Toying with new forks.
£50 difference between the QR & Bolt-Thru's.
Already have a Pro2 hub & adapters.
As for riding style/preferences, do enjoy a blast but prefer to feel the flow of a trail rather than go as fast as possible. Too old for jumping/silly antics etc.
£50 worth it for Bolt-Thru?
What do folk think...?
most definitely, just for the off chance you decide to go on much rougher terrain the difference is frightening! much more control, a more stable feel and generally made me feel a bit quicker (due to the above points) also feels more secure!
i wouldnt go back to QR now even for XC
You won't get wheel ejection issues with bolt thru. That's the main reason for them being introduced IMHO. With the added bonus of stiffness, it's a no-brainer.
I went from QR Revelations to Maxle Revs back to my QR Revs, there's a very small difference but I stopped noticing it after about a ride, I ended up going back to the QR ones and they're still happily fitted. The big bike does have newer maxle Rev Teams, but I'd happily have QR in it. Fox seem to benefit more from it just due to being more squiggly in the first place but a decent, stiff QR fork does the job just fine IMO.
That said, if you have an adaptable hub there's not much reason not to go maxle, with the new forks but I didn't find the differences to be a tenth of what people say it is. And never had "wheel ejection issues" myself.
keep the £50 in your pocket. These marketing folk will tell you anything.
My previous post was too brief to explain fully what i meant. It might have come across as a bit "pro bolt thru". I've never had ejection issues either, but the Fox ejection court case prompted the switch to QR15 more than the stiffness benefits IMO. It usually costs £150 to get the bolt thru option, so at £50 it's good value.
I run 2002 Z1 130 Qr on my hardtail, and they feel every bit as good as they always have despite their age. The same wheels with the axle conversion on my 36's don't feel[i]that[/i] much different TBH, and I build my wheels nice and stiff, so deflection isn't masking the feel from the fork.(although the tyre size and pressure may be a little)
But I don't ride my HT on steeper more off camber FR type trails, that's what the FS bike's for. And you're hardly going to trouble 36's on trail centre rides, so there's no direct comparison there.
But on our demo fleet, and Rowan's 5, even we've seen a difference from QR to QR15 at a couple of points on the trail. So for £50 i reckon its worth it.
I guess it's whether [u]you[/u] feel it's worth it that'll prompt you to make the right choice for yourself though.
I reckon "stiffness" is sujective and there's a kind of placebo effect from being told it's stiffer that gives a bit of confidence and makes a rider push a bit harder and feel good.
I don't think there's any harm in that.
Bolt thru every timne - just for the security and with a maxle there is no downside.
Close call. I think I'd marginally go for the bolt through just for the security though in all my years riding, I've never had a loose front wheel though...
Stiffness. Hmmm. Slight benefit but you'll not notice it after a couple of rides.
15mm QR or maxle wins vs regular QR all day long.
Not only less twisting and flex but each time you remove your front wheel the disc and calliper line up instead of having to re-adjust
for the people who say its only for 'securuty & safety' purposes, well all i can say is, you obviously dont ride the peaks much!
bolt thru up the peaks is much much much much more noticeable than QR on EVERY ride, it doesnt become unoticeable after 2 rides if you have always ridden QR....the extra stiffness and somehow the ability to track better with bolt thru is a winner up the peaks.
If you are only doing light riding then no you WILL not notice anything, but get yourself up the peaks on a regular basis switching from QR and you WILL notice it.
£50 is a bargain, so get it done! (ps dont get it done if you dont intend to ride any gnarly type stuff)
edit : as neninja says - thats a brill added bonus, was forever adjusting brakes to sit central after removing the wheel, not no more such problems with QR15!!!
Worth mentioning that the longer the travel the more of a difference bolt through is likely to make?
The OP stated
do enjoy a blast but prefer to feel the flow of a trail rather than go as fast as possible
So for him, any relatively small increase in stiffness is going to be unimportant.
Besides, having ridden a full range of forks from ultra flexy sids to very stiff DH forks, you do very quickly get used to whatever you're riding and it makes little difference to your riding even if you do convince yourself that you can feel a huge stiffness increase.
Bizarre that your brakes self adjusted with QR, especially as bolt through isn't fundamentally any different in that respect. 15 ish years running discs now and I've never noticed this phenomenon. Sounds like you're not properly seating the hub in the dropouts which I suppose bolt through would prevent but that would be a user issue... 😉