Straw poll – XT splined vs 6 bolt hubs

I will do a search… but opinions welcome.

Ta.

6 bolt ones are really heavy, Centre-Lock ones aren’t.

splined hubs are lighter than 6 bolt but the funky aluminium spiders dont fit all manufacturers brake calipers

I’d go splines if I was starting from scratch but as things stand I have no intention of ever buying one as I’ve loads of 6b spares.

(same for 15mm forks ‘n’shit)

I have both on various bikes. Splined are nice and light and a doddle to fit. 6-bolt is more universal. In terms of caliper compatibility, I trimmed a tab off my Avid pads and now they fit the Shimano rotors fine.

Got both and as said above splined are v easy to fit and you can use anodised 12t cassette lock rings for a bit of added colour.

I found that you need to be careful if using XTR splined rotors with BB7 and Juicy’s as the tabs that stick out the bottom of the pads catch on the spider. XT or below are fine with all tho

you can always get 6 bolt adapters if you ever need to run 6 bolt discs but can’t fit centrelock discs to 6 bolt hubs.

No chance of one of the 6 little bolts seizing either.

As said, C/L rotors are very easy to fit, no real worries about xthreading, stripping the bolt head etc. I think the only downside with C/L is you’re limited to certain hubs. I’ve been on C/L for the last 6 years, but now having to change over due to my choice of new wheels.

This isnt helpful but I’ve never had one and I will never ever buy one – either wheel, hub, brake etc. I dont know why but yet another “standard” just leaves me cold. I may be missing some bargains but I’ve got enough going on!

couldashouldawoulda – Member

This isnt helpful but I’ve never had one and I will never ever buy one – either wheel, hub, brake etc. I dont know why but yet another “standard” just leaves me cold. I may be missing some bargains but I’ve got enough going on!

🙄 eh?

Centrelock are so much sweeter than 6 bolt

Hope 3-bolt hubs and rotors anyone?

I’ve used both XT discs fittings with the alloy carriers. I love the splined for ease of fitment but the 6 bolt is more common and that what my Hopes take so my choice.
The Shimano discs are by far the best disc I’ve used. None of them have gone out of true unlike the Hope floaters I had fitted before that need constant tweaking. The breaking surface seems to give better bite too using the same pads.

Downside on the splined if using 15 or 20mm axles is that you need the bottom bracket style lockring instead of the cassette tool style. The aftermarket discs come with the cassette tool style locking meaning another lockring is needed at around £15, something to keep in mind.

druidh – Member
Hope 3-bolt hubs and rotors anyone?

Now that you mention that – I’ve got some of those. And it’s partly why I’d never buy another “new” standard.

6 bolts. Thats it. Not too many. Not too few. Just about right. Still I’ll never buy anything centrelocked (sounds too close to brandlocked).

6 bolt. Splined will always have some slop in it, it will be heavier, its purely about shimano locking you into their proprietry “standards”

it will be heavier,

yes if you choose it over someone else’s cartridge bearing hubs. If you stick with the shimano range you need to get xt hubs and those spangly alu spider 6 bolt hubs to get lighter than slx cl and cl rotor for a given rotor size. Weight-for money if you shop around and buy your rotors off the classifieds from someone who doesn’t need them you will get excellent value for money. Hope are of course great, but the cost! If you like qr hubs and are sensible about servicing them its a no-brainer for me.

Splined will always have some slop in it,

7 or 8 centerlok hubs have gone through the wilson household, (currently 5 still on our bikes) and we got slop on 2 of them, which was sorted out with blue ‘pritt stick’ type threadlock and correct torque 🙂 on the lockring.

Perhaps we are lucky but our cl rotors have never needed tweaking whereas 6 bolt ones do from time to time. Can’t say i notice a difference in ‘bite’ changing between cl and hayes/avid/formula rotors on the same brakes/pad/bike.

The 20 and 15mm hubs should be supplied with the lockring which is ludicrously overpriced as a spare from Madison.

Most annoying thing for me would be needing extra tools as the cassette tool needs to be deeper/longer to clear the locknuts on the rear hub so usually means struggling with your old cassette tool before you realise you need a slightly different one. 😕

Oh and my experience of the 20mm front hubs has been rather poor, again you need a specific tool (28mm cone spanner) to service them and its a huge faff getting them to stay done up again.

So if i was buying normal qr hubs I would definitely still go CL over 6 bolt given the positive experience with the 6 we’ve had so far but I really wouldn’t touch the 15/20mm ones again.

4 bolt. 🙂

My OH’s brother has xtr cl rotors on xtr wheels and there was a small problem with Elixir brakes, however a very thin shim putting the caliper a bit higher (around 2mm max) sorted it, would not be an issue on xt or deore/lx rotors. He rode 3 or 4 marathons like that, proper xc whippet and so far no problems with the rotors being loose or braking problems. His dad has a CL setup but with LX hubs and rotors. Again not a problem, works fine. The only thing is that with xtr rotors the spider is very close to the fork, and also depending what cassette lockring tool You have You might need to take the axle off the hub to get to the lockring (I had to on 3 different hubs) probably not a problem with a longer and thinner walled lockring tool.

I’ve got standard 6 bolt hubs on my wheels and tbh it does not make much difference, I bought my bonty wheels as they were at a good price and I already had rotors. He bought his xtr wheels as they were at a good price and the guy threw in 2×160 rotors. The only thing for me is that a torx key is on almost any multitool, not like a cassette lockring tool and a spanner, so any adjustment or repair away from home is easier.

4 bolt for me too, Hope Pro3 AM4 🙂

Centrelock is just such a neat system. My adventure bike has Alfine hubs front and rear with them, and the system is easy, quick and simple. One of Shimano’s better ideas IMHO. I have Hope 6 bolts on my full sus, but I’d love to get some of the DT centrelock hubs for it…

Good choice hilldodger.. 🙂

I must be lucky that both of my cassette tools (one Park I got given and one that came in the £20 bike tool kit at Aldi) both fit my CL perfect. As with a cassette if you want to make sure you get secure grip then use a QR skewer to hold the tool in place and then use a socket on a wrench to turn it.

Thanks all…. opinions noted! 😀

I run both 6 bolts and splined – latter since their introduction in 2003.

IMO/E there’s **** all practical difference.

Out of 6 splined discs, one (bought used) has had play. I could have put it on the back wheel but I just tightened it and it’s fine.

I imagine any difference in weight is negligible.

As for a proprietry standard – who cares? I’ve never needed to change a rotor.