how good are shimano xt and slx hubs?

As above, are they decent quality? I have bad memories or snapping axles on deore hubs when i was younger. If i buy one, it will be a rear 12mm bolt through…

probably as good as Cup & Cone gets….
My preference is Hope and sealed cartridge bearings though. The hope can also be adapted to anything.

Will declare my relative ignorance upfront on this. However. Friend of mine spends half the year as a mechanic for one of the world-cup downhill teams. FWIW he won’t touch Shimano hubs. For him it’s Hope all the way.

I’ve never had problems with Shimano, but they do need servicing. These days I just prefer the ease of sealed bearing systems, just easy to replace the bearings when they fail with the knowledge that you know the hub isn’t knackered and its a 2 min job.

use XT on my SS which gets the worst of the weather

Bit of maintenance on the twice yearly service[tighten and clean/ bit of grease if needed and running fine – 3 years is with nothing changed.

Not fit and forget like sealed bearings/hope type cartridge arrangement but I would be happy to have them again

Bought in a sale and they were cheap not sure what the price is they would need to be 33% less than Hope for me to consider as there is some faffage and less changeable on the front – WR only but not sure if they have changed this

Got a freehub on an XT to change for a mate this week, lasted 6 months before sounding like a metal grinder. Not a great lifespan to be honest.

My experience is that Shimano front hubs last forever with minimal servicing but rears need re-greasing every 3 months and the freehubs are prone to dying after a year or so.

Been running a 525 Deore on my bike for the last 5 yrs, solid and reliable with little more than routine service and the occasional freehub body(rob a new hub and get axle/cones/bearings too). Swapped from the old stalwart Hope XC after regular axle breakages (monthly), and Royce with frequent pawl shattering experiences following a change of frame back in 2007(Hope axles previously lasted around 5 yrs). Not as bling as others, but a freehub swap probably costs less than a bearing set for a Pro2, and much quieter if you don’t crave attention from others.
Edit: 40 odd quid for a bearing set, even more of a bargain to me.

Shimano hubs are the only part of their groupsets I actively avoid/choose something different. They’re not bad as far as cup & cone hubs go – probably the best in fact, but I’d choose a Hope hub over Shimano every time. Spares are easier and cheaper to get, and tiny parts – i.e. in the Hope freehub mechanism are all replaceable – not a complete freehub replacement like Shimano – and RE bearings – you don’t have to use their bearing kits – they’re standard size cartridges that can be had from 1000’s of different places. Price seems better on Hope too, when compared with XTR/Saint prices – XT much cheaper though. Oh, and Hope are British too….

Riding through the grinding paste that has constituted my local trails for the last 12 months, I wouldn’t touch Shimano hubs with the proverbial barge pole! Primitive technology that has no place on a modern bike IMHO. I’m amazed a company like Shimano still churns them out on anything other than on really cheap stuff – and XT ain’t cheap. I know people say they’re serviceable, but it only takes 5 minutes to shove a new set of cartridge bearings in a Hope hub, every few years.

There are plenty of other sealed cartridge bearing hubs other than Hope. All of which are a far better option than Shimano’s. Hopes seem to last forever though

I know people say they’re serviceable, but it only takes 5 minutes to shove a new set of cartridge bearings in a Hope hub, every few years

If they come out easily 😉

Not sure if i have sent more than 30 mins on mine in all the years of ownership and I do it as part of a service where i would also check my Hope ones as well

Have always been a big fan of XT hubs I get a bit of a buzz out of setting the bearings up just so. I think they spin more freely than cartridge hubs as well.

Have only had one fail that was a few years ago the pawls in the freehub broke. Routine maintenance is not excessive imho maybe the original grease is not the greatest quality but otherwise they don’t need much attention. My latest two pairs have run for best part of a year without any attention

They’re good and reliable, I prefer Hope, but only because I’m to lazy to regrease the cup n cone bearings once or twice a year. Look after them and they’ll outlast most sealed hubs on the market

Tom kp

I love them! They are reliable and don’t need much servicing, and
servicing is cheap relative to replacing cartrige bearings. I’ve been running an XT M775 wheelset for about 3 years and I think I’ve only had to re-grase the rear hub once. The bearings run really smooth and weight wise, I think you’d find it hard to beat them. The M775 wheelset’s great value for money too.

I know people say they’re serviceable, but it only takes 5 minutes to shove a new set of cartridge bearings in a Hope hub, every few years

Or every few months in some cases, at £20 a time…..

Why would anyone want to service hubs these days? Weirdos! 😉

as said, Shimano are okay if you service them regularly. They aren’t light though.

Hopes are okay but only okay IME. Bearings go too quickly but are easy to swap out and the axle options are a big plus as different frames often have QR/maxle/135/142 etc.

XT hubs are (or atleast were) really good, the xt wheels with the fat axles have got pretty shonky freehubs, not so good. Still got an ancient XT front wheel that’s never been serviced as they needed something like a 14 and a 17 cone spanner which I haven’t got, still spins well.
But cup and cone mean you can’t convert them to the latest standard and you need to keep an eye on them as if they do go wonky it’s kinda terminal.

They aren’t light though

You sure? I was thinking of upgrading my M775 XT wheelset and checked their weight against the equivalent with Hope or King hubs + Stans ZTR Floes or Mavic 819 + DB spokes/alloy nipples and the XT’s come out a bit lighter. Maybe it’s not the hubs but the XT’s 24 spoke count? wheelbuilder.com gives you the build-up weights and Shimano clain 1677g for the M775’s.
Still, hard to beat the M775 weight/strength and no way can you beat them for price.

Shimano cup and cone hubs, serviced regularly, will probably outlast most other hubs.

Over on Retrobike people still use Shimano M900, M730, Deore DX hubs that have been going for 15-20yrs plus with no problems. If you ride very regularly regrease every 3 months at the most, which costs a couple of pounds for the bearings (at the most) and 20mins work.

But then again you need some mechanical skill to look after them (although not much), most people who shun them wouldn’t know which end of a hammer to hold even if you showed them. :rollseyes: