AXLES

[325racer]

Maybe this can eventually be made into a sticky once more info shows up.

I wanted to share some Axle info/experience.

I've had my 057 for almost 2 year now, have I would say, about 850 miles on it.  These are not easy miles, I'm about 220lbs "dry", have done some sprint races, 1 or 2, 20+ mile races and the rest just fun riding miles.  As some have seen, while not rooty and muddy, like East coast, it's dry, rutty, rocky out here, and I ride the same stuff I would on my Santa Cruz TallBoy LT, just a little slower.

From day 1 I've been using the axles supplied with the bike from Peter while at XMIPlay.  Both axles I've had come loose during a ride on me, the rear a couple times.  The front was maybe operator error, but the rear I know was set tight before heading out.  In addition to the axles coming loose, I've also had issues with the 12mm adaptors on my hubs (Novatex D882sb) coming loose.  During my race last week, both axle and adaptor loosened up enough that I began having shifting issues and probably 1-2mm play in the rear wheel. 

After this, I decided to resolve this issue once and for all and get a better axle.  I did a bunch of research and decided it would be DT Swiss, now the question was which one.....

The axle that I came up with as the solution is the DT Swiss RWS E-Thru.  This axle "appears" to include the nut.  I am in process of confirming, but when I originally received the axle it did NOT have a nut.  I contacted the vendor and they promptly supplied a nut, as mentioned I'm confirming if it's supposed to come with a nut or if they just supplied it to make good.

That said the supplied nut is nice, has 4 grooves, each the perfect size for the set screw to lock into.  I never had good luck locking down the China nut with the set screw.  The 4 grooves don't go all the way across, but stop short on the inner end allowing the set screw to lock the nut in place to prevent rotation, but also pulling out.

Here's what I ordered, and will update once I get confirmation if it was supposed to come with the nut or not.

http://www.jensonusa.com/DT-Swiss-RWS-E-Thru-Axle#brm-search?request_type=search&search_type=keyword&q=QR199a00&l=QR199a00

[Carbon_Dude]

I have not had any issues with my axles getting loose on either my -057 or -036.  However, I don't remove my wheels when transporting.  I have changed out the set screw to one with a soft tip to help hold the nut.  I only changed out the set screw because I've read about some problems others have had with their axle nuts, not because I had any problems.

I also tend to make my QR very tight, as tight as I can make it without hurting my hand when closing it.

My Stache has a Boost axle that has a hex socket head in the center.  For that axle, I tighten it down normally using the QR, then come back with a hex wrench and tighten the axle a bit more to prevent creaking.  The draw back being that I need to also use a hex wrench to loosen the axle.