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Old 02-12-24, 07:56 PM
  #53  
Dave Mayer
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Forgot about that: idiotic thru-axle systems only required due to disc brakes, and the associated glacial wheel changes. With rim brakes and standard road width rims, you flip the QR lever and the wheel drops out. New wheel drops straight in - you don't have to spin or fiddle with anything. 5 seconds.

But with thru-axles (which to be clear are not actually axles) you have to spin a lever until the axle comes out, insert a wheel trying aiming at that 3mm gap between the disc pads, and then spin the axle back in. Of course the rotors will rub, requiring you to loosen the bolts on the calipers, re-align the calipers, retighten the bolts, and then pray. It is for this reason that pro teams just swap with the backup bikes on the team car.

Of course, there are 10 different thru-axle "standards" designed to fit different brands and dropout widths.
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