[Closed] Recommend me a front through axle

THE torque for maxle stealth isn't high enough that rounding of hex keys should occur. 13nm max. Easy to go way above that by hand. edit: I mean with a small hex key in the hand rather than ratchet with lots of leverage.

Yep the stealth is a 6mm so hard to round off. Simple and works well.

As above, the Stealth is great.

What are you doing to 'bend' it? 🤔

I thought all 'new' Pikes have the Maxle Ultimate, can't see how you'd bend that.

Thanks all. Looks like I'll be getting a stealth.
Im not bending the actual axle. It's the thin alloy cam(?) bit that the quick release goes into. I've heard a lot of people complain about it bending. I'm not torquing it hard and it as still gets bent.

That sounds like the old version which they have fixed, I think we need pictures......

It's one of these
www.sram.com/rockshox/products/maxle-lite

The edges of the quick release start to round off with very little pressure.

I might try one of the Brand X axles with the "twist lever" through axle.

Ah... those little edges?
Sounds like you're either doing it up too tight or not seating the open lever in position properly before tightening or loosening it. Probably both TBF.

Dismantling the lever from the maxle then taking a minute or two with a flat file on the worn edges is all that's needed to square the surfaces up again nicely for you. Once you've done that make sure the maxle is greased and stop doing it up so tightly. The cam (when you close the lever) causes the maxle to expand in the dropout and that's what stops it opening. The maxle only needs tightened (threaded in) in the fork dropouts tight enough to remove the play from the hub.
PM me if you can't be arsed I'll take the maxle off your hands and do it rather than you binning an otherwise functional part.

Rock shox really should write detailed instructions for their maxles on a label attached to their maxles. Especially since they have changed the design so often.

Well, as I said, 2014+ Pikes should have come with the Maxle Ultimate, not Maxle Lite. If you need to remove the wheel very often, you'll be better off with an Ultimate rather than the Stealth.

I had one of those replaced under warranty. I believe I possess good mechanical sympathy but they are simply not up to the job.

The new one is way better.

Yeah, the lite is shite. Ultimate is much better.

Kcnc replacement. Light, cheaper, colourful and unbreakable

I had exactly the same problem and replaced it with the Ultimate which solved the problem, the original is a very poor design and although you can file it back it will keep breaking up around the edge until there is nothing left.
I also have the Stealth which works well as long as you remember the Allen key!

+1 ultimate

mtzoom are also good for a light bolt thru. Lot's of different versions too.

Those Maxles are fine but, as Geex indicates, education / knowledge about their correct usage is patchy.

You shouldn't need to do them up particularly tight with the collar (just enough to remove bearing play) and then clamp with the lever (if the cam is too loose adjust it with the allen bolt - the step which a lot of people don't seem to be aware of). Greasing the threads is also worth it to keep them easier to undo.

The SRAM instructions are here - p16-18. They state "To thread the Maxle into the drop out, rotate the lever clockwise until it stops.".

My lite rounded off, and then it broke when I was in BPW. The handle feel off. Thankfully I didn't get a flat in the bikepacking trip that followed in the next two days. Replaced it with the ultimate one and it was fine

Thanks everyone. Ive not been tightening my lite axle much, but certainly more than others above have described.
Thanks for the info. I'll stop overtightening. And eventually get one of the newer versions.