[dropmachine]

William is right. Its not a super flexible system, although its not as stiff as 20mm. Its worlds better than QR.

The real issue is that its completely unnecessary. They should have pushed 20mm light instead. The 40-50 grams you saved would have helped out riders a lot more in terms of compatibility and not having to worry about another unneeded standard.

 

[dump]

The real issue is that its completely unnecessary. They should have pushed 20mm light instead. The 40-50 grams you saved would have helped out riders a lot more in terms of compatibility and not having to worry about another unneeded standard.

You're right... but where's the money in that?

I'm happy w/ 20mm and qr... and I'm sticking with them for a very long time.

 

[offtheedge]

15mm is about a proprietary market share, plain and simple. The word "standard" is a fairy tail in mountain biking. This is such a tiny market, it's important to wring wallets any way you can.

 

[Wa-Aw]

I hate to play the riding abilities card, because I consider myself to be proficient at mountain biking, but certainly nothing special. I'll add that plenty of people are probably better then I am. But I've done this drop on my 125mm trance x with a 125mm 15mmQR tapered fork

, I've done big boy rock gardens on it, and stiffness is never a problem. Lack of travel and geometry, or me being a hack, sure, but I've never lost a line because its not stiff enough. And yeah, I'm riding rock gardens fast enough to pinch flat at 40psi on maxxis 2ply 2.5 tires with my front wheel. Chances are, if you're feeling excessive flex, its not in your fork on front wheel. Its in your bars and stem.

Stiffness or lack there of seems to be a lot more apparent in low speed situations when you don't have the momentum to keep the bike going straight. I used to have trouble riding sideways up the curb to the convenience store but now with my through-axle, it goes up without a hitch! I highly recommend big axles!

But in all seriousness I went from a 1.5" steerer tubed totem to a 1 1/8 36 180. The fox takes chop better and actually has compression damping but it's I can definitely feel flexy somewhere. Actually it would be wrong to say I feel flex but rather it doesn't feel as stiff, like trying to cut with dull knife. But I remember the day I went from a QR fork to a 20mm fork. I am NEVER going back. They should just make everything 20mm. I mean 50 grams come on!

 

[baca262]

Foes has been using 30mm for 12+ years

i know and maverick has been using 24mm for a while but those axles never caught on anywhere except on those 2 forks. if any other manufacturer brings out a usd fork (i'd love to see a new shiver), they really should start pushing a bigger axle standard. the only issue is that anything over 28mm needs a different standard rotor. sram and manitou/hayes could push it since they already manufacture brakes and forks.

But in all seriousness I went from a 1.5" steerer tubed totem to a 1 1/8 36 180. The fox takes chop better and actually has compression damping but it's I can definitely feel flexy somewhere. Actually it would be wrong to say I feel flex but rather it doesn't feel as stiff, like trying to cut with dull knife. But I remember the day I went from a QR fork to a 20mm fork. I am NEVER going back. They should just make everything 20mm. I mean 50 grams come on!

1 1/8 steerer tubes flex like mad on big singlecrown forks, it kills headsets and messes up crown and steerer connections so they start creaking. 1.5 is definitely the way to go for big singlecrowns. i agree that everything should be 20mm, qr belongs on road bikes.

 

[IH8Rice]

the only issue is that anything over 28mm needs a different standard rotor. sram and manitou/hayes could push it since they already manufacture brakes and forks.

yep. Foes took a standard 6bolt 8" hayes and machined it down to fit their hub and turned it into a 4bolt rotor (at least on the older one i have)

 

[syadasti]

i know and maverick has been using 24mm for a while but those axles never caught on anywhere except on those 2 forks.

SpecialEd made a 25mm axle "standard" a few years ago.

 

[descente]

i don't get the hate. some silly business going on in here. by this logic, we should all be riding beach cruisers with 20mm axles! 15QR makes tons of sense, and all my hubs easily convert between 9QR, 15QR and 20mm. if you don't like it, don't buy it. like jonkrank pointed out, its not hard to make your 15QR revelation a 20...

i really wish they would come up with some kind of rear axle that were bigger, like yeti's 15 and 20mm attempts at the DH9. now that is a stiff ass rear end.

 

[slimshady]

15mm is about a proprietary market share, plain and simple. The word "standard" is a fairy tail in mountain biking. This is such a tiny market, it's important to wring wallets any way you can.

The companies need to come out with new "standards" every once in a while so they can market new products, and force them down our throats. That's the point of them. Now, if you have a five-years-old bike and a new one, you'll find out you can't exchange parts between the two frames as easily as maybe four years back. The narrower spacing in the 15QR front hub prevents you from swapping your front wheel between your AM and Enduro rigs, the same applies to the rear end... It's all about market segmentation. In the future we'll be forced to buy totally different parts for different riding styles.

 

[Dogboy]

The narrower spacing in the 15QR front hub prevents you from swapping your front wheel between your AM and Enduro rigs, the same applies to the rear end...

