Overfast Ultralight Thru Axles

The Overfast Ultralight Thru Axles are made of carbon fibre and are available for a range of bikes. If you’re looking for a unique way to pimp your ultimate bike then these are sure to set you apart from the crowd – but don’t expect them to be a cost effective way of saving grams.

> Buy now: Overfast Ultralight Thru Axles for $220 from Panda Podium

I wouldn’t class myself as a weight weenie but, like many, I am on a constant lookout for unique components that I can ‘upgrade’ my bike with. Integrated cockpits and proprietary seatposts have been pretty successful in limiting the customisation options available to me and so I was pretty excited when I spotted these carbon fibre thru axles which promised to be not only the lightest thru axles in the world but also to provoke plenty of conversation.

Start a conversation they did! I can’t remember the last time quite so many of the road.cc staff took interest in a product – the main question being whether we’d trust them…

Well, after two months of hard riding, I’m pleased to report that I didn’t suffer any issues, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering that they’ve passed EN, UCI, compression and fatigue tests. In fact, Overfast says that, ‘while this is a weight weenie product, there was no question of compromising safety. 30g is well within the limits of what we could do responsibly.’

Will they fit my bike?

The next question you might be asking is whether they’ll actually fit your pride and joy. Well, every brand seems to have usefully decided on a different thread pitch and thread length for their bikes, but Overfast do make a variety of different options including Pinarello, Factor, Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Giant, Canyon, Colnago and more… you know… the high end stuff.

We sourced our Overfast thru axles from Panda Podium where I opted for the Specialized option compatible with my Tarmac SL7 with no issues. There’s a long list of compatible frames and chances are you can find a set compatible with your bike.

How much weight will they actually save?

Obviously the exact figure will depend on how heavy your current thru axles are. On my case, the Overfast thru axles measured 33g on our scales of truth, while the standard ones which came out were 69g – a weight saving of just 36g. Whilst I’m sure that Overfast’s claim that you can save around 100g compared to stock axles is possible, I wouldn’t say it’s overly likely to be that high for the majority of users.

Are they any good?

Pull the thru axles out of the tube and they really do feel light. The carbon weave is pleasing to the eye and if you peer down the hollow ends then you’ll find that even the bits usually out of sight are neat and tidy. The thread itself is alloy rather than carbon, which should help durability and I was impressed with the quality of the design and finish.

When fitting them, there are a few niggles though. Firstly, because the head and conical washer (which is aluminium rather than brass) of the Overfast thru axles is shallower than the standard ones, the head no longer sits flush with the outer edge of the fork. This is obviously a minor thing and doesn’t affect its performance in any way, but I don’t think it looks as clean.

Secondly, the 6mm Allen key head end is fully carbon fibre, presumably to save weight. Although in my opinion there’s no risk of this rounding out when doing up or undoing the thru axle, it simply doesn’t accept an Allen key as crisply as a metal thru axle. Again, it’s a minor thing.

But then there’s the price, $220 which translates to over £160 per pair at the time of writing – that’s not an overly cost effective way of saving, in my case, 36g. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a lot of money for a set of thru axles. Wolftooth’s colourful offerings for example will set you back £68 for the pair. 

Realistically, if it’s performance you’re after, then you don’t need me to tell you that there’s far better and cheaper ways of getting it. That’s not really the point of this review though, is it? It’s more about showing you something rather cool, genuinely innovative and most definitely a conversation starter.

Fair play, Overfast – you’re the first to break through with a mainstream carbon thru axle that actually works. Do you need them? No. Do you want them? If you’re anything like me then heck yeh.

Verdict

Super but superfluous – £5 per gram bling for your bike!

> Buy now: Overfast Ultralight Thru Axles for $220 from Panda Podium

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