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Centerlock...yeah, no, stupid

Sandwich

Sandwich

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What's the good word on centerlock rotors? Do people hate them? Are they totally rad? Obviously shimano is the only group still doing them. I'm looking at building up a new wheelset and the saint hub is dandy...but I already have a hadley front hub. I could probably pick up a saint hub for the same as I could sell the hadley front, and they weigh almost equal. I already have decent 8" rotors, but I don't know the benefits to centerlock.
 
jonKranked

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the "lock" part of center lock means that you are more or less "locked" in to using shimano components.*






Other companies make them, but chances are if you need one, it would have to be ordered. And not many companies make the hubs.
 
sanjuro

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I use DT Swiss centerlock hubs.

Next time you strip a torx bolt, you'll wish you had centerlock.
 
Dogboy

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Centerlock is far and away a better design than 6 little Torx or Allen bolts. Hate it if you must, but it is better.
 
4xBoy

4xBoy

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I have two pairs of DT hubs with centerlock and had a couple pairs of older saint hubs.

It is a better set-up, but 36 point is the highest engagement you can find right now.
 
Sandwich

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Yeah, the new.saints come in 36pt and I believe that to be all I need. Right now I'm on 24, and that's been OK. Not that I wouldn't mind a 72 or instant, I just don't want to pay for it.

As for the saint vs. Hadley, I like the idea of roller bearings (ie saint) over cartridges, and I'd prefer matching hubs (at least matching rotors) over mix-match. Front hubs are a wash in most instances...there's no big performance increase in hadley hope or king with a FRONT hub...
 
4xBoy

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One part I like about the hadley front is it can be any axle type, the saint can not, atleast I don't believe there is the option for 15mm, 9mm thru, or qr.
 
norbar

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4xBoy said:
One part I like about the hadley front is it can be any axle type, the saint can not, atleast I don't believe there is the option for 15mm, 9mm thru, or qr.
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Considering saint is a dh hub, 15 and 9mm is very usefull in downhill. I'm pretty sure suntour made a 9mm dc fork, though it only had 130mm of travel ;)
 
time-bomb

time-bomb

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jonKranked said:
In all my years of riding, wrenching, and racing, I have never seen a stripped torx.
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I haven't seen a stripped one either but I have seen plenty of heads that have been rounded out to the point that the torx bolt needed to be drilled out. Then again, this can be avoided if you don't completely ham-fist them.
 
jonKranked

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time-bomb said:
I haven't seen a stripped one either but I have seen plenty of heads that have been rounded out to the point that the torx bolt needed to be drilled out. Then again, this can be avoided if you don't completely ham-fist them.
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I was referring to the heads. Stripped, rounded, nothing. Never seen a problem.
 
jonKranked

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just to add: personally, i use only the shimano torx bolts, the ones with the triangular heads, just if for some odd reason it does get stripped. never had to use it, but its nice to have backup.
 
Bicyclist

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jonKranked said:
In all my years of riding, wrenching, and racing, I have never seen a stripped torx.
Click to expand...
Seriously? I see it fairly regularly in my shop experience and on " home mechanics' " bikes...not necessarily super often, but I've definitely had to cut a rotor bolt or 2.
 
slyfink

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I like centre lock mainly caus' it makes travelling with the bike that much easier. I take my rotors off when I jam the wheels in the box and removing and installing with centre lock is about 4 to 5 x faster. Other than that, I have no other opinion.
 
Iridemtb

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If you know how to torque things properly, and aren't sloppy, center lock is stupid. While I do have centerlock rotors on one of my bikes, I freakin have to go to the shop to take the rotor off because I don't have that park tool, tool.
 
Sandwich

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I agree that the special tool is a huge downfall. I can't believe it's not the same as either a cassette tool or BB tool or standard hex pattern.

I have seen plenty of torx bolts stripped, and stripped a few myself. Proper thread prep and good tools are essential. I haven't had a problem in recent years, but I try for allens whenever I get the chance...
 
Sandwich

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Tis true...so the debate would be one of those plus my current rotor and a new saint hub, with the hadley up front, or dual saints and dual new shiny centerlock rotors...with that debate, I realize I've never really read any good, reliable data from people that actually have any first hand info. not a lot of articles exist on the matter, so it's not an easy choice.
 
slyfink

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Sandwich said:
I agree that the special tool is a huge downfall. I can't believe it's not the same as either a cassette tool or BB tool or standard hex pattern.
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uuuh. it is the same tool. as long as you have the tool that's compatible with both. The only difference is that the hole on the inside is bigger, otherwise it's just a normal cassette tool. At least mine is.
 
ZoRo

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jonKranked said:
just to add: personally, i use only the shimano torx bolts, the ones with the triangular heads, just if for some odd reason it does get stripped. never had to use it, but its nice to have backup.
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Good advice here. I've stripped Torx bolts on rotors before. All of them, I should mention, were Avid bolts.

With Centerlock, you don't have as much hub and rotor choice, but the design is really good and easy to use.

BTW, as Slyfink mentionned, a cassette lockring tool fits Centerlock hubs too:



 
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thom9719

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dropmachine.com said:
Centerlock is brilliant...until you don't have the tool handy to get the rotor off.

Doh.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way digging through a tool box looking for a torx wrench.

the centerlock is such a superior design it isn't even funny. Switching wheels at races is SO much easier. I wish the 6 bolt standard would just die off.

And I've seen so many stripped torx bolts it isn't even funny. You probally won't seen many if you don't swap wheels, but look through a race pit and watch how many people switch that stuff in a weekend. that is when the 6 bolt design sucks.

-KT
 
norbar

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4xBoy said:
True, but the ability to use a wheel on any bike I have if needed is nice.
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But is really headley that light that it is a good hub for xc (9mm?) For 15mm I still see but I never belived in products that can do it all.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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gotcha...there apparently were 47mm center lock standards for old.saint hubs, but new.saint uses standard cassette tools....hmmmuh
 
W

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jonKranked said:
Superior in design yes. When it comes to manufacturing, not so much.
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Who cares about the manufacturing of them? They are a comparable price to "normal" rotors so why is it relevant? Do you go "oh I'm not buying that its waaay harder to make!" when buying parts?
 
jonKranked

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Wobbler said:
Who cares about the manufacturing of them? They are a comparable price to "normal" rotors so why is it relevant? Do you go "oh I'm not buying that its waaay harder to make!" when buying parts?
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Oh, the companies that design them, the companies that produce them, the retailers that sell them. More complexity = more cost to manufacture, more cost to manufacture = smaller profit margins. edit: the bike industry is more than just end users :clue:

$10 more on a $30 part is "comprable" in price (msrp) to you?
 
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sanjuro

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jonKranked said:
My comment was in regards to stripped heads, not threads. I thought that was what you were originally referring too. Sorry for any confusion.
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I'm talking about the heads too.

I've just done a lot because of wheel truing in the shop. It can be annoying.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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Can I get a clarification- the new saint 810/815 hubs run standard sized centerlock rotors front and rear? The gold lockring uses the funky tool, the black does not...front hubs are shown with the gold ring, rears are not....hurf.
 
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