Maxle

[Mikerb]

Out of interest has anyone experienced problems with the Maxle seizing? By seizing I mean it becomes really tight to undo.
I regularly remove the front wheel today my bike into my van on a fork mount. I When I remix the wheel in the bike I use a 6mm Allen and know how much force is needed to achieve the recommended c 12 nm torque. Just recently however after a ride it has been near impossible to undo it with the 6mm Allen key. I have a spare axle and that is fine so there is no problem with the hub or forks. There is no visible damage on the Maxle thread and it is not bent so I can see no reason why it seizes!!
Ps....my spare is an X tools axle. A third of the price of a Maxle and does the same job!!

 

[j_s]

No crud in the thread? Give it a good clean anyway and a touch of antiseize?

 

[Mikerb]

Yep...done all that. There is no undue resistance screwing the axle in with or without the wheel in the forks. The weakest part of the Maxle design is the head. It is fixed and only has a shallow return. Other axle designs have a steel washer behind the head. I said I could not see any damage but there is one part of the inside return of the head....the face that sits on the fork lower....that is shiny rather than black. So I suspect the head is slightly deformed. Ally against ally does stick if not exactly flat!!

 

[RickBullotta]

Older fork without the pinch axle?

 

[Mikerb]

Older fork without the pinch axle?

2021 Lyric Ultimate......not sure what you mean by pinch axle.....is that what the lever type is called? The axle is a Maxle stealth so no lever.

 

[RickBullotta]

2021 Lyric Ultimate......not sure what you mean by pinch axle.....is that what the lever type is called? The axle is a Maxle stealth so no lever.

LOL. Sorry - I was conflating the Maxle (RS) and the Kabolt (Fox). Same thing. The larger Fox forks now have a pinch bolt on the axle similar to a motorcycle fork.

 

[Mikerb]

LOL. Sorry - I was conflating the Maxle (RS) and the Kabolt (Fox). Same thing. The larger Fox forks now have a pinch bolt on the axle similar to a motorcycle fork.

Ah OK...yep My Fox 38s have that on my Whyte...the Lyric does not. There is no problem with alignment of the fork legs though....my spare axle works fine.

 

[flash]

Are you applying grease to the Maxle occasionally?

Gordon

 

[Mikerb]

Are you applying grease to the Maxle occasionally?

Gordon

Yes it is always well greased. I have used some emery paper on the inside face of the axle head tonight and installed it with a torque wrench at 10nm ready for a ride tomorrow. I will see whether that makes any difference when I get back from the ride.

 

[blueglide]

When the front wheel is removed and the forks are placed in the fork mount is there possibly a slight twist in the fork mount? If the fork mounts allow a slight twist it might explain the difficulty removing the Maxle as the Maxle is torqued slightly. It might start out good but after movement in the van the fork gets slight twist??

 

[Mikerb]

Thanks for all the suggestions. As per my previous post I used emery paper to smooth the reverse face of the axle head ( the face that sits against the fork leg) and installed the axle ready for a ride today. Finished the ride...c 18miles..........checked the Maxle when I got back and it was easy to remove.......not seized tight.
So lesson learnt is that because, unlike most other designs, the stealth Maxle has a fixed head, any slight deformation or "pick up" will cause it to bind against the fork leg face. It is well known that ally binds to ally when fixed together as flat surfaces so it is surprising that an expensive item like the Maxle does not avoid that by using a thin steel washer. Simple fix though.