Ok i have had QR in the past and a brief spell with 20mm maxle Pikes which were stiffer however what are the plus/minus points of a 15mm maxle fork?.

weight

Does the 15mm maxle feel as stiff as the 20mm or is it not much of an upgrade on QR?

I can’t speak for the final production version, but the production prototype 15mm Rockshox forks were heavier than the 20mm ones- wide tubes are inherently stronger than narrow tubes. And the forks are slightly lighter for 20mm, though it’s only grams. I can’t find weights for the final ones but the rumour was that they’re still heavier.

The only advantage of 15mm over 20mm for the customer seems to be better wheel choice.

Reviews seem to suggest it depends on the individual fork

Weightwise 20mm isn’t always heavier than 15mm. For eg Rockshox’s Maxle Lite* axle was (maybe still is) a lot lighter than fox’s QR15 axle according to mbr. Obviously the forks aren’t the same (though fox has more QR15 bits going on in the fork lowers)

*IIRC Pikes have the older heavier than Fox’s QR15 Maxle axle (Also used by Magura Thor)

If you’re trying to work out what which forks weigh I found most (if not all, can’t quite remember) forks weights were claimed without axle, and (many?) rockshox are quoted using the lighter QR fork weight

I’m looking at buying some new forks Rockshox Sektor or Revs, i have left it too long and the 20mm Sektors are gone but 15mm in stock. Revs slightly more £60 but have 20mm in stock. So was just after pointers as to 15mm plus’s/probs.

To answer your question:

QR15 feels a lot stiffer than QR – worth the upgrade if you like very direct tracking forks and pump your bike into corners. If you dont ride hard or pump into corners, you’re not going to get the same benefit.

QR15 feels very similar to 20mm, no discernable difference in stiffness – and I’m quite sensitive.

I’ve heard talk that QR15 is a PITA compare to QR at races, and I’d disagree – it takes the same amount of time to remove the axle as it does to loosen the QR.

I’ve had all three, and probably prefer 20mm – but the lack of wheel compatibility means that QR15 would be my choice of all new forks I buy.

Also…. Sektors are a great fork for the money, worth far more than they cost, Revs are superior and weigh less (like for like models), if you don’t care about weight (and TBH they’re not *that* heavy, then the Sektors would be a great buy.

Thanks Rickon very useful info there.