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Has anyone come up with a cheap way to run varying sized axles on Thule 561's? I've got QR, 12mm, 15mm (boost/non boost) and 20mm forks on different bikes and to get adapters for them all it's going to cost a small fortune at £30 per adapter. Surely there must be an easy/cheaper way?
Thule 565s are the obvious answer unless you already own the 561s.
I've got one of these:
https://www.deporvillage.net/massi-bike-holder-fork-15-20-mm
EDIT: actually the one I've got is branded Peruzzo, but looks identical.
Only problem is that the QR end isn't quite wide enough to fit the skewer on the 561. Nothing that an angle grinder won't sort out, but I haven't got round to it yet.
I've never really liked the way that the 565 works, as there's no spacer between the forks for the axle to clamp onto, so the axle is just sitting loosely in the threads in the fork. I'm sure it's fine in practice, but it bothers me.
Think you could do a lot of it with the qr to 15mm non boost kit. Qr to the rack. 15x100 to the adaptor. 15x110 adaptor plus a cheap boost kit.
Great as those look they aren't a quick swap solution. If you could come up with a design that had swappable ends for the different axles you'd be onto a winner. I know the stock axle in the 561 is 20mm. Must be scope to use the diameter to make plug in ends for 15x100, 15x110 and 12x100. Possibly even QR for those who want maximum flexibility.
Yea the 561 isn't the easiest to swap out adapters. That's why I chamfered the ends of the adapters so they slide in and out easily.
I ended up buying an Inno multi fork carrier for that reason although they don't do 15 X 110 adapters (I make my own Inno Multi Fork boost adapter)
I have considered making a true quick change system but Thule doesn't give you much room to work with. I have designed a system but at the moment I'm making theses manually and I'm not sure they would be cost effective to produce. I do have a CNC on order though due to land in September so I may run off a few prototypes and go from there. My only concern would be pricing - at a guess they'd be somewhere around the £60-80 mark including all adapters.
Those adapters look nice, although as above a convertible one would be awesome.
Have you considered making something that would fit the end caps of one of the popular convertible hubs such as a Novatec D791SB? I've got bikes using QR, 12mm and 15mm, and a full set of adapters. The adapters are cheaply available already, and easy enough to change that you could do it as part of loading the bike.
Happy to share pics and dimensions if you're interested.
Thanks, I'd definitely be keen to see a pic if it's not too much trouble.
I had considered something similar and I think it would work well with the 15 mm and 12 mm hubs but I'm not sure how well it would work with the 20 mm hubs just given how thin the tube is. Do the Novatech ones not need to be pressed in with a retaining ring though? Could prove tricky on the car. I know the hope ones press in with an O ring to keep them in place and was more what I had in mind initially although as I mentioned I'm not sure they'd work well with the 20 mm hubs.
My mate had a similar dilemma when he went from Maxle to Maxle Boost on his new bike - there was play in the adaptor for his Maxle mount on his 561 rack.
We went to CyB for a weekend and I asked him what he was doing when I saw him wrapping cable ties around his axle. It turned out he was packing out the extra 10mm width in the boost axle on the mount.
I ended up designing a simple spacer & 3-D printing it out for him. I now sell them on ebay.
It's not like they are a massive seller & after costs I only make about a couple of quid on each one sold but if it helps people out, then I'm happy to keep making them.
That looks like a nice well thought out solution if you carry both boost and non boost forks. It is a bit of a faff switching out adapters on the 561 - I used to do it 2 or 3 times a week and it drove me nuts hence buying the Inno carrier. Not quite as defined as the Thule but it makes switching adapters much easier.
So the D791SB doesn't do 20mm, but does do QR/12mm/15mm. It's essentially a 93mm long tube with 15mm I/D and 20mm O/D. The 12mm/QR adapters push into the tube. The 15mm adapters push over the end, and overlap it by 2.8mm. As you'd expect the adapters add 3.5mm each side.
The adapters have O-rings to hold them in place. The hub actually has a very slight lip (20.5mm o/d) to help retain it.
Thanks for posting that.
I'm going back to the drawing board for now. I think I can maybe get a design that works with all the current standards but I'll need to knock up a couple of prototypes first!
Would be interested to hear what you come up with.
I'd not seen the Inno rack before. It does seem like a better approach to fork-mounting a thru-axle than Thule's 565 approach of clamping the axle itself.
Yea the Inno rack is good but it's pretty heavy and I'm not a huge fan of the way it clamps to the bars. The supplied plastic adapters swell a bit too making them a bigger to remove but it's really handy if you're having to swap out adapters regularly!
I'll update when I get something made!