Mountain bike wheel held by its thru-axle in an Orange bench vise with ZED0 soft jaws

Your Vise Is Already a Wheel Holder

Every time I replace a tire I end up doing the same dumb dance. Wheel against my hip, knee on the rim, one hand on the lever, the other hand trying to hold the bead and the wheel at the same time. The wheel rolls. The lever pops. I swear at it. You know the dance.

Shops solve this with a wheel holder. Park Tool makes one, the WH-1, and there are a few others like it. It bolts to the bench or hangs off a repair stand and holds the wheel by the axle so you have both hands free. Good tool. It also does exactly one thing, eats bench space, and I already had a perfectly good vise sitting two feet away.

So I made jaws for the vise.

A mountain bike wheel held by its thru-axle in an Orange Bench Vise with ZED0 thru-axle soft jaws
Front wheel off the Yeti, hanging off the Orange vise by its Maxle.

How it works

These swap in for the stock steel jaws. Two screws per side, same holes. Each jaw has four half-round grooves cut across the face. Run the bike's own thru-axle through the hub, set the axle ends in a matching pair of grooves, close the vise. The wheel is now hanging off the front of the bench by its axle with the rotor, cassette and tire all out in the open. Both hands free. Nothing rolls anywhere.

The jaws are carbon fiber polyamide, made here in Austin. Stiff enough that the wheel does not wiggle when you lean on a lockring tool. Soft enough that your anodized Maxle comes out looking like it went in.

A RockShox Maxle seated in the 15 mm groove of ZED0 thru-axle soft jaws
A Maxle in the 15 mm groove. The other three sizes run along the same seam.

What fits

  • 12 mm. Rear thru-axles on basically every modern mountain bike (12x142, Boost 12x148, Super Boost 12x157), and front and rear on road and gravel. Maxle Stealth, DT Swiss RWS, Syntace X-12, Shimano, Robert Axle Project.
  • 15 mm. Mountain bike fronts: 15x100, Boost 15x110, 15x150 fat. Maxle Stealth and Ultimate, Fox Kabolt and Kabolt-X, Shimano E-Thru, 15 mm gravel forks.
  • 20 mm. DH and freeride fronts, 20x110 Boost and the old 20x110. Fox 36, 38 and 40 with 20 mm axles, Maxle DH, BoXXer.
  • 14 mm. Solid bolt-on rear axles on BMX and dirt jump hubs.

Not for 5 mm or 9 mm quick release skewers. Too skinny, the grooves will not grab them.

What I actually use them for

  • Tires, rim tape, valve stems. Any time the bead comes off. This is most of it for me.
  • Hub work. Bearings, freehub bodies, end caps, preload. The wheel sits still and you can see what you are doing.
  • Cassettes. Hold the wheel, break the lockring loose, swap, done.
  • Everything else on a wheel. Truing, rotor swaps, sealant top ups, or just getting a good look at something without putting the whole bike in the stand.

What vise

Any of the vises I make them for works. Fixed head, swivel base, whatever you have. Where it gets really good is a vise with a rotating head and a swivel base, like the Yost 750-DI. Rotate the head and the wheel goes from vertical to flat without unclamping, which is perfect for sealant and valve work. Swivel the base and the wheel turns to face you. My Orange vise does neither and I still use these jaws on it every week. You just pick your angle when you clamp.

Swapping jaws is a one beer job

Less, honestly. Two screws per jaw. I keep the solid face pair in the vise most of the time and drop the axle pair in when a wheel comes off. If you want both, the sets are a few bucks cheaper than buying the pairs separately.

Get the pair for your vise

Thru-axle jaws for the Orange Bench Vise, the Craftsman Pro 4.5" (951888) and the Yost 750-DI. Made to order here in Austin, usually out the door in two business days. If your vise is not on the list, send me the make and model and I will see what I can do.

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