Well Mark
couldn't hold it in anymore, so I guess we're releasing these a little early...
Stemming from the increasing demand for thru axles on road and cyclocross bikes Paragon Machine Works is pleased to announce we are now offering a new line of 12mm front dropouts and skewers! All three dropouts are steel with 2 flanged versions and 1 flat/tabbed version. At this time we do not have plans to make these in titanium as we view that a 12mm titanium fork would be just too noodly. To complete the package we are offering our very own aluminum
100 x 12mm combination head skewer as well as a 100 x 12mm DT Swiss skewer that can be used with any of the 100 x 12mm hubsets coming this fall. Speaking of which, our wonderful associates at White Industries, Chris King, Paul Components and Industry Nine have all confirmed they will be offering 12mm hubsets this coming fall! I know
Chris King had a prototype set on show at NAHBS this year, so they may be the first to have 12mm hubset available. Unfortunately I don't have any more hub details than above, so I would suggest contacting your favorite manufacturer to get some more details on release dates.
The flanged dropouts come in two varieties, both of which are 1" in diameter and machined from 1018 round bar. They come in a 18mm (
DR2054) width and a 24mm (
DR2055) width to provide a clean aesthetic with the varying fork blade diameters that builders use. If you're planning on using a larger fork blade we suggest bumping up to a 15mm skewer and using our existing 15mm front flanged dropout (
DR2051). DR2054 is the
lightest front dropout we make, coming in at just 57g per pair. The slightly wider, DR2055, is 2g heavier, coming in at 59g per pair.
The flat/tabbed 12mm front dropout (
DR2052) has a 4mm thick tab that works great for 13-15mm fork blades, but can easily be used with some smaller/larger diameter blades. The tab is located slightly inboard so as to try and keep the tab centered in your fork blade. DR2052 is a bit heavier than our flanged versions, coming in at 64g per pair, but it's still much lighter than our 15mm flanged dropouts (105g with aluminum inserts) and even most of our other 10mm front dropout offerings.
Let me know if you have any questions and I'd be happy to answer them. I hope you all had a wonderful ride filled weekend, and I look forward to seeing some forks equipped with these soon!
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