week.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Calvin27 » Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:08 pm
Cushy dirt bike
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Bike crushed by car (RIP)
No brakes bike
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby silentbutdeadly » Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:30 pm
They've never come loose or required mid ride readjustment and they hang onto and control the squirm of a rigid carbon fork (or the back end of a steel framed MTB) much better than a normal QR.
Thru axles are simpler and a bit stiffer but if all you have is a 9mm QR dropout then the RWS is the skewer I'd go for.
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby mikgit » Mon Jun 26, 2017 2:37 pm
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby Zippy7 » Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:35 pm
I have a Giant Defy with disc and QR - no issues with disc rub/flex, no hassles taking wheels on/off (front or rear go on quickly and easily). Same goes for a Silverback bike I have.
I had a Specialized Sirrus Carbon with QR and disc - no disc rub/flex, but it was a pain in the proverbial to line up the rear wheel and get it back in (now I believe it was just bad design, due to not a lot of room around the rear axle area to let you line it up).
Before buying my Defy, I test rode the new Specialized Roubaix (with the future shock). TA and disc.
I had disc rub for the 1hr test ride. I informed them of this, they made an adjustment, and it still had disc rub when I took it out again.
From what I gather, there might be an advantage of TA, but it hasn't shown itself to me. I don't get disc rub on my Defy with QR.
Not sure if all TA are cross compatible? Is a Focus RAT compatible with the Cervelo TA and Giant TA? I have no idea, but I suspect the fancy names indicate there isn't a clear standard they are all using?
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Re: Through axle vs 9mm QR for road disc use
Postby singlespeedscott » Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:25 pm
As already stated they were intended to stiffen up suspension forks and suspended rear ends on mtbs.
20 years ago we had no issues with discs and QR. the case hasn't changed today. Maybe cyclists are less mechanically minded these days and need everything fool proof.
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