Calsun

In the past I used mounts made for use with standard skewers to mount my bikes front forks to a board in the bed of the truck.

With our Specialized Turbo Creo e-bikes with their 12mm front thru bolt I need a mount that is tall enough to allow for use of the fixed handle that does not fold and needs clearance of 2.5 inches to tighten it. I have not been able to find this type of mount that is tall enough for the Specialized handle.

I would not mind upgrading the thru-bolt axle but would prefer not to use one that requires a large hex wrench.

Kontact

Have you considered this?

mschwett 

i replaced those through axles with the lighter, more aero Robert axle project ones, perfect fit, standard hex key.

Calsun

I do not want to buy new axles for all my bikes so want a mount that provides clearance for the end of the thru bolt. I believe that the Kuat Dirtbags should do the trick although it is difficult to find them in stock for a 12mm thru axle for a Boost hub.

shelbyfv

I've done as Kontact suggested. Board+spacer block+fork mount.

Kontact

Just to be clear, I'm suggesting you take a block of wood the inside width of the fork dropouts, drill a hole through it slightly larger than your thru-axle, and then screw that block to the truck bed. Make sure the block is tall enough for the thru-axle lever to clear.

You don't need a specialized component to make a fork mount - especially for a thru-axle fork. You could have this done in 20 minutes with hand tools.

grumpus

Or just use blocks to space a bought fork mount off the truck bed to allow clearance for the axle end. Wood is strong in compression, the forces that would be placed on a block drilled to take an axle would tend to split the grain, although probably not a problem with a substantial lump of hardwood I would steer clear of softwoods. I made fork holders for roof bars using cheap QR axles complete with cones and locknuts, and square steel tube drilled to accept them, which was bolted to the roof bar. For a thru axle version I'd start with something like 12x15 mm hydraulic tube and some U bolts.

Kontact

If you're going buy a commercial fork mount, why wouldn't you just buy one that comes tall enough instead of spending good money and then kludging it together with wood?

And if the grain is going to split in the orientation you selected, you selected the wrong orientation.

grumpus

OP said he couldn't find one tall enough.
Tell me which way you think is the right way, and how you're fixing it.

Calsun

The handle on the Specialized 12x110mm Boost thru axle is nearly 3 inches in length and it needs to be removed twice, first to remove the wheel and then to mount the fork to the mounting piece, before traveling somewhere and then reversing the process at the trailhead. Getting home the process is repeated a third time. So I do not want to use a 6mm hex wrench with a thru-axle for this purpose. In total with one trip to ride our bikes I would be removing and replacing the thru axles on our two bikes 16 times and so I want it to be as efficient and quick a process as possible.

The problems I encountered was that most mounts are for 15mm mountain bike axles and most to not sit high enough to provide clearance for the thru-axle handle. I found 15mm thru axles with a handle that folds but none for the 12x110mm thru axle used with our two Creo bikes. The tallest mount I could find was the Dirtbag made by Kuat and I ordered two of them directly from the company and they shipped out yesterday. Worst case I will need to add a piece of HDPE as a spacer for the Dirtbag mounts.

My objective is to be able to leave our bikes in the back of my truck with its blacked out fiberglass shell between rides. With a bike rack I would need to add the rack to the truck's hitch receiver and put the bikes on it and after the ride I need to remove the bikes and remove the rack (truck is too long with the rack attached). I can appreciate the attraction of mini cargo vans by cyclists as it is the easiest way to safely transport two or more bikes.

With traffic and people using smartphones the roads around my house are no longer safe and so I need to drive to where it is safe to ride our bikes, whether on the pavement of dirt trails.

Kontact

There are lots of different ones available online. I don't know where the OP is shopping. This one looks taller than it is wide, and 100mm is about 4", much longer than the 3" lever they are dealing with.




If the wood grain is horizontal and in line with the bike, both the thru-axle hole and the vertical screw holes will be cross grain. The screws will also reinforce the larger hole.