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Months after Mavic and Enve came under the same ownership at Amer Sports, there still hasn’t been much talk about how the two cycling companies will complement each other going forward. That isn’t to say we won’t see some collaboration, however, especially given Enve's plans to create a fork that works with a new Mavic thru-axle system—a potentially Pro Tour-worthy solution to slow wheel changes, the biggest stumbling block of thru axles on disc brake-equipped road bikes, and a more secure and faster way to use thru axles on all types of frames.
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Recently, Mavic licensed technology from SPEEDrelease, a small start-up, and set to work to improve on the original design in the hopes it will get adopted industry-wide.
The heart of the system is a stepped thru axle with a small-spring steel retention sleeve that allows the axle to remain in the hub when the wheel is removed from the frame. (Most thru-axles will simply slip out of a hub if left installed, leading to lost or misplaced parts.) The same retention sleeve also allows about 10mm of side-to-side movement when the wheel is removed from the frame to facilitate removal and re-installation. The thru axle design is reminiscent of the DT/Swiss RWS design and features a built-in torque setting to let you know when the axle is tight enough. It also allows users to position the lever to their liking in relation to the bike.
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The design will work with front or rear wheels and can use either of two different types of dropouts on the frame or fork. One is a standard closed dropout with threading to anchor the thru axle. The other is a modified open dropout with a “keyhole” shape.
To operate the system, the user unthreads the thru axle from the fork and pulls it towards the open dropout as you would with a traditional thru axle—but the thru axle only gets pulled out about 8mm. This is enough for the threads of the thru axle to clear the closed dropout and the stepped portion to align with the open dropout. After that, it’s simple enough to remove the wheel from the frame.
Installation is the reverse: Slide the wheel into the frame or fork and “pop” the thru axle back in place. The spring steel retainer has a slightly spring-loaded feel, much like activating a ballpoint pen. After that, it’s four complete rotations of the thru axle to thread it into the bike.
Here's how to handle wheel removal and installation like a pro:
Mavic claims the design will work with any 12mm hub (the only diameter it is currently producing, though other diameters may be considered) so long as the center bore of the hub is a solid tube (hubs with an open center portion won’t retain the thru axle correctly); it's open to licensing the design to other manufacturers. Currently Enve is gearing up to produce forks compatible with the system.
While we only had the opportunity to fiddle with pre-production samples during Interbike, the system was intuitive to use and worked as promised and described. It was easy to slide the thru axle to the correct point to remove the wheel. A light tap on the end of it popped it back in place for installation and, as promised, four rotations of the lever tightened the system back in place. We’ll have rideable samples later this year so check back for a thorough test.
