Quick releases & thru-axles

Quick releases and thru-axles make it easy to install and remove wheels. Quick releases offer tool-free attachment, ideal for road bikes and mountain bikes. Thru-axles provide greater stiffness and safety, especially with disc brakes. Find the right system for your bike - for better riding performance and greater stability!

Quick release or thru-axle? The right choice for your bike

Whether your bicycle needs a thru-axle or a quick release is determined by your frame or fork. More precisely: by its dropouts. That is what the mounts for the wheels are called, and they have different shapes depending on the system. Here you will learn everything you need to know about both variants.

Quick release: The reliable classic

In the past, both road bikes and mountain bikes used quick releases, a system that has proven itself for almost a hundred years. Quick releases (also called QR) are clamping axles, usually 5 mm in diameter, that pass through a hollow axle inside the hub. An eccentric lever and a locknut generate clamping force, securing the hub. This allows the wheel to be removed and reinstalled in an instant. 

Frames and forks for quick releases can generally be recognized by their dropouts, which are open at the bottom. You will still find them mainly on road bikes with rim brakes.

A guarantee of stability: The thru-axle

When suspension forks or disc brakes are used, thru-axles (also called TA) are now generally used. The reason: In these cases, significantly greater forces act on the axle, so a stiffer connection between the wheel and bike is required. That is why you will no longer find mountain bikes with classic quick releases, and since disc brakes have also become established on road bikes, quick releases are on the decline there too. 

Frames and forks for thru-axles have closed dropouts with a thread on one side. The axle is inserted through the non-threaded side and then screwed into the thread on the other side. This creates a more torsionally stiff connection between your wheel and the frame than quick releases can provide. The larger diameter of thru-axles also gives you additional stability.

Most thru-axles have a lever for installation, meaning they also require no tools and can be released just as quickly as quick releases in the event of a breakdown on the trail. For city bikes that are often left on the street, there are also variants with a special tool or removable levers to make them theft-resistant.

Compatibility: What to look for when buying a thru-axle

Perhaps the only disadvantage of the thru-axle's success is that installation standards have become somewhat more complicated. Adapter solutions unfortunately only provide a partial solution as well. To help you find your way around regardless, we have compiled what you need to pay attention to here.

Diameter and thread

The thru-axle must fit the mount on your frame or fork. To do this, you need the correct diameter and thread pitch. You should find this information in your frame / fork specifications - or on your old axle. They are very often printed there. Here are a few typical dimensions as examples. The first number always describes the axle diameter, and the second the thread pitch (specified in millimeters):

Hub installation width: Boost or Non-Boost?

The third important dimension you should know is the installation width of your hub. It refers to the space provided for the hub on the inside of the fork or rear stays. It is often specified together with the axle diameter, with the diameter being the first number and the installation width the second, e.g.: 

12 x 142 mm

At the front, the installation width is generally 100 or 110 millimeters; at the rear wheel, it ranges from 130 to, in extreme cases, 157 millimeters. These differences ultimately emerged as a result of technical developments over the past approximately fifteen years. Above all, the trend toward increasingly wider tires meant that the hubs had to be extended to keep the wheels stable under lateral loads and provide them with the necessary space for tire clearance. Ten millimeters were added at the front, and six or even fifteen millimeters at the rear. This increase is referred to as Boost or Superboost; the classic dimensions have since also been referred to as Non-Boost for distinction.

Here is an overview of the different axle standards for road bikes and mountain bikes:

Effective axle length

You will often also find the effective axle length specified - especially for rear-wheel axles. This value is always greater than the installation width, as the axle has to pass through both mounts on the frame. The effective length of a thru-axle is measured from the collar that rests against the outside of the frame - excluding the axle head. 

Your new thru-axle

Nothing should stand in the way of your purchase now. We currently have thru-axles from DT SWISS, SRAM, and ROCKSHOX. Have a look around! We look forward to packing your axle package.