thru axles / tapered headtubes

crispy1980

Quick one, how much difference do the above make to the way a bike rides/ feels? I currently have a spesh xc pro that has straight tube and qr hub. I have been debating selling and getting something with more travel . Also, newer bike would have the tapered tube and thru axles. Just wondering if it might be better to keep what I have and fit some longer forks. Research suggest that 140 mm travel works well on my current frame.

RobJ20

I went from a QR fork to a 20mm and its a massive difference. On the rear it depends on the frame. I also moved to a tapered fork and that made no difference, i think the difference lies in the larger headtube on the frame.

crispy1980

Well I van easily change to a thru axle with new fork and wheels.

.blitz

It can make a fair bit of difference to a fork that is fundamentally noodly but it won't transform it.

I went from a QR/straight steerer Rev to the 20mm/tapered version and although the axle helped prevent the legs from walking and the steerer made the forks go up-and-down more instead of just twanging backwards-and-forwards, it didn't have as much effect as I hoped it would. Revs are nice forks with lovely internals but light for a reason. I also have some 20mm Recons and Domains and they feel much stiffer than the Revs even though on paper they look quite similar.

The marketing is very clever but providing you realise the axle & steerer is an incremental upgrade you won't be disappointed.

crispy1980

I have a straight headtube so won't be getting tapered steerer without changing frames. I know you can get external bearing cups but can't see this helping. Thru axle is easy enough though. Just trying to weigh up best option, New bike or improve the one I've got.

dusk

RobJ20 wrote:

I went from a QR fork to a 20mm and its a massive difference. On the rear it depends on the frame. I also moved to a tapered fork and that made no difference, i think the difference lies in the larger headtube on the frame.

I did the same and it made a huge difference (forks were completely different though so it wasn't a direct comparison). The new forks were so stiff though that it made the qr back end feel horrible in comparison, first time I rode it I kept checking the rear wheel thinking something had broken or I had a puncture. I got rid of the frame after that.

oxocube1

crispy1980 wrote:

I currently have a spesh xc pro....Research suggest that 140 mm travel works well on my current frame.

I can vouch for that! I rode 140s on my XC Pro for a year and it rode much, much better than with the 120s. I too had a straight steerer and a QR Axle. It did flex a bit in fast corners due to only having a QR but as you say, If you get a new hub and run a 15/20mm axle you will be sorted. Personally, 140mm is the max travel I would run with a QR axle and 32mm upper tubes. There would be too much flex if there is any more travel.

crispy1980

Sounds like a plan, is there anything I could do to stiffen up rear end?

jonnyashworth

why not upgrade the frame to a ragley marley as here are plenty of places selling them off for about £200 at the moment that way you get a 1.5" head tube so super stiff!
occasionally chainreaction gets batches of forks like this....
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fox- ... -prod94948
which have massive discounts due to the 1.5 steerer specced on them.

With regards the rear end the marley is super stiff anyway.... but depending on our hub and what spares are available for it you could upgrade to a 10mm qr. I have done this on my blur lt and it is noticeably stiffer!

supersonic

Forks flex in various planes. I've seen tests that show 15mm is hardly better than 9mm, but depends on the hubs and skewers too. Tapered helps with fore/aft flex, especially brake flutter. Factor in that some like a bit of give, then things can get complicated.

On top of that we then have stanchion size, crowns, brace architecture - some QR forks are stiffer than some thru axled forks! And some are better weight for weight.

So depends on the fork, and your perception.

Kowalski675

jonnyashworth wrote:

why not upgrade the frame to a ragley marley as here are plenty of places selling them off for about £200 at the moment

They were £109.99 on Chain Reaction recently.