Upgrade your disc road bike with the Lightning Bolt-On Axle

Want to shed a few grammes from your disc-equipped road bike? US firm The Robert Axle Project has sent us news of its Lightning thru-axle which it reckons can save a bit of weight over the standard thru-axles that come on modern road bikes, good news if you thought your thru-axles were too heavy and holding you back from unleashing your full potential.

The company specialises in thru-axles for mountain bikes but says it has seen a lot of interest in recent years from road cyclists wanting to upgrade disc-equipped road bikes, of which there are now many to choose from. 

It has developed the Lightning Bolt-On Axle to be a lighter weight and lower profile alternative to the, and we’re quoting the company here, “ugly and bulky thru-axle levers on your bike.”

It claims a 15mm thru-axle weighs 53g while a 12mm rear thru-axle is as light as 40g. We’ve never actually felt inclined to weigh a thru-axle before, but we’re off to do that right now.

The thru-axles are CNC-machined in Bend, Oregon from 7075 aluminium and hard anodised. The company saves weight from the thru-axle by removing unnecessary material from the centre.

Instead of a lever on the end of the thru-axle, the Lightning Bolt-On Axle uses a 6mm Allen bolt so you’ll need to make sure you have a mini-tool on your person or bike in case of a wheel change out in the wild. The benefit though is a more aerodynamic design according to the company. 

"I was surprised to see many of the new disc-brake equipped road bikes are stocked with bulky thru-axles that are heavy and not aerodynamic in the very least,” says Chris Kratsch, President of Robert Axle Project. 

“So we created a lighter, lower profile alternative. This literally came about after going for a mountain bike ride with a buddy who kept bashing his rear axle handle into rocks. His thru axle was completely beat up from the wear and tear and not only looked terrible, but was starting to come loose. Not something you want to happen on a remote mountain bike ride. We've done our research and we're trying to fit as many bikes as possible, which we've added to our Fitment Selector on our website.”

It offers a range of options to cater for many different thru-axles currently on the market, with a Fitment Selector to making choosing the right one easy.

The Lightning Bolt-On Axles cost from £33.99 and are available direct from https://robertaxleproject.com or via www.sjscycles.co.uk in the UK. 

There has long been a market for lightweight, often titanium spindle, replacement quick release skewers on road and mountain bikes over the years, with weight weenies keen to lose weight from every part of the bike. But this is the first time we've heard of the same for disc road bikes. Do you own a disc-equipped road bike and will you be looking to try and shed a few morsels of weight?