9mm/10mm Through Bolt Compatability

[crazyjoe101]

Hello CC,

I am planning a bike build, it will most likely be around a Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 cyclocross frame, aimed for all year road use. Since this bike will be using disc brakes, I'd like to use through axle wheels, however the frame is not designed to accept them, it accepts standard 9mm front and 10mm rear quick release axles.

My question is this:
Is there any reason that hubs using 9mm front and 10mm rear through axles could not be used with my frame?

The hubs I have in mind are these Hope Pro2 Evos: Front, Rear

Thanks in advance.

 

[crazyjoe101]

For anyone who's interested, this is the technically relevant part of the response I got from Hope's technical support:

"Our front hubs come as standard as QR but can be ordered as 9mm through axle, 15mm through axle or 20mm through axle. Our rear hubs are available as 10mm through axle, 10mm bolt-in axle, 135x12mm, 142x12mm (x12) as well as standard QR."
"They usually fit ok, sometimes you may have to scrape some paint out of the dropouts if it’s a bit tight."

In short, they should work.

 

[Cubist]

Yes, you're right. Hope Pro 2 Evos can be fitted with any axle. Basically the axles are big to start with, and you simply swap the end caps around to convert to any axle standard, except 150.... that's a different hub size.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Yes, you're right. Hope Pro 2 Evos can be fitted with any axle. Basically the axles are big to start with, and you simply swap the end caps around to convert to any axle standard, except 150.... that's a different hub size.

I was inquiring as to whether the 10mm/9mm through axle hubs would work in a normall (QR) dropout equipped frame. It seems they will.

 

[ColinJ]

I always use QR wheels these days. The wheels on my childhood bikes were bolted in. I'm assuming that this through-bolting business is neither one thing nor the other, so how does it differ from 'old-skool' bolted in wheels? (Oh, and what is the idea of it?)

 

[crazyjoe101]

I always use QR wheels these days. The wheels on my childhood bikes were bolted in. I'm assuming that this through-bolting business is neither one thing nor the other, so how does it differ from 'old-skool' bolted in wheels? (Oh, and what is the idea of it?)

As far as my understanding goes, they offer more stiffness for mountain bikes (moreso the 20mm/15mm axles), but the reason I want to try them is because they're supposed to put the wheel back into the frame in the same spot each time, eliminating the need to re-align pads on disc brakes after removing the wheel.

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, hang on ...



Ha ha - it just is what my former fellow factory workers would have called 'A big f**k off quick release'!

 

[Cubist]

I was inquiring as to whether the 10mm/9mm through axle hubs would work in a normall (QR) dropout equipped frame. It seems they will.

Yes. Sorry, missed the original question. Your dropouts for standard qr are indeed 9mm front and 10 mm rear, so through axles will fit. As for whether you will appreciate any improvement in terms of stiffness remains to be seen. With vertical dropouts a standard qr will only ever clamp in the same place anyway, so you won't have to keep aligning rotors and calipers anyway.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Yes. Sorry, missed the original question. Your dropouts for standard qr are indeed 9mm front and 10 mm rear, so through axles will fit. As for whether you will appreciate any improvement in terms of stiffness remains to be seen. With vertical dropouts a standard qr will only ever clamp in the same place anyway, so you won't have to keep aligning rotors and calipers anyway.

I had heard that the varying tightness of the QR each time it is inserted causes the disc to sit differently with reference to the brakes, I can confirm this happens on my MTB as I have to fiddle with the QR to stop the discs rubbing upon reinserting a wheel. Hopefully through bolts are better but if not I'll get some undetectable increase in stiffness :P