One of the concerns with moving to thru axles on road bikes is the time consuming process of wheel removal, a legitimate issue in the heat of the peloton or wheel pits in ‘cross. Paul Components looks like it may have a solution with their upcoming quick release thru axle skewers.
The lever design was first spotted at NAHBS this year in standard QR form, but it’s grown in diameter and options. They’ll have sizes for virtually every thru axle standard you can imagine at Interbike this year…
Production versions will use a black anodized axle and be available in the following sizes:
- 15 x 100
- 15 x 150
- 12 x 142
- 12 x 177
- 12 x 197
That should cover everything from XC to DH to FB (Fat Bike). It’ll also let you match up your thru axle front with QR rear, keeping everything tidy. Final details and pricing won’t come until Interbike, but here’s what we do know thanks a short chat with Paul:
The protected cam means the moving parts are housing inside that oval-ish shell, keeping it away from rock strikes or worse. The axles may or may not come with the nut on the end, but the thread pitch is the same as what’s standard on frames, so you can use them with any modern thru-axle frame or fork. Where the nut comes into play is with some aftermarket carbon rigid forks and with new dropouts they’re co-developing with Paragon Machine Works. The dropouts will have a slot that holds the nut and allows it to spin freely, so using these thru axles will be very, very similar to standard QR. That means easy unthreading to release it and begin able to get your lever angled just how you like it. Presumably we’ll see more on that development come NAHBS 2015.
