Thru Axles on a 90's Bike - Converting the Frame for Thru Axles 

Bob Ross of bikes

This opens up so many possibilities for these older frames

This is the dream! So many good old frames out there that could be updated using this technique, price and time spent notwithstanding!

Holy crap, incredible job! The thought process and execution were perfect. Finally, I really really loved the paint scheme you came up with. So much better than repainting the whole frame, very cool.

one of the best to ever do it robert

The space inbetween the dropouts is 135mm for both QR and 142mm frames but for 142mm thru axle frames there is 3.5mm removed from the inside of each dropout to locate the wheel in the frame. So there is no need to stretch the frame but you do need to machine 3.5mm cutouts on each side to locate the wheel. The cutouts account for the 7mm extra length of the wheel hub. Anyway it's excellent work.

Wow! Always a joy to see your diy vids! Good job there!

Great video, very entertaining! I’m very envious of your workshop and your skills! Greetings from Switzerland!

Thanks for the detailed follow-up. Loved the original video, a really slick build

Impressive stuff. I think I'd just have opted for a wheelset with DT hubs and swapped the endcaps.

wow I really love the production quality here.

nice work man! that's some clever machining and welding, big fan of this build!

I’m doing this to an old Giant Mountain bike right now. Super helpful to see your great work for inspiration.

Wow, this is a really awesome video! I do a lot of fabricating. I never would’ve thought of doing it. That way. That was a really good idea.

This thing ended up looking amazing, good job

awesome thank you for this tech insight . you are 100% right when you say its getting hard to find qr wheels . now i dont have to stress about getting a " modern frame anylonger and just upgrade the wheel set i will be using this idea with the long john cargo bike frame i'm currently building . Steel is Real 🤩 . such a huge $$$$$$ saver , greetings from Cape Town South Africa

Very detailed explanation, thank you.

Wow!....Must be something to be such a craftsman👍🏻

bro is a genius. I was thinking the same thing, but completely over complicated everything. Will take inspiration.

Hi Robert, the reason a through axle is installed from the non drive side is that when we look at the rotation from that side the outer race of the bearing turns CCW as does the ball forcing the inner race to have a CW turning moment. Similar to the action on pedals. You may want to put a lock tab on your through axle so it doesn't undo its self.

Great project and video. Subscribed.

I have to say it. Yout videos are awesome. Keep it up man!

Thats incredibly awesome. You did an amazing job. I dont have all of this equipment to perform wjat you did. I would just build a modern wheel that has a quick release hub. The only thing I would have to worry about is the rear dropout spacing. There are plenty of 135mm and 142mm hubs that come as quick release.

Nicely done.

This is awesome and the paint job turned out great! I did something similar to my girlfriend's 89 Rock Hopper. Only did the discs tho, didn't really consider converting to thru axles. I opted to buy rims and build an appropriate wheel set from qr hubs.

Amazing. i might have to try this on an old bike sometime

Such a great idea! I bet you've already thought of this, next time if you mill your own inserts from scratch consider creating a land for the axles. This could mitigate the alignment issues you mentioned towards the end of this video 😊

nice work!

You got the Skills 👏

Enjoyed this, thanks 🙏

Super cool!

wow, disc brake caliper mounts in a spraycan! cheers. thanks for sharing.

Doing the disc brakes right is the more important part. People have folded frames when the tubing collapses from the disc brake forces that they weren't designed to handle, which is not a fun time to say the least. You really need to know what you're doing to make that modification safely.

I was pondering how to this just two days ago!

Great problem solving, presentation. Tom Byrne

This is great!

you could just use 10x135 thru bolts they fit into those drop outs and are much better than the quick release skewers

Robert Adair just became a bicycle legend. This man just did a huge feat and made it look easy. You need a bike shop man. you could refurbish a bunch of the same models of bikes but just switch up the paint job from time to time. same model so its step by step same process. This red and black with the gold accents looks super clean. Where can I find those RS wheel sets.

Very cool! Just subscribed.

Very nice!

Cool idea

Beautiful

It's impressive. I hope your next video will be how to slack head tube angle 70 degree to 66 one.

Great job wish you’d do this to my bridge club

Great job, but holy cow! It would’ve been waaaaaaaay easier to just use an angle grinder to cut off the rear triangle (seatstays and chainstays) and just rebuild the rear triangle. Way way faster too.

very cool dude

Amazing.

Muito bom, ótimo trabalho 👏 👏

Dobra robota (good job)

Why am I having this strong feeling that I have watched this great-job video few weeks ago?😂

Since it's really just holding the nut in place for the axle, would jb weld be sufficient for the nut placement

Terrific job and an inspired decision for the paintwork. When you opened out the QR slots on the mill how did you ensure the slots were cut in the right place for the wheels to a) line up with each other and b) sit perpendicular to the frame please?

As a mechanical designer, I see the problems caused by welding, shrinkage and distortion on a daily basis. I personally still ride a mtb with quick release AND disc brakes and have no problems with them. I would get a wheelset with a quick release and avoid welding.

