Is there really much difference between a QR and a 20mm axel?

That you can notice on the trail that is?

I used to have some coil sprung Rev's but overbiked myself with Pikes. I never found them to be mush better but they were much heavier. missed the Rev's.

Been with a 20mm maxle now for a bit and am thinking of going back to QR rev'sa s they are much lighter, and QR is way cheaper than the maxle version anyway

Big mistake or not…..INHO of course.

Apparently the 20mm route has increased stiffness, both my bikes have 20mm forks. However over in Canada this year I was riding some of the trails round Whistler and Alice Lake using a bike with QR on the front. To be absolutely honest I didn't notice any real difference. Whether you'd need to be riding at Elbry levels to feel the benefit, I don't know but I would say that for mortals I don't think there's a lot in it.

I find a huge difference with stiffness in the front wheel. My 2 20mm forks (Fox 36 & Pikes) feel solid & planted in corners and rock gardens but my QR (Marz AM1's) feel loose and have more feedback & play than the others. 20mm works really wekk

Would it be relative to travel, i.e. a longer fork, say 130mm+ would benefit from 20mm whereas in shorter travel the difference is less noticable?

Whether you'd need to be riding at Elbry levels

What's 'Elbry level'?

Way above that of mere mortals…

I won't let it bother me then 🙂

When I first rode my Fox 36 Van after a 130mm Float 32 I remember oversteering a few times. The fork was much less "twangy" through rough stuff. So, IMH(unble)O, yes, it makes a difference. However, I weight over 200 lbs so a few hundred grams on the bike isn't going to make much difference to my day out.

yes they are a lot better, also it cannot pop out if you brake hard

QR rev'sa s they are much lighter

It's not as clear cut as just looking at fork weights…..
Yes, QR is lighter, but the weight for the 20mm fork will include the Maxle and a 20mm hub is lighter then a QR: In the case of a Hope Pro 2, to convert to 20mm, you REMOVE 2 adaptors and the QR itself, probably 100-150g all in….. Just something to think about
🙂

i found when i went to nine mil dt bolt thru it made a difference if i had money to chuck at the bike id like a twenty mil fork on the sus but i dont 🙁

11mm

my Qr forks used to flex and twist (only al little bit) when braking and when I leant the bike over around a corner the rim would flex into the brake and rub.

It was a solid SUP mavic rim on PACE rc50 hub!

I have had lots of pikes and talas 36's and the difference is immense.

although. . .

im sure if you had some really good QR forks e.g. Fox f100's or similar then im sure the difference would be miniscule

If for nothing else than security – both mine are 20mm (Reba and 36).

Switching between Maxle Pike's and QR rev's I immediately notice the difference. Significantly more flex on the rev's From a riding perspective you quickly adjust though (either way)

Personally I will not buy QR's again. Most of that is just the added security (in my head at least) of through axle

i've gone from Rev's to Pikes and back again.

It makes a difference in some situations, and thats about it. 99.9% of the time it doesn't really matter unless you're permanently riding gnarly to the max.

that said when i changed mine the wheel changed from a stans olympic build to a dt ex1750 so that will have helped too 🙂

You'll notice a bigger difference going from 20mm – 9mm then 9mm -> 20mm but it really depends on rider weight, terrain, riding style ect.

I noticed. I also notived a pike felt flexy after a wotan…

I just purchased a Magura fork with the dual-arch design. Supposedly these forks are very stiff for QR. I imagine that fork stiffness becomes increasingly important the longer the fork.

When I first rode my Fox 36 Van after a 130mm Float 32 I remember oversteering a few times. The fork was much less "twangy" through rough stuff. So, IMH(unble)O, yes, it makes a difference.

This is the sort of comparison I see a lot on this subject, and its just not a comparison at all, 36's and float 32's are completely different forks and built for completely different things, the difference between a float32 QR and Float32 20mm axle is a direct comparison.. 36 QR would be noticeably stiffer over float 32QR.

I guess not many of us are in a position to know how much stiffer a like for like fork is between QR and 20mm the change usually comes as part of a much bigger upgrade in fork quality/price, better wheel build etc, so of course you new forks are going to feel loads better.

Yes 20mm axle is stiffer… noticeable over a QR debateable, especialy given the flex in wheels and the great big squishy rubber thing around em.

I've had qr revs (130mm) and now ride 20mm bolt through minutes (100mm) and for me the difference is massive but then I'm a heavy rider (weight not style) and think that the bigger the rider is the more of a difference it makes as your putting more pressure on the fork legs when turning the wheel so they are more likely to twist & flex.

So if your a 10 stone light weight then its probabily not going to make as much difference were as if you are heavyier.

Going from my old coil Psylo's to coil Pikes felt a lot different.
But I'm quite heavy. Don't ride particularly hard though.
Wouldn't swap back to QR now.

Ive got 09 reba's on both my superlight(maxle) and soul(qr), both run at 120mm. I generally ride in the peak, and do a few trail centres. There is a bit of difference switching between the bikes, but after 20 mins riding I don't notice. I've found switching tyres between the bikes has made more difference to handling. Mind, I am chuffed to bits with both bikes, and can't say I'm worried about my qr in terms of confidence in it, and I'm only 66kg. As has been said above, if you are rad to gnar, or a bigger chap then the difference may be more pronounced.

I personally never saw the difference, there may be if you are heavy.

The main advantage was highlighted to me when my QR wheel fell out on a downhill last summer.

I run a 4” – QR fork on my trail bike and a 7” – 20mm fork on my DH bike, both have 32mm stanchions and both are coil sprung…

The 20 is noticeably stiffer (laterally) there is slightly less obvious twisting of the lowers, but I can’t say the QR forks marginally higher degree of flex has ever been a problem at all, I don’t really notice it when I’m riding and so long as the forks do their job who cares…

Can you use a QR fork on an MTB? Yes people have done for a fair old while now and not all of them have died….

The real question has to be does the world actually need QR15 forks?

I've been gungho to go to 20mm for ages now, but can't find the right fork at the right price – ideally I'd go for a Manitou Minute 'cause it's 130mm travel and I want it in white, but they're rarer than rocking horse poo (and possibly pants*).
Thing is, I was riding with a guy in Murcia last month and asked him about it: he was riding a Giant FS with a QR fork – apparently it has more feel than the 20mm fork he replaced.

So is that the real tradeoff? Slightly twangy vs not much feel of the trail?

*-as in, they are pants, not they're rarer than pants. Although that would make the world an interesting place.

The real question has to be does the world actually need QR15 forks?

I have a QR15 fork right now and it's way nicer then the old QR. I think if Maxle was an open standard QR15 would never have been concieved. So no, from an end users point of view it was not needed, from a manufacturers point of view it was (it's not nice to either pay licensing fee's to your worst competitor, or have an inferior product).

I noticed a big difference going from QR 130mm toras to maxle pikes, and I'm certainly no Elbry. Notiecably stiffer up front, holds the line better in twisty/rocky/off camber/rutted bits.
I would look for maxle as a must have on forks in the future.

given the size of magura lawyer tabs and their canted dropouts, I suspect the only way the hub is coming off acidentaly is if the lowers snap!

130mm menja (dual arch) Vs 130mm 2004 Z1's with 20mm , the zocchi's are stiffer, noticably, but the magura's are noticably stiffer than any other QR fork I've ever had. I don't think I'll ever need to upgrade them for want of more stiffness, if anything the zocchis just gave me hand fatigue as there was nothing to dampen out the twisting forces!