Titanium axles to replace Shimano's offering?

I have a pair of XT 730/2 hubs with the standard axles, but remember that Titanium axle kits used to be available for them.

The axles used throughout the early 90's were all the same style in Shimano hubs from memory.

I've been searching for some for a while now, and nothing comes up. I seem to think there was an ebay seller that was actually making them up until about 2/3 years ago.

Anybody know where I can find some, or is there someone willing to make a batch?

Does nobody remember these at all?

I remember them (SRP of course will have sold some), I also think one of the Shimano probably XTR M9xx range used them for a while (could be wrong on that)

http://www.tibolts.co.uk/Shop%20Catagor ... -Kits.html think they can make anything you need ?

Front will be 9mm diameter & 110mm long
Rear will be 10mm diameter and 141/146mm long depending on you OLD
inner diameter should be 5.3mm

1mm threading iirc and I think my axle length are correct, i.e. about 5mm extra either side.

m950 rear hubs have ti axles. They're the same dimensions as their steel axles. Best bet is to find one that is thrashed or cracked and transplant the axle.

SRP did Ti axles for Shmoo.

http://www.bikepro.com/products/hubs/hubs_srp.shtml

Thanks.

So, are M950 axles really Ti, and are they not different from M900 and M730/2?

Benandemu":tmlr0l69 said:

So, are M950 axles really Ti, and are they not different from M900 and M730/2?

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Sancho's quite right. M950 rear axles are titanium, and they're interchangeable with all standard Shimano rear hubs with a 10mm axle. I bought a couple as parts kits with M950 cones attached on eBay a few years ago, and one of them now resides in an M732 hub. M950 front axles are aluminium, and aren't compatible with the pre-parallax front hubs.

From the mid eighties until very recently, nearly all Shimano rear hubs have used a standard 10mm x 1mm axle.

M960 hubs had titanium axles front and rear. This is getting a bit modern for me, but I'm fairly sure that the M960 front axle is M10, while most classic shimano front hubs use an M9.

If you really want to go super light, a company called Magnum used to make heat-treated M9 and M10 aluminium axles for Shimano hubs. I've got a pair, but I've never dared use them.

Yes, I used to notice them on ebay up until a year or so ago. Never since, although I was always nervous about using them anyway and didn't exactly look for them.

Haven't bumped into them for a while now... :?

Surely using alloy axles is no different from what most hub manufacturers do in their quest to drop weight.
If I cast my eye over my own collection of hubs they are all alloy axles...
White Industries
Hope
Middleburn
Nuke proof

I would rather use ti, but alloy should be fine.
Even if it snapped, it's still clamped in the fork!

Cheers for info, I'll get hunting...

Benandemu":3772cbsn said:

Surely using alloy axles is no different from what most hub manufacturers do in their quest to drop weight.

Click to expand...

Most aluminium axles I've come across have been oversized to a certain degree, and most are threadless. The Magnum axles are dimensionally identical copies of steel axles in a weaker material.

A 9mm threaded hollow axle modeled on a Shimano steel axle only has an effective diameter of about 7.5mm because of the depth of thread. Aluminium axles designed to press-fit into cartridge bearings are typically 12mm or so in diameter (often fatter) and smooth. That puts a lot more material where it's needed.

Even if it snapped, it's still clamped in the fork!

Click to expand...

That's true.