hurronnicane Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 So I was riding at Muleshoe with my son and had a failed attempt on one of the ledgy climbs. When I went to retry it my crank wouldn't turn, which was when I noticed that my derailleur looked odd. It was up against the spokes. After messing with the derailleur and turning the bike upside down I heard the wheel shift in the dropout. At about the same moment my son noticed that the thru axle was was loose. When I turned the bike over the thru axle had almost fallen out of the dropouts, held only by the tension of the chain and the wheel being slightly askew in the dropouts. In thirty years of mountain biking I have never had my rear wheel almost fall off while riding. I guess I need to be more conscientious about periodically checking the tightness of everything... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, hurronnicane said: So I was riding at Muleshoe with my son and had a failed attempt on one of the ledgy climbs. When I went to retry it my crank wouldn't turn, which was when I noticed that my derailleur looked odd. It was up against the spokes. After messing with the derailleur and turning the bike upside down I heard the wheel shift in the dropout. At about the same moment my son noticed that the thru axle was was loose. When I turned the bike over the thru axle had almost fallen out of the dropouts, held only by the tension of the chain and the wheel being slightly askew in the dropouts. In thirty years of mountain biking I have never had my rear wheel almost fall off while riding. I guess I need to be more conscientious about periodically checking the tightness of everything... Funny thing is I saw the exact same thing happen at Muleshoe to someone else on a big group ride. It was almost a bad crash. Only the rider's really good handling skills saved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 My rear thru axle has a habit of backing out. I usually notice shifting issues before it gets that loose. Thanks for the reminder to check for loose bolts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockshins Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 I have seen this happen as well, think it was a result of my friends thru axle not torqued down tight enough, good thing it didn't result in a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 You were lucky the derailleur or hanger were not bent or damaged. I see this a lot on my bikes and my wife's bike. I don't think it has to do with 'not tightening the axle enough' because I have torqued axles down to where that was aluminum juice squeezing out. Some of my axles consistently loosen and some never seem to. I have cleaned threads, checked clearances, checked alignment, etc. etc. etc. No change. The ones that loosen - still do. The ones that stay tight - still do that too. What has worked for me is to check the axle when I check the tire pressure before every ride. It only takes a second to check. And I have never had one come loose during a ride since I started checking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicewookie Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 I've had great performance with DT Swiss RWS thru bolts. They never back out. Running them in Hope hubs (not that it matters). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Handle Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 what kind of through axle was this? I've never had a quick release "maxle" style axle come loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Not sure how long any sort of thread-locker would hold after several uses, but it's not a bad idea. Wrapping the threads in plumbing Teflon tape or nail polish might help. I always keep a bottle of cheap nail polish around just for this reason. Be sure to get something glittery that complements your eye color, but the clear stuff works too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 13 minutes ago, spicewookie said: I've had great performance with DT Swiss RWS thru bolts. They never back out. Running them in Hope hubs (not that it matters). I second this. Back when I had the old QRs I would find that they loosened up occasionally. Then I got a 9mm RWS on the front and a 12mm on the back. Those things were awesome, never had a single issue. Loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicewookie Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, AustinBike said: I second this. Back when I had the old QRs I would find that they loosened up occasionally. Then I got a 9mm RWS on the front and a 12mm on the back. Those things were awesome, never had a single issue. Loved them. I know things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 3 minutes ago, spicewookie said: I know things. Yeah, and likely they're the sort of things that someone would pay you to keep quiet about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Just curious, how many of you that have had the axles back out use a torque wrench to tighten them? Are these the ones with the lever or the ones where you need a hex wrench? I switched to the maxles instead of the DT Swiss levers. I find it hard to torque down with the small levers. Also, I have found that they threads get contaminated easily, and that a good amount of grease is needed if you're to torque it down properly. If you put it in dry (let's see what you can do with that one Mojos) it's hard to get it properly tight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockshins Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 8 minutes ago, AntonioGG said: Just curious, how many of you that have had the axles back out use a torque wrench to tighten them? Are these the ones with the lever or the ones where you need a hex wrench? I switched to the maxles instead of the DT Swiss levers. I find it hard to torque down with the small levers. Also, I have found that they threads get contaminated easily, and that a good amount of grease is needed if you're to torque it down properly. If you put it in dry (let's see what you can do with that one Mojos) it's hard to get it properly tight. My friends that kept coming loose on the trail was a Maxle, I have bolt on thru axles, torque them to spec and have had zero issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Rear axle has a socket cap screw on the drivetrain side that locks the axle in place after tightening from the non-drive side. May be a Transition thing. Never have found it loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafeend Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 If you put it in dry it's hard to get it properly tight.That's what she said you pervertSometimes you need a little proper lube like you said. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Is this problem exclusive to FS bikes? Is it possible that the left and right dropouts move independent from one another just enough to cause a thru axle to loosen? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throet Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 6 hours ago, notyal said: My rear thru axle has a habit of backing out. I usually notice shifting issues before it gets that loose. Thanks for the reminder to check for loose bolts! Yep. Took me a while to figure that out though. Kept turning the barrel adjuster to fix the symptom, and finally wondered why I was having to keep making the same adjustment over and over! Only happens on my Trek bikes though - so wondering now if the ABP is part of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 My biggest challenge is no longer a rear axle but my cassette coming loose, to the point where I am carrying a cassette tool and a wrench in my pack. Also my rear thru axle loosens up over time. Maybe it is just time to look at bikes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsloan Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Hadley 10mm thru-bolt, zero issues. The blur has a solid rear triangle though, so it doesn’t flex much at the dropouts. I would expect this sort of issue with any linkage driven single pivot frame or any other frame where the seat stays aren’t one piece like Trek’s, Transition’s, Kona’s, or Devinci’s.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 My first mtb had quick release and lawyer lips. I forgot to check the front QR and I was practicing bunny hopping. On my way home I bunny hopped something on concrete paving. Mid air and I noticed my front wheel stayed on the ground. Impact was painful. I've always checked my wheels since then. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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