Centre lock or 6 bolt disc hubs for road disc wheels?

I’ve read that centre lock are better for road because of the extra forces generated due to the grip of the tyres on tarmac.

Please discuss

I’ve got Giant’s PSLRO Disc carbon jobbies and they use 6 bolt fitting. Everything feels fine, even under hard braking. I’m in the Alps at the moment, so there’s been some hard braking… Also, so many MTBs use 6 bolt with wide, grippy tyres on all sorts of terrain without issue, so I don’t see why road bikes would be any different.

I’ve read that centre lock are better for road because of the extra forces generated due to the grip of the tyres on tarmac.

You are kidding right? Please tell me you’re kidding.

Like I said that’s what I’ve read.

The argument that it came from was that off road the tyres break away first due to the surface that the tyre is rolling over. On the road the tyre doesn’t break away as early leading to greater forces going through the disc.

6-bolt are lighter and a bigger range of discs. That’s what I use.

best wheels are Tune hubs on LB carbons
commuter is Hope Pro2EVO on Archetypes

Whoever wrote that was guessing, at best.

Not based on science, but I’m sure I can get more force through my Mtb brakes than road. Road always appears to lock up sooner with less force

Centrelock for road, as 140mm ice tech frezza rotors are only available in centre lock, which shimano recommends for their hydraulic disc brakes

When do the discussions about non-radially laced wheels begin??

From a mechanical point of view, yes a splined interface is a better way to transmit torque, but then 6bolt hubs have a pretty good history for doing the same job…

You can of course get adaptors to let you use 6 bolt rotors on a centrelock hub, best of both worlds?

Where oh where did you read this shit?

I’ve read that centre lock are better for road because of the extra forces generated due to the grip of the tyres on tarmac.

I’ve read some unbelievable bollocks on road disc brakes but this beats even the wildest piles of shit from the likes of random road.cc forum users!

I’ve read that centre lock are better for road because of the extra forces generated due to the grip of the tyres on tarmac.

I think it’s simply a misunderstanding of how loads are applied to a disc brake.
the loads applied to the disc’s connection to the hub have very little to do with tyre grip, and more to do with kinetic energy (good old 1/2mv^2) generally an MTB will be a bit heavier but possibly not moving as fast, where a road bike might be decelerating from a higher speed, but will often weigh less (ignoring the meat sacks sat on top of these hypothetical bikes of course).

Broadly speaking I would expect the rotor on either type of bike to see about the same amounts of torque at the hub connection, both means of connection are more than adequate so I wouldn’t let it sway the choice, Base it on wheel weight and/or price instead maybe…

Cookieaa energy will affect heat not forces. Road will see more heat from a single stop but higher speeds will give more cooling airflow
Back to the original question- either will be fine. Both are strong enough to take forces on dry tarmac so it really doesn’t matter which you have.
I’d be far more worried about overheating.

I’d better not brake hard on tarmac riding my CX..

The only advantage of centerlock is for manufacturers being able to fit disks quickly on an assembly line with a single power tool rather than fiddle with six small allen bolts.

centre lock are better for road

What did this article mean by ‘better’, I wonder?

Can’t be much in it weight-wise between Centrelock and 6-bolt fittings?

What did this article mean by ‘better’, I wonder?

That they’re better than they are for MTB, because on the road shimano (and therefore splined) hubs will still be quite common?

Or due to the QR’s and small diameter bolt through axles they’ll be able to use the older centerlock standard with freehub lockrings, not the larger one needed for MTB’s that required another tool?

I’ve got centre lock discs, I’m gonna brake really hard on the way home safe in the knowledge that my discs are better for road use.

Am I allowed to brake hard on the canal tow path though??? 😕

That they’re better than they are for MTB, because on the road shimano (and therefore splined) hubs will still be quite common?

sounds like “more convenient” rather than “better” 🙂

Pro2 and archetypes are commuter budget wheels now? My road bike must be tragically crap.

sounds like “more convenient” rather than “better”

Poe’s Law states:
“”Without a clear indication of the author’s intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.

Both solutions are fine, bolt’s are the standard on anything with an engine, and splines were used on older car hubs. The downside is that is one bolt falls off a 6-bolt hub nothing much will happen, if one bolt comes loose on a centerlock hub it’ll knacker the splines.

I’ve Open Pros with an XT 6 bolt hub on my commuter bike for 5 years (disc wheel sets were hard to come by back then at a decent spec and price) – have been fine on savage descents when racing down stuff.

I have precisely the same as Saccades on my caadx which I use for road riding. I happen to be a particularly heavy meatsack (110kg) so have tested these 6-bolts to their logical limit when descending fast.

my road disc brakes lock up and skid really easily because slick tyres and teeny contact patch.

my DH bike has 3″ sticky rubber tyres on and 203mm rotors and don’t skid unless I really try.

both are 6 bolt.

Centrelock gives you access to 140mm shimano freeza rotors, great cooling in small package. Shimano won’t make freeza 140mm in 6 bolt as they claim there is not enough mass to act as heatsink compared to centrelock.

Giant had this issue with their DT Swiss 6 bolt road disc wheel on the new hydro brake Defy and had TRP make a 140mm rotor with floating track and big alloy spider to help with cooling.

I have precisely the same as Saccades on my caadx which I use for road riding. I happen to be a particularly heavy meatsack (110kg) so have tested these 6-bolts to their logical limit when descending fast.

Hehe – alfine hub on the back too? and I’m only 100kg 😉