Great video, thanks for sharing! First I was confused, I thought 135 mm QR and 142 mm TA were actually the same inner spacing, just that thru axle measurement was the outer spacing including the dropouts... So I looked it up again and it seams like I misunderstood it completely. Correct me if I'm wrong but there exists 2 spacings standards (non including Boost, obviously), both measuring the inner spacing of the dropouts: 135 mm, of which there exists QR and TA versions, and 142 mm, which only exists in TA version ; the latter having been developed so as to introduce a standard dropout shape that can hold the wheel hub in place which screwing the axle. Anyway, and if my understanding is good, why did you bother widening the dropout spacing? Wouldn't it have been easier to just weld the 12 mm nut without frame modification and fit in a 12x135 bolt with a corresponding wheel hub? About widening the dropouts, did you have any method for controlling that the seat stays bend an equal amount? There certainly is a slight difference in bending stiffness of each seat stay. The risk being that your wheel ends up sitting on a plane shifted from the center plane of the bike, hence inducing a lateral torque. Also the chainline would be randomly shifted. Or maybe you did take that into consideration but the shift uncertainty was minimal? Thanks for your feedback and again, great work!

Very good video, can you convert this bike into folding bike next 😂

I have a slightly different idea. I would expand the frame and fork a bit less(so that outer faces measurement gives 142mm) and open up the dropouts with grinder or file to act like "lands" for hubs, and then weld the nuts outside. That way you would have fixed an issue mentioned in 9.25. Either way, great job

Very nice. Did you check the alignment of the dropouts after widening? Though it shouldnt matter after welding the nuts in place

Cool project, but I'm not sure how necessary it is for the frame. My gravel bike has a QR in the rear, and a through axle in the front. I think it really helps for the stiffness in the fork, but with all the triangles in the rear, I'm not sure there would be a big difference.

Very interesting and a well done job. You say it can only be done with a steel frame, what would limite aluminum? I have a 2014 Cannondale which could use that upgrade.

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What is it about frame straightening as such. I could use some advice. Please show how that frame is perfect?

Do this to my frame 🤩

Great video, you've got the same calm and considered approach to explaining your work as @paulbrodie

If we used metal epoxy, could we attach the the modified nuts to the drop outs after boring them out without welding

Why I love overengineered videos like this? Modifying a 40€ frame with 400-1400€ish equipment is satisfying.

Why to bend the frame if body of 142 hubs same as 135 hub, you can just buy thru axle 135x10 hub, or simply cut caps of 142 hub

A small tip for next time: remove all paint, even the paint behind the nut. The reason is any paint captured between nut and frame will outgas as you weld, thus contaminating/weakening your weld. You seem like someone who appreciates doing a job well.

2:40 you could use a round file, it doesn't take much.

This is a very cool modification, but throughout the video you just made what I would call sideways references that this was a steel frame with steel forks. In fact, this was the NUMBER ONE REQUIREMENT in order to do these modifications. I'm just afraid that there are many folks who won't realize that you can't do this to an aluminum or carbon fiber bike. Any reason why you opted to install the thru axles from the right side of the frame/fork rather than the left side, as is the convention?

"152." 😂😂😂😂I laughed in sympathy

What about spring back?

I do think there are adapters for Through Axle wheels to work with Quickrelease axles.

May I ask you didn't cut a thread directly into the dropouts for the frame?

hyould you choose thru axle over the quick release ?

I have thru axles on my 1970s roadbike, (stock)

you dont need tempering after welding or how is that called in english ?

thru axles are generally for wide axles in carbon frames, so they stay rigid, old Alu frames do not need thru axles ;)

Can this be done on a titanium bike? I have a Titanium cross bike with quick release drop and hydraulic brakes (super rare) I have a wheelset but it will be hard finding new wheels for it if required.

Very cool idea, but wouldn't it be easier to buy quick release hubs and build a new wheel instead? I don't have the capability of doing any of what you did and I also doubt any of the bikemechanics in my area could do this. Building a new wheel set seems much easier and also cheaper.

By chance, would you make the nuts commercially available like on a website, I'm very interested cause I don't like the Modern gravel design, I prefer the older mtb's converted to dropbar gravels instead.

Could you not simply “fill” the dropouts with weld, then re drill to the desired size and tap threads?

thru axles are just expensive solid axles

Front fork needs to be thru axle, I've used qr on hydraulic brake and qr wasn't strong enough to hold axle in place, it shift as I brake strong and threw out the front wheel position

SUB ❤👌

I had to stop watching. I felt a bit queasy.

Too much work.

I will only support this if you promise to ever, never, ever, never bring this into a real bike shop. You know its crooked, you know the wheel doesn't fit right. Please don't ever subject any shop to having to pretend this is okay. They will do some basic repair and realize..."holy fuck.. what the fuck?... " while they try to google this frame even existing, and get frustrated. Don't ever tell someone to do this who will ever take their bike into a reputable shop. Promise?

Why bother?

Your artisery I beheld But right away I knew I could never, never weld. I thought perhaps a mind meld Might help, but that to do Wouldn't be fair to you: I've no brains to pass through, I'm sure to be expelled. Just saying even from my very untalented, unskilled level, I can tell you are amazing. Thank you for achieving high expertise, doing great things with it, and sharing with everyone. I think this is highly useful and constructive. You have paved the way for those that have the skill to do what another commenter @epicprojectschris7050 rightly said, "opens up so many possibilities for these older frames." Thanks again. All the best.