Is anyone running xt wheels??.. Loose ball bearings?…any good?

made the mistake of building 2 wheelsets with XT hubs a few years ago

both constantly worked loose on the rear hub on both bikes, no amount of adjustment / spannering would cure this issue (I was a bike mechanic)

I ended up selling both and getting wheels built with Gusset Jury and Hope Pro II hubs (both with sealed cartridge bearings) and no problems to report apart from a bearing change every 2-3 years

I ran a pair for about 2 years and they were perfect. However…..I had not maintained them in the slightest, so when the free hub eventually went (should have been £30 fix) I found out all the bearings and surfaces were knackered.

So….had I actually looked after them, I’m sure they’d still be going strong!

Mmmm 1-1 so far then guys!!… I dont get shimano using cup & cone on xt wheels!!?

I’m an ardent spannerist, and yet found Shimano cup and cone bearings a nightmare to keep running sweet. Even though I enjoy faffing and fettling, there was something unrewarding about trying to keep them running smoothly. On one wheelset it was virtually impossible to find the sweet spot, and when I did it lasted perhaps two rides before I was back on with the cone spanners. Now that we have good cheap sealed cartridge bearing hubs, I would find it hard to recommend them.

I’ve got a set of m778s. Bomb proof, light, never missed a beat. Very good wheels

Aaarghh 2-2 still level love for the ‘mano #coners!!.. Surely once the locknuts are done up theyre good to go?.. But wait….with them not being sealed,wont all the slop just flow in there??…..what to do!!!????

They are sealed, you can just take the bearing assembly apart. As an engineering solution, cup and cone is superior and can be adjusted correctly.

I found them a huge pain the proverbial. Does that help?

@giantx4

its not a case that Shimano hubs are not sealed

they are adequately sealed, and having been trained by Shimano (as a mechanic) I understand why they use loose ball bearing hubs – in the ‘lab’ these have less rolling resistance than ‘sealed, cartridge bearing’ hubs

but the experience in the ‘real world’ might tell you that keeping loose ball bearing hubs in good order in terms of adjustment, is a pain in the ass compared to the simplicity of the sealed cartridge bearing hubs that are common to many aftermarket brands. loads on the axle seem to cause the cones to backup, causing play to develop.

the big advantage of the sealed cartridge bearing hubs is that once the bearing is shot, it can be knocked out and a new bearing pressed into place

a big problem with Shimano is that many of their hubs do not have replaceable bearing races, or that these races are not available in the UK which means the hub is toast once the races are pitted (which happens easily when hub keeps coming loose). this means a wheel rebuild or a new wheel.

as an example, I recently went to a bearing supplier and paid £10 for 2 sealed SKS bearings for my Specialized Stout hub which was 2 years and never looked at, but had started running rough and a little lateral play which was affecting the front disc brake

10 minutes after bringing the bearings into the workshop, and using a Hope tool set to press the new bearings into the hub, it feels as new, and the SKS bearings will probably last considerably longer than the 2 years the cheapo stock sealed bearings lasted

Every shimano hub I’ve had has eventually failed due to bearings (probably caused by lack of maintenance).

Personally I go cartridge these days where ever possible. Maintenance and repair is far easier for me over the lifetime of the wheel.

I have my commuter’s XT set apart just now, giving them some new grease before the real weather comes along.
Think they are 770s and they are even easier to take apart than the older sets with all the cone nuts.
If you don’t have the time to faff about getting them set up right ,get a set of cartridge hubs.
I don’t find them hard work and they do run nice.

@fasthaggis

I am glad your commuting bike is working well with the shimano hubs

I use Shimano R500 road wheels on my 700c commuter and have had no issues with them developing play, I adjusted the rear hub once a few weeks after fitment and its been fine since

from my experience, it seems to be an issue once you start abusing the loose ball hubs /wheels in a mountain bike environment?

Hey guys!..thankyou all for your vital info on this matter!.. I hate loose play in any bearing wether it be wheels bb or any of em…. I will give this some thought thanks..#undecided..theres a pair on offer for £125ish

I’ve had a Pair of XTs on my Hard Tail for the past couple of years and, touch wood, they’ve been fine. They actually really surprised me the abuse they’ve tolerated, especially as that tends to be a winter hack bike.

Fbk how often you grease bearings & tweak cones??

@esher shore. You’ve described my experience with them. You can get them bang on in the workshop, but they always seem to develop play. You can replace the cone but not the race, and it didn’t take many miles on my daughter’s bike for the slop to get in, the grease to turn to brown paste and the races to pit.

I”ve got a set of XT wheels. The rims are absolutely bombproof, they are constantly abused by my sketchy line choices and they are still dead true. No issues with the hubs either. If I feel a bit of play in the rear hub they get adjusted. Its really not a hard job. Although you do need a stupid big cone spanner for the front hub because its a 20mm bolt through. They are good solid wheels. I’d have no issue recommending them

Partial to them on the commuter – good value / performance and I can just about do enough maintenance to keep on top of them. Wouldn’t run them on a MTB – don’t have enough bike tlc to deal with them in the dirt.

Saying that, the front xt hub on my CX bike appears to be self-tightening at the moment, which I don’t understand. It seized and stripped the axle – I opened it up, cleaned, new bearings and rebuilt with a new axle and it’s starting to tighten up again. Cones and races appear fine. Anyone know how this could be happening?

I wonder how suitable cup and cone is with discs. I’ve got an old Deore set on a barely ridden jump bike and they developed enough slop to vary the disc alignment as I rode. I’m thinking perhaps the effect is worse with discs because there’s not the same opportunity for flex compared to rim brakes.

I’ve got XT hubs on my 719s. Built by Merlin and maybe 3/4 months old. The rear sounds awful when it spins, like it’s a dry hub. Front is fine but is it normal for new hubs to arrive with little or no grease in them?

just need to get correct spanners and I’ll regrease them

An XT wheel set user here. 1.5k miles on my singlespeed mtb, zero maintenance. Still sweet-as. 🙂