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Thru axles vs QR's

by carytb
Thu, Nov 26, 2015 07:34
6

I currently have a cross bike with discs and QR's. When I change wheels I always have to adjust the brake  calipers and pads to prevent the discs from rubbing. On my next bike would thru axles mean I would no longer have to do this or would it make no difference.

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6 comments

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IanEdward | 9 years ago
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I wouldn't have thought QR tightness would affect disc alignment? I know it can affect bearing preload but that's the difference between QR completely loose and QR completely closed, not a microscopic difference between closed and slightly more closed.

I guess it's a good general point either way though, I always used the Shimano 'starts to feel tight at 90 degrees' method...

And I think through axles only help if you're prone to tightening the QR with the wheel squint in the dropouts (I've seen it done and think I've been guilty of it myself). It's impossible to fit a through axle system 'squint'. If the wheels are different hubs/discs etc. then you might still need to re-align, as others said above.

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kev-s | 9 years ago
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One thing to remember with qr disc wheels is that if you do up the qr slightly tighter than it originally was you will effectivley pull the fork leg in a very small amount and can make the disc rub slightly

 

i always make a note of how many times i have to rotate the qr to remove the wheel then do it back up the same amount and get no disc rub

 

 

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macrophotofly | 9 years ago
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Agree with the above comments - the pad adjustment is due to your wheel-disc combination have a small offset difference. I would suggest this order of tackling (cheapest to most expensive) -

  1. Are your discs the same on both wheelsets? If not buy the same set of discs and try them on both wheels.
  2. Buy hydraulic brakes which self adjust as mentioned above

Also bear in mind wear might mean one set of discs are thinner (but this a is a secondary issue compared to offset)

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mtbtomo | 9 years ago
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It will be more to do with manufacturing dimensions of the hub and rotor rather than thru axle or not. The same brand of wheel would probably be fine, but even then there could be a different tolerance build up.

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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Do you have hydraulic brakes. I have two sets of wheels and find I can swap between the two with no adjustment. All I do is pull on the brakes to align the pistons

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Carton | 9 years ago
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It probably won't make a difference when swapping wheels unless they're the same wheels (hubs & rotors, really) with different tyres. But you might get lucky. It usually spells the end for adjusting pads and calipers for any other reason.

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