What are Thru Axles?

Thru axles are a secure and increasingly popular system for holding your wheel in place.

Thru-axles increase the rigidity of the wheel-frame interface and allow more accurate wheel placement. This is particularly important for brake discs, where small pad clearances mean that a slight misalignment will cause rubbing. They also eliminate the risk of the wheel coming loose from the quick-release dropouts when you’re riding.

How do I use Thru Axles?

Watch the video https://youtu.be/bCAR47439GQ

How tight should my Thru Axle be?

Typically, thru axles should be tightened to 12-15Nm (Newton Meters) of torque. This is just enough torque to secure the axle so it does not come loose while riding. You should never use excessive force to tighten your axle as tight as possible. Refer to the video to see how tight you should make it.

What do I need to be careful of?

Thru axle hubs usually come with required spacers that fit either side of the hub. It is easy to lose these as they can become stuck in the plastic axle packaging of new bikes.

It is important to have your thru axles properly tightened on your bike. This improves braking performance and consistency.

Unlike bikes using a quick-release skewer system, a thru-axle system will keep your wheel from falling out even if not tightened properly.

It is best practice to put a very small amount of grease on the threads at the end so that it will be easier to remove when you need to take it out again. A light coating on the axle itself is a good idea too. As with all threaded connections these tend to seize-up over time especially when exposed to water. This is similar to what you do when installing your pedals.

Do thru axles come loose?

Yes. Bearing play/hub endcap movement can cause a thru axle to loosen under normal riding forces. As the system keeps the wheel in place though, you should become aware of any issue well before it becomes dangerous or the wheel comes out.