This is hardly accurate. Not to mention that "most" of the time new standards are an improvement on previous designs. It's why we have 20mm front axles, 12mm rear axles, 1.5" headtubes, 83mm BB shells, direct-mount front derailleurs, 150mm rear hubs, etc...

 

[Tetreault]

i love the 15mm system, i do however agree that the same axle design done in 20mm would have made a lot of people lives easier, but still, i like the system. Its stiff enough for the applications i want a 32mm sub 150mm travel fork for.

and how hard is swapping out some hub cones if you want to switch wheels between bikes or try a 15mm fork? like 30 seconds of extra work

I'm more pissed about different standards that fork axles and easy hub conversions.

 

[mtg]

When I first heard about the 15mm axle, I thought: "that's dumb".

Then, I did some research. Reading a few interviews and between the lines, I think the reason for 15mm is simple: QR skewers suck, but XC racers and weight weenies want something lighter than a DH capable 20mm axle.
And, "20 mm light" won't happen for one simple reason: lawsuits. If there was a "20mm light" that was only designed for XC use, somebody would put it on his DH bike and huck his face up. And, then somebody in the bike industry would get sued.
There in lies the problem, and my guess why the 15mm standard is different than just a lightweight 20mm axle.

That's my thoughts on the reasoning behind the system. It's stiffer and more robust than a qr skewer, lighter than a standard 20mm and puts some protection against people using parts in a situation that's far more abusive than what they are designed for.

 

[descente]

everyone knows the reason fox came up with the 15QR is because the crown spacing on their 32 lineup is too narrow to accommodate 20x110 front hubs...right?

 

[William42]

I feel weird beating the 15mm drum, because I don't really feel strongly about it, all I can say is that haters have not ridden it and have no idea what they're talking about. Yes, 20mm makes sense over the 15mm because its already in place and it makes swapping sh1t in a pinch easier, and I would have expected that to be a starting point, but given that they did go with 15mm, its a hell of a lot better then 9mmQR or even 10mm QR. Like worlds better. With a 1.5 (or tapered) steer, I have a pretty light weight front end that can take a pretty savage beating without feeling flexy, without the wheel falling out because I forgot to clamp my QR in my haste, or didn't tighten it enough, or some other BS (although, admittedly, I've never had a wheel fall out because I fycked up a QR, its always been a worry). And it doesn't hurt that I can quickly and easily and toollessly change a flat.

I have done some tech steep rocky climbs, and I can honestly say I've never noticed any flex or ping pong effect from climbing. I have 29.5 bars on my trail bike though, so maybe I'm just forcing my way through it, but I've never noticed a tendency to oversteer when trying to get my front wheel to track through rocks because the fork is flexing and releasing suddenly. I notice flex the most when I'm deep in the travel, so cornering, rocks, and drops, and I don't really think of it it as a shortcoming of my bike. Its very very minor if at all. I agree that QR sucks and feels pretty wretched when you really start smashing on it though.

Basically, 15mm isn't the end of the world, its not the end of the bike industry, and I'll be excited when 600 dollar entry level mountain bikes start coming standard with 15mm. I am excited to see 9mm disappearing, and flex and weight are non issues (and I have a cheapy trail bike, a trance x3, I'm not even on the super light stuff). I used to hate 15mm because I thought it was an inadequate solution aimed at fixing something that wasn't a huge problem, and in doing so created more problems then there were to start with. However, after owning it, I realize that its not the end of the world, my front end is plenty stiff enough with a tapered fork and stiff bars/stem/HT, and its worlds better then QR. So no I don't really care about it. It does what its supposed to, and lets me go ride without thinking about it.

Because I can assure you, when I'm out on a long ride, I'm sure as sh1t not giving a seconds thought to the fact that I have a 15mm on the front of my bike. And when I get home, I sure as sh1t don't notice that I have a 15mm QR on the front of my bike. And when I get a flat, I think "FYCK!" but its convenient and easy to change it, and then I go back to not thinking about it in the slightest.

 

[richardbigman]

hey, back to the topic at hand, great to see a FIT RC2 catridge for the 36 for people like us that truly rag the descents, as for a 34 150mm fork, mmm not for me. Id still go with the 36 for that use.


but on a lighter 120mm/140mm bike (orange 5, zesty carbon etc) it would fit the bill nicely over a 32.

15mm vs 20mm horses for courses it depends what you ride and how your ride it. same as anything.

(or does that make too much sense on this forum???)

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

mmm not for me. Id still go with the 36 for that use.

this is my biggest ? at this point, new transition bandit...to 34 it or drop a 36 float to 150...

It will be used for daily xc rides (northeast), moab, some epics out of the country, and a few days in bc whistler valley...im torn.

 

[Dogboy]

this is my biggest ? at this point, new transition bandit...to 34 it or drop a 36 float to 150...

It will be used for daily xc rides (northeast), moab, some epics out of the country, and a few days in bc whistler valley...im torn.

IMO the 36 would be overkill on the Bandit. I don't get the impression that the bike was built for that level of forkage. I think a 32 would be ok and the 34 would be perfect.

 

[4130biker]

I vote 34