So I bought some hubs off eBay which I thought had 9mm QR caps on the front but they actually had 9mm through axle caps.

The bike they were intended for has traditional 9mm drop outs. Am I right in thinking that if I just get a 9mm through axle, something like http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/9mm-front-qr-through-axle.htm, then it will all just work?

Yes.

A 9mm axle (actually the DT RWS standard) will directly fit in a standard QR dropout.

The confusion arises because people INSIST on calling QR ‘9mm QR’ when the 9mm (10mm in rear) bit is the axle that stays in teh hub and a 5mm skewer is shoved through it to hold it to the bike.

Last I saw, Superstar had sold out btw, if this is still teh case the DT units (or a SH Spesh Stout) may be your best bet.

Thanks!

Superstar still has QR through axles in colours, just not black. They’re half the price of the 5mm skewer adaptors for the hub so the choice is easy (well, colour choice is not: the bike is currently black and white).

I’ve switched all my QRs to DT RWS Thru Bolt. Aside from the chunky axle size instead of thin skewer (arguable benefit), I much prefer it to traditional clamp on QR skewers.

Plus matches the RWS axles on my frame with a proper screw in axle.

The RWS 9mm axles are a lot stiffer than the superstar ones.

Stiffness is based on how tight you can do them up.

I had some forks with a casting error in the dropouts and the RWS skewers did them up so tight as to expose the error (and twist the actual fork legs) whereas the superstar ones didn’t.

I agree, having used both the Superstar and DT 9 and 10mm axles, The DT Swiss RWS ones are much better, but then they are much more expensive. In my opinion they are worth the extra, especially if you can find decent second hand ones to cut the cost down a bit

The RWS ones used to have a problem with stripping… splines? threads? Are more recent ones less prone to this?

They changed design, that’s for sure. Became a lot more metallic, although I haven’t ridden my bike for so long I can’t remember what they look like 🙁

Not had any issues with the RWS, but then I guess mine are more recent. Last couple of years anyway.