Budget XC wheel build with Shimano hubs – 6 bolt or Centrelock fitting?

I'm looking into a budget XC disc wheel build for a mate, but Hope hubs are quite a bit beyond his price range, so I guess it will have to be Shimano SLX or XT in their standard size, not 15 or 20mm, with 160mm rotors.

Which Shimano disc hub design do people recommend – 6 bolt or Centrelock? Are there significant advantages/disadvantages to each, e.g. weight? He hasn't got the brakes yet, but will probably end up with SLX I imagine, or perhaps Avids with a Centelock rotor if needed.

Thanks….

Centrelock is easier to fit but needs the correct tool (Cassette tool I think)

6 bolt is more versitle because everyone does 6 bolt discs.

Weight? Can't be much in it either way….

Not true, the XT six bolt hubs are quite heavy, I know because I bought them. Excluding QR the front hub is ~244g and the rear hub is ~435g. The euqivalent centrelock XT front hub/rear are ~230g and ~411g respectively, INCLUDING QR skewers (according to shimano website). A pair of XT skewers weight ~122g so thats not insignificant. On the flipside of the coin, the six-bolt hubs are still high quality and cheaper in comparison.

@poppa

I've just worked out something similar! Centrelock and 6 bolt rotor weights appear to be about the same but the latest Centrelock hub designs are much lighter than the 6 bolt ones which preceded them.

@PeterPoddy

Thanks – I didn't know about the tool for fitting Centrelock.

It looks like Centrelock is the way ahead then…..

The centre lock disc must be a little bit heavier though…

I think six-bolt hubs from other manufacturers are lighter than the Shimano ones. Plus, judging by weight weenies, centrelock rotors tend to be ~10g more than the equivalent six-bolt.

Right, if you'll excuse me I am now feeling profound shame and self-loathing for my weenie-ism, and am off to shoot myself.

if it is on a budget have a look at centre lock rotor prices – not a lot of cheep ones last time i was looking.

According to Shimano, their 160mm Centrelock rotors weigh as follows:
153g SLX SM-RT64
151g XT SM-RT78

Like poppa says, that's only a few grams heavier than the equivalent 6 bolt version. Since the C/L hubs are far less heavy, that's a weight win for Shimano C/L over Shimano 6 bolt, assuming the performance, longevity etc. of both systems is similar.

@thomthumb – true, but I think the trade-off is worth it….