What happened to XC bikes and did we give up on thru axles already?

Calvin27

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Little bit of a rant more than question. But looks like the who thru axle thing is kind of going backwards nowadays. I'm on the hunt for a XC bike for general duties and noticed that all the sub $2k bikes are qr axles, some of them are even boost-qr. Are they really that hard to make work? The frames can't be double the price to make and no one seems to sell a thru axle hardtail anymore in the 100-120mm range that is a bit more budget oriented. Seems like we made a bit of progress and then everyone just decided to go back to qr. Then you have folks like trek who only have thru axles on their top of range xc procalibre and everything else is qr. Spesh has a few offerings but start at $3k, usual suspects giant and merida you're looking at carbon XC race bikes, cannondale has a trail SE/SL for $2k+ and so does norco. Cheapest I could find is the marin team 1 for $1600. Was it just me or was it a few years ago when you could still buy budget bikes/frames with thru axles?
 
Flow-Rider

Flow-Rider

Burner
2k for a shop bike is the bottom of the range these days, I suppose it still pays to build your own bike with part new and part second hand parts. Qr works for many people without issues, most people do the occasional jump and weigh under a 90kgs, and it doesn't pose too many issues. I still have 3 bikes with rear Qr, and they work fine for me, so maybe just an upgrade on your fork will suffice.
 
H

Halo1

Likes Bikes and Dirt
There must be 100 years supply of qr axels in all sizes including future sizes. My fat bike was 150mm qr so a few extra turns and you have boost qr.
I doubt I would notice the difference riding the same bike from qr to through axel.
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Calvin27 said:
Little bit of a rant more than question. But looks like the who thru axle thing is kind of going backwards nowadays. I'm on the hunt for a XC bike for general duties and noticed that all the sub $2k bikes are qr axles, some of them are even boost-qr. Are they really that hard to make work? The frames can't be double the price to make and no one seems to sell a thru axle hardtail anymore in the 100-120mm range that is a bit more budget oriented. Seems like we made a bit of progress and then everyone just decided to go back to qr. Then you have folks like trek who only have thru axles on their top of range xc procalibre and everything else is qr. Spesh has a few offerings but start at $3k, usual suspects giant and merida you're looking at carbon XC race bikes, cannondale has a trail SE/SL for $2k+ and so does norco. Cheapest I could find is the marin team 1 for $1600. Was it just me or was it a few years ago when you could still buy budget bikes/frames with thru axles?
Click to expand...
Most of the sub 2 grand bikes I've seen recently from Trek and Scott and another name brand that escapes me not only had qr axles front and rear but also square taper bottom brackets and 1 1/8" head tubes...on the upside, I must be 15 years younger!
 
caad9

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Seems like it could have come about by parts shortages?
Low end bikes were selling like mad and QR hubs would have been sitting on shelves by the boatload.

I built a Chinese ‘Spycycle’ HT this year and it’s been awesome, total build cost was $1700 but I had a free set of wheels (they are enough to keep me rolling, although barely).
Modern geo, carbon and a pair of frames shipped to Aus was $1200aud
 
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Scotty T

Scotty T

Walks the walk
I tend to agree that for general duties QR rear will be fine esp with a decent thru axle fork. My Iron Horse SGS had a QR rear and it was FS and a freeride bike with 6" travel, with a 20mm thru front, I never noticed rear axle flex.
 
S

Smiker

Likes Dirt
I've been looking into sub 2k or $1500 bikes a little, and the Merida Big Trail would be one of the better frames out there, with a through axle and good geometry, starting from $1399 for a whole bike. And I'm sure they'll have offers better than that at 99. I agree that QR is often fine - but TA is the better choice for sure.
 
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