Dropout fork protector?

Pbassred · Post by **Pbassred** » 9 Apr 2026, 1:32pm

Does anyone know where to buy a tube to put between your forks when you take the front wheel out for transport? Specifically for a through axle bike. I thought it would be really easy to find. I could make one if I could find some 1/2 inch bore tube, but they must be out there.

cyclop · Post by **cyclop** » 9 Apr 2026, 1:58pm

Plumbers merchants ?15mm copper pipe?...not worth buying a length though.Any pals ,dads etc will have a section maybe.Tape up the ends though to save the paintwork....

Mike Sales · Post by **Mike Sales** » 9 Apr 2026, 2:20pm

When a new boxed bike arrives at a dealers it will have a piece of plastic designed to do this job between the forks. When the bike is assembled there is no further use for this, so you should be able to beg one from the shop.

rareposter · Post by **rareposter** » 9 Apr 2026, 3:08pm

Pbassred wrote: 9 Apr 2026, 1:32pm Does anyone know where to buy a tube to put between your forks when you take the front wheel out for transport?

Put the thru axle back into the dropouts. That way it can't get lost!

Mine came with a stack of cardboard in it, you could easily make the same using off-cuts then use the existing thru axle to hold it together.

531colin · Post by **531colin** » 9 Apr 2026, 6:54pm

Does it need to be strong enough to make the forks baggage-handler proof?

Rob D · Post by **Rob D** » 9 Apr 2026, 9:05pm

Agree with Mike - that's what we do. Worth looking for stronger ones, they're not all the same.

Tape them on so they can't come off.
Baggage handlers can be brutal - we've had 2 break, but miraculously, no damage to the forks.

Pbassred · Post by **Pbassred** » 9 Apr 2026, 9:39pm

Thank you all. Reset statements:
Put the thru axle back in. That's a no-brainer but it doesn't stop the forks being smashed together. It needs a tube between the forks.
Ask the bike shop? Its a hundred miles away and they already provided a box of unused bits and off cuts including an off cut from the seatpost. There's one from the rear frame. but not the fork.
It difficult to believe that no one makes something already. If I need to DIY it there is always carbon tube.

Post by **slowster** » 9 Apr 2026, 9:51pm

The logical solution would be to use an appropriately sized axle. The axle would not need to be the same brand as the hub of your wheel: any axle of the correct size for the fork should do.

Shimano and others sell spare axles for their thru axle hubs, but they cost upwards of £20, and the front axles seem to be less commonly available than the rears.

What appear to be much more readily available and cheaper, are adapters to convert 15mm thru axle hubs to accept 12mm thru axles. I assume your fork takes a 12mm thru axle, so if 1.5mm thickness aluminium tube would suffice/be strong enough, I would get one of those adapters. This one is for 100mm spacing (as opposed to 110mm Boost standard spacing), and I expect you could find one cheaper on Amazon or ebay, since you would only be using it as a spacer:

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/halo-15m ... ront-axle?

Post by **slowster** » 9 Apr 2026, 11:59pm

slowster wrote: 9 Apr 2026, 9:51pm The logical solution would be to use an appropriately sized axle.

It occurs to me that you might also need end caps, and that might complicate things.

MartinC · Post by **MartinC** » 10 Apr 2026, 10:59am

Go to the hardware shop and buy some long coach bolts and nuts and washers. Put the bolt through the drop outs with nuts and washers either side of the drop outs and tighten lightly.

Rob D · Post by **Rob D** » 10 Apr 2026, 11:47am

Could you not use threaded rod, cut to length? Should be readily available.

fatmac · Post by **fatmac** » 10 Apr 2026, 1:59pm

Easy solution, just use a spare/cheap hub of correct width, it's what I'd do.

Will · Post by **Will** » 10 Apr 2026, 2:35pm

Pbassred wrote: 9 Apr 2026, 1:32pm Does anyone know where to buy a tube to put between your forks when you take the front wheel out for transport? Specifically for a through axle bike. I thought it would be really easy to find. I could make one if I could find some 1/2 inch bore tube, but they must be out there.

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/c ... 0843952266

Will

AndyB1 · Post by **AndyB1** » 10 Apr 2026, 5:46pm

The last couple of times I have taken a bike abroad in a cardboard bike box I have put the fork ends into plastic protection pieces and made sure that they sit on a block of polystyrene foam about 2 inches thick which is in the bottom of the box. I have wondered about fitting the Q/R skewer and a tube between the fork legs but it seemed unnecessary. If I was going to do that I would use a bit of scrap plastic pipe so it did not damage the paint. Reversing the forks keeps them away from the end of the box

Mtb tourer · Post by **Mtb tourer** » 13 Apr 2026, 9:35am

As the above post, scrap plastic water pipe or plastic 20mm conduit . If you don't want to buy it's the recycling dump to find.

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Dropout fork protector?

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