Home > Other Fun Stuff > Gadgets & Hacks

SpeedRelease puts thru axles in standard dropouts, adds mountain bike options

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes
12 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

About a year and a half ago, SpeedRelease showed their hand with a front thru axle-like system that fit into standard road bike forks, boosting stiffness and security while possibly shaving a few seconds from wheel swaps. At this year’s Taipei Cycle Show, they had a more polished version alongside rear wheel designs and iterations for mountain bikes.

The premise of SpeedRelease is to create a backwards compatible thru axle system that works with standard road forks that prevents the wheel from coming out if the lever accidentially loosens by locking the axle (skewer) into the hub. The original design came with an adapter to retrofit any fork to use it, and now they’ve added an OEM parts kit for any bike brand that wants to integrate it into the design.

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

The adapter slides into the dropout, then uses a large bolt to lock it into place. The inside face has a lip, similar to what’s inside a proper thru axle fork, that the hub fits into. It essentially creates a closed dropout from a QR system, which means the wheel can’t fall out even if the skewer comes loose, and it ensures it won’t slip under disc brake forces.

It’s a system that includes the hubs, and the standard 9mm axle system is locked into the hub. It’s designed for people that want to integrate it into their existing fork and keep things as light as possible.

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

The hub has a forged shell with Centerlock disc brake mounts and 16/8 straight pull lacing holes. System weight is 179g for skewer, hub and adapter with the steel shaft. A titanium shaft model will come later and likely save 25-30 grams.

The threads that the axles grab into are double lead, meaning they thread twice as fast as normal for quicker installation and removal of the wheel. Once it’s threaded in, you just flip up the handle. It’s not cammed, so it’s only thread tightened with a friction washer to prevent it from unthreading.

Another option is available without the handle and just uses a 6mm allen key to tighten, like shown at the top of the post…which happens to be a new version built around a 12mm thru axle on a fork that’s designed specifically around this system. The driveside slot has a 10mm keyhole and 12mm circle, so once the wheel’s slid in, you pop the axle into place and it instantly aligns the wheels and holds it in place while you tighten it.

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

The rear uses the same system, just wider. Which means there’s a slot on the non-drive side, so the system is not compatible with regular thru axles.

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

On the mountain bike side, it gets a bit closer by switching to a standard thread pitch, but still needs a slotted entry on the non-drive side. But, since the axle’s not stepped, so it would be backward compatible with any current 12×142 thru axle wheelset.

SpeedRelease quick release thru axle conversion for road and mountain bikes

On a frame like the Intense Carbine (shown), that could mean just swapping in an aftermarket dropout.

The real thrust behind the project is to create a solution for road disc brakes. They wanted something that retains the axle safely and is easy to use. It’s also quick, which could make a break a pro’s race if a wheel swap is needed. They say there’s been a lot of interest among bike brands, so perhaps we’ll see some it come about as a production standard in one form or another.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

12 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
9 years ago

It doesn’t increase stiffness beyond a 6800 hub for road if it still steps down to a 9mm drop-out…

nightfend
nightfend
9 years ago

I’m not sure this will do much but make wheel changes more difficult.

I suppose for bikes with disc brakes and quick-release forks, this would help center the calipers the same every time. But that would be about the only benefit.

Jack
Jack
9 years ago

I want one that will unlock from my smart phone, and it would be nice to put a strain gauge in so you can graph things and talk about numbers.

Jack
Jack
9 years ago

I also do like that it uses proprietary hubs. That’s a huge plus, I’ve been meaning to throw out my old wheels for a while and this would really help me get motivated to do so!

Mac
Mac
9 years ago

Lol @ jack. My thoughts exactly.

Jake
Jake
9 years ago

I’m with Jack. I was interested in this until I hit the proprietary hub part. After that…

Alex @ Hermes Sport
9 years ago

They were planning on licensing this system out, so I don’t think it’s going to be proprietary-hub forever, provided they can get people on board.

DeeEight
DeeEight
9 years ago

Yeah cause paying to license this makes more sense than no-fee open source standards like 15×100 or 12×142…

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
9 years ago

The hubs may not be that great…these quick releases are a great way to get people to buy their hubs

Mike D
Mike D
9 years ago

Please introduce a new standard, please introduce a new standard.. *fingers crossed*

I was on board until the hub part as well. After that… meh. I’ll just build modern wheels with any choice of hubs, and plunk down the cash for a new 15mm thru-axle fork–much better than being locked into this hub/axle combo.

Muntle
Muntle
9 years ago

“They say there’s been a lot of interest among bike brands…”

“They say” is the (THE) number one BS indicator in the world. Guess what? I hear they say that I’m about to be crowned King of Cambodia. How awesome is that?! And they say the job comes with all the free underage sex slaves I can eat. Or, uh… you know what I mean.

And they say that sarcasm is dead.

Don Juan
Don Juan
9 years ago

Good idea but small sales because of front hubby.
Well get there in the end just a few more efforts trying to get the right fit for my axle

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.