Hi,
I am flying to nova scotia and am bringing my bike in a cardboard box. I would like to remove the wheels and clamp the through axles back onto the bike (they have the lever). Will that damage anything in any way?
I assume you can visualize what I am saying, but if it is needed, I can send an image of what I mean.
I always put the thru axles back through the forks. This helps two ways, 1) I don’t lose them (a big one) and b) it strengthens the forks from lateral pressure (your box on its side and the airlines dumping heavy luggage on it.
But if I were honest, not losing them is my main reason.
new to thru axles so have not traveled with one. But one of my bike bags came with a rear axle and skewer to stick through for strength/safety when packed. I would definitely stick the thru axle in when packed for travel.
I cut a piece of pex the same size as the wheel spacing, which I thread the thru-axle through. That’s the only way you’re actually preventing damage in case someone accidentally leans on your fork/chainstays. As the thru-axle only threads on one side, it is still possible to compress the frame and damage it.
Yup, you need a “dummy hub” the right diameter and length for proper support.
Would PVC pipe and a pool noodle work as a “dummy hub” to protect the bike and through axle? It appears to be similar to PEX, but it has slightly different properties.
I would think PVC will work fine for a dummy hub.
Yep. I use PVC to space the dropouts. Used to do this with QR skewers but now with thru-axles.
Awesome, thanks for the help!
Not sure what the pool noodle is for, but I’d try to match the diameter of the PVC pipe (or pex) so it sits nicely in the TA groove on your frame. Or else it may scratch the paint around the dropouts.
the noodle would be to prevent scratching of the frame, and acts as padding for on the plane.