Looking at Revelation forks, is it really me paying the extra (in fork price and for a new front wheel) for maxle lite, will I notice that big a difference over regular QR?

Also is there much difference between Rev Races and Rev Team Dual Air? Is there £200 of difference! Thanks

Most people seem to post they can notice the difference in stiffness of maxle over QR, it's fairly subtle for me but I guess some of it depends on how you ride. It's does reduce the twisting of the fork legs but most of the flex I notice is back to front which is more about the fork stiffness/stanchion size than the axle.

For me its more about the security of the wheel in the forks.

It depends, I moved froma really old fork to a Reba Maxle & the difference was night & day. Probably moving from a 2-3yr fork will show a lot less difference.

Maxle lite is great, only negative is getting my Hope front wheel on & off is a real pain, presumably due to the 20mm adapters as my other wheel if fine.

Just wanted to bump this up to try and get some more opinion. Is it really worth spending £100 odd quid on a new front wheel to get maxle? Thanks

I have a reba maxle, reba QR and a new Suntour Epicon 15mm thru axle (all 29er).

I like them all but if i had to close my eyes and tell you which one i was riding, i doubt i'd be able to if i'm honest. If i think about it i suppose i do like the extra security of bolt thru but then i've never had any issues with QR. I don't think most people ride to the extreme limits that will highlight the difference between QR and 15/20mm bolt thru unless maybe you're really heavy. I'd pay a bit extra for bolt thru, probably not £100+ though.

I paid quite a bit more, and wasn't terribly fussed…

FuzzyWuzzy

Most people seem to post they can notice the difference in stiffness of maxle over QR

Which is odd, because I pretty sure I can recall being derided for suggesting that one could discern flex, or lack of, between various stem, bar combos etc – gurning hypocritical c***s.

holyhutzpa

I paid quite a bit more, and wasn't terribly fussed…

It really depends where and how you ride. Flex is most noticeable when things get rough/choppy for extended periods. If you generally ride smoothly, or dont tackle long periods of rough fast tech terrain, then you probably wont notice any difference.

If you intend to tackle bigger trickier stuff then you may well notice the flex or appreciate the added stiffness a maxle provides, depending on your choice.

Also, bear in mind that an otherwise stiff component build will highlight a flexy fork, conversely a light or flexy componentry will make it harder to discern any difference.

The latest Revelation does seem to be a bit more designed for the Maxle, it's actually a flexier chassis than last year's maxle Revelation, and obviously quite long. But it's still far from a flexy fork so the QR is more than good enough. The older Revs really didn't need it and didn't benifit much from it at all, the 2009 maxle rev was overweight and just a little stiffer than the QR equivalent, little enough difference that I'd notice it for 5 minutes at the start of a ride then forget.

I've managed to ride all the 7 stanes blacks with a set of 115mm QR forks up front over the past few years and never really had a problem, so cheers guys, I'll save a £100 odd quid and go for QR. You can't miss what you've not had !

except you'll always be wondering what your missing 😉

Agree with TJ look up Fox v Pinder. It's about security for me.

Security? I've heard that mentioned lots on the forum and I'm not sure what people are going on about? Not looked at this but guessing someone is trying to sue someone? You check your QR before you ride….

I've been riding for 20 plus years and never had a problem with security?? Kids eh !

Disc brakes, drop-outs and QRs don't make for happy bedfellows. The physics of it is all other the 'net. 20mm takes all those worries away for no more hassle, and you get all the stiffness benefits as well…Why would you not?

QR definately isn't as secure, but how frequently is it really an issue? Vanishingly rare. I've had a QR come loose in the past (on a v-brake bike funnily enough) and I knew about it as soon as it happened, stopped safely and retightened, because it was so obvious that the wheel was loose (it was held in by the lawyer tabs) . If it were the liability some would have you believe, we'd all have had the wheels fall out.

Also, we wouldn't say "see Fox v Pinder", because if it were commonplace we wouldn't always end up pointing at the one really big example.

Is the bolt through another marketing ploy to flog more bits to us like the 29er?.Do most of us need it?

Do most of us need it?

not if you're just mincing along canal paths, anything fast and technical its a benefit.

Right Tow Paths it is for me!

You make a good point Northwind, as I said I have never had an issue and I rarely bike alone and have never seen a QR come loose. Maybe I am lucky but as you said we would have heard about it, if it was comonplace.

I think I am still in two minds whether to spend and extra £100 on a new front wheel…. Then it becomes what wheel to get, Hope Hoops look good, but then do I go tubeless….

I'm not for a minute going to suggest that QR failures are commonplace. But maxles make it impossible and there are inherent benefits, from that pov it makes these forks at least worth considering over the old 9mm standard. New front wheels don't need to be that expensive, 20mm front hubs are litterally a tube with a couple of bearings ( the same ones in most hubs) so just get bog standard Tiawan generic

Didn't Campagnolo invent the QR for road bikes? Mountain bikes just inherited it for a while. Seeing as trails are getting more technical (in most cases) travel getting longer isn't it a no brainer to move with technology and go for bolt thru? IMO!

The QR undoing issue is rare but it happens and the effects can be catastrophic.

Modern forks with big lawyer lips make it less likely as do high quality qrs It is not to do with not tightening qrs properly – the off centre precessional forces set up by a disc brake can unscrew the qr. The braking forces then eject the wheel.

If you want to see a detailed explanation James Annan has done a fair bit of work on this as has Ben @ Kinetics

"Amos – Member

Didn't Campagnolo invent the QR for road bikes?"

Yup, but then it was over half a century before mtbs were invented so I wouldn't read too much into that 😉

FWIW I do think a maxle, in a fork designed around a maxle, is the best option, and my big bike's got one. But I happily went back to QR on the little bike after running a maxle in it for a while, and I'd be just as happy to have QR in the hemlock- just made little sense to get one. I don't lose any sleep over it either way.

@TJ – if your more worried about security regarding a possible front wheel falling out the dropouts,

a) maybe you should take up a safer past time
b) you are real hard core and really pushing it off the ground resulting in the need of a bolt thru fork
c) you find the benefits of a bolt thru are that the legs don't twist (especially after having ridden qr Fox forks to the equivalent 15mm fox) and that they do in fact track better as they are less likely to flick all over the place than the 20mm option or even the 15mm.

. Seeing as trails are getting more technical
.I hadn't noticed tne bridleways I ride get any more technical in the last 25 years should they?