Can you swap the rear pro2 qr axle to 12mm bolt thru

no – the hub shell is bigger on the 12mm bolt thru

Wrong…you can…says the ex-mechanic of a hope service-centre.

YES you can. I have changed my QR x 135m Pro 2 to a 12mm x 135mm. The wheel was on my Hustler as 135mm QR, now on my Alpine 160 as 12 x 135 Maxle, Simples 😉

Sweet

oops i was assuming you meant to make it 150mm from 135mm – sorry i stand corrected

It's simply a case of swapping one axle for the other – bearings etc stay in the same 'locations'. The hard part is getting the bearings out/in.

DrP

I swapped my Pro 2 axle last weekend, it was comparatively easy. I found I didn't need any of the Hope tools which was lucky as I didn't have them! I used a metalwork vice, soft hammer and grease to help the seat the bearings and service the freehub pawls whilst it was apart. The hub service video on the Hope website was useful.

The only bearing that will come out during the swap is the non-drive side one. As I didn't have the correct drift to re-seat it in the hub I found an easy way around it:

Place the bearing on the open vice jaws and tap the axle (lightly greased to make it easy) through the bearing centre, until it is seated on the axle correctly.

Lightly grease the hub where the bearing should be (again to make it slip in easy) and tap the axle end until fully seated. Hey presto.

The free hub seal was easy to refit and I didn't need the Hope tool to seat that either.