Ride quality qr vs thru axle
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02-25-24, 03:20 PM
#27
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Take a couple minutes or as much as you need to consider how strong a fork needs to be when the skewer is not able to provide any load support as compared to a thru axle that actually supports the load of the bike and the rider. With a stronger fork and wheel hub connection the forks can be made to minimize their profile and reduce air drag for a road bike and increase the strength for the more extreme situation with a mountain bike going downhill and making a turn.
My electric road bike has 12mm x 110mm thru axles whereas my full suspension mountain bike has a thru axle that is 15mm in diameter and has a cross section that is 56% greater and 56% better able to resist shear load even if the same material and processing is used.
https://hexlox.com/en-us/pages/thru-...hru-axles-2021
My electric road bike has 12mm x 110mm thru axles whereas my full suspension mountain bike has a thru axle that is 15mm in diameter and has a cross section that is 56% greater and 56% better able to resist shear load even if the same material and processing is used.
https://hexlox.com/en-us/pages/thru-...hru-axles-2021
In no case is the hub sitting on the QR skewer or the thru-axle. It is sitting on its axle, and that axle is clamped to the dropout be skewer/thru-axle tension. If the wheel is sitting on the thru-axle, it is because the thru-axle isn't tight.
02-26-24, 04:36 AM
#28
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Thru-axles are like other recent innovations, a solution to a nonexistent problem. QR axles were a requirement in the pro peloton when a slow wheel change could lose you the race. But with disk brakes making wheel changes too slow (it takes less time to completely swap a QR wheel than it takes just to remove a thru axle), it is easier for pros to simply swap their bike for a new one when they get a puncture. Since wheel changes are no longer necessary, there is no disadvantage to the thru-axle system, and what the pros use eventually ends up in the main market, whether we need it or not.
02-26-24, 04:55 AM
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Thru-axles are like other recent innovations, a solution to a nonexistent problem. QR axles were a requirement in the pro peloton when a slow wheel change could lose you the race. But with disk brakes making wheel changes too slow (it takes less time to completely swap a QR wheel than it takes just to remove a thru axle), it is easier for pros to simply swap their bike for a new one when they get a puncture. Since wheel changes are no longer necessary, there is no disadvantage to the thru-axle system, and what the pros use eventually ends up in the main market, whether we need it or not.
02-26-24, 09:39 AM
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02-26-24, 10:33 AM
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If you think that is tough, try a double blind study.
Edit: My now vintage MTB has discs and QRs and does just fine. Of course there is the safety tang on the front fork to prevent losing a wheel if not tightened correctly. Apparently QRs and discs can coexist quite well, calling into question the necessity of thru axels - which I have on my road bike, which I find to be a bit of a pain.
Double edit: As for ride quality, I have two carbon road bikes of similar geometry, one with and one without QRs, and don’t find any significant differences.
Edit: My now vintage MTB has discs and QRs and does just fine. Of course there is the safety tang on the front fork to prevent losing a wheel if not tightened correctly. Apparently QRs and discs can coexist quite well, calling into question the necessity of thru axels - which I have on my road bike, which I find to be a bit of a pain.
Double edit: As for ride quality, I have two carbon road bikes of similar geometry, one with and one without QRs, and don’t find any significant differences.
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Last edited by rsbob; 02-26-24 at 10:39 AM.
02-27-24, 12:50 PM
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Among the mountain bikers I've heard that thru-axles stiffen the dropout-end of swing arms and fork stanchions and make for more precise cornering. Since stays and forks on a road bike are basically rigid (OK, vertically compliant and longitudinally stiff), I doubt it would make a difference.
02-29-24, 05:43 AM
#33
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02-29-24, 09:44 AM
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02-29-24, 02:15 PM
#35
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Thru axles better support the vertical load of a wheel than a skewer and so are commonly used on e-bikes and mountain bikes. These bikes weigh 50% to 100% more than a road bike and a lot of this gain in weight is from using wider and much heavier wheels and tires. The thru axles on my e-bike are 12mm thick and ones on my mountain bikes are 15mm thick. No rocket science involved.
02-29-24, 02:44 PM
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Thru axles better support the vertical load of a wheel than a skewer and so are commonly used on e-bikes and mountain bikes. These bikes weigh 50% to 100% more than a road bike and a lot of this gain in weight is from using wider and much heavier wheels and tires. The thru axles on my e-bike are 12mm thick and ones on my mountain bikes are 15mm thick. No rocket science involved.
The OP's question really is not really relevant as a criteria to choose a bike. Ride quality is going to be totally independent of what type of axle the bike has.
03-02-24, 04:00 PM
#37
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The greatest factor in ride is the tire used. Quite a lot of difference in a 200 lb rider on a 2 inch wide tire that only needs to be at 40 PSI and a 25mm tire that needs to be at 110 PSI to support the same amount of weight. The tires used on most gravel bikes are good happy medium in terms of ride comfort. Even pro racers are now running with wider tires as a small increase in width has very little impact on rolling resistance.
03-12-24, 06:20 AM
#38
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I went from a rim brake (QR) Bianchi Infinito CV to the CV disk brake (TA) just over a year ago. I really never noticed any difference in the ride in any way. I do enjoy the ease of breaking on long descents.
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03-12-24, 02:21 PM
#39
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