My axle came loose 50 times in one ride.

[Perry Lesko]

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? If so I would really appreciate some advice.

 

[The Kalmyk]

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? If so I would really appreciate some advice.

Im willing to bet there is zero experience on the board with 50. Good luck 🍀

 

[Xler8]

How tight was it?

 

[Karate Monkey]

Lots of info missing. Type of bike, type/brand of axle, mechanical aptitude [sorry, it's relevant].

Just wild guesses, so I'm going to say: cheap cam-over QR through axle, and the bolt that holds the cam on is loose.

 

[jackx]

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? If so I would really appreciate some advice.

Never had that happen on my axel, but it is torqued at 18Nm. Never had it happen on my old bike even, which had a QR through-axel.

 

[Patrick]

My rear axle comes loose every 10 rides or so. Nothing as severe as mentioned.
i know it happened when the shifting gets wonky.

 

[extremedave]

Check the end caps on the hub? If they’re threaded style they can loosen up then your axle can’t fully tighten the whole assembly. Had this happen on various wheels.
or something is super duper jacked up.

 

[Perry Lesko]

It’s a through axle on a 2020 Trek slash. I would crank it as tight as I dared. ride a couple hundred yards and it would be loose again. I had to resort to zip typing the stock axle wrench in place to hold it.

 

[pooriggy]

How are the threads that it screws into, maybe they are stripped?

 

[Perry Lesko]

I pulled out the axle mid ride and it looked perfect.

 

[icebiker]

How are the threads that it screws into, maybe they are stripped?

This. While the thread on the bolt may be good, the frame/fork into which the bolt screws could have toasted threads.

 

[mwlikesbikes]

Front or rear? What brand of fork?

 

[Karate Monkey]

If it's the axle with removable handle, make it is tight as you can by hand.

It can, obviously, also be used with a regular hex key.

Just for shiggles, though, remove it and make sure the dropouts are tight. One side uses a rather large socket (21mm?), the other side is a reverse threaded 8mm hex, if it's the new stuff with a SRAM derailleur hanger.

 

[Steve Vai]

How long was the ride?

 

[Perry Lesko]

The problem started about 1 hour into a 4 hour ride.
it’s the rear axle.

 

[pkovo]

Just spit balling here as I've never had that happen, but could bad wheel bearings play into this? If they have play, or are tight, could they be exerting force on the axle and helping it to loosen up?

Keep in mind I am no mechanic and this is a complete stab in the dark

 

[BPaze]

I’ve had an issue with a thru axle becoming lose although not this severe, I replaced my thru axle and it resolved the problem.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I pulled out the axle mid ride and it looked perfect.

Is it a quick lock thru axle? Maybe you are tightening it too much and not flipping the cam over center like u should?

 

[Dave Taylor]

Looks like this? Betting you didn’t tighten it “properly”.

 

[Karate Monkey]

@Dave Taylor it's probably the new 'stealth' axle for SRAM hangers. Has a 12mm FINE (not the normal coarse) thread on it. AFAIK, nobody makes a cam-over quick release for it.

Either it isn't tight enough to start, or there is something wrong with the axle/RH dropout.