XT Wheel servicing

[Palaeodom]

Howsit all,

 

Just about to get myself a set of M775 XT wheels, seen there's mixed opinioins about the hubs.

 

How oftern should i look to get them serviced (in k's)

 

and how easy is it to service them oneself?

 

Any special tools or tough to get parts i should know about?

[brad890]

Sorry to hijack your thread Palaeodomn but thought rather then starting a new thread on xt wheels,

 

Just serviced mine yesterday and noticed that the tech documents say there should be 10 3/16 ball bearings in the front hub for each side, but 11 fit comfortably without bulging? Any bearing gurus out there is it better to have the bearings close to each other? Or is there supposed to be a space equivalent to a additional ball bearing?

[Carbon_Kooi]

I heard somewhere the spokes are very expensive, can someone confirm this?

I have an old set and a friend with wheels with those hubs, they seem to be pretty good.

Ease of service depends on your skills, but they are plain forward and should be easy enough to service if you know what you doing, no tricks.

 

And on the bearing spacing, don't put in another bearing ball.

[crasher]

Spokes work out about 75 to 80 rand each.

 

I have a set they are great wheels very tough easy to service dont need fancy tools .

[Nobody]

Spokes are expensive and very hard to get. SHIMANO distributors take forever to deliver them.

If they are a good deal get them, if not get something else.

[Guest Big H]

Let me confuse you a bit...... Go and look here.....

 

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=1055

 

...... Choose the option to see the price in ZAR in th upper right corner.

[HowellingWulf]

...some excerpts from a post by Johan Bornman regarding the XT wheelset as I was looking at a pair as well

 

...However, keep this in mind. A new spoke for that wheel is in the order of R90-00. If your chain overshifts into the spokes, it is 6 x R90-00 before labour. A new rim is in the order of R1000+

 

Further, some people don't deserve Shimano (cup-and-cone bearing) wheels. They're klutzes with mechanical things and can't seem to figure out when a service is due and when not, thereby destroying the races and ultimately, the wheels....

This made me decide against the wheels.

Some further reading: http://www.thehubsa...._1#entry1151527

Edited November 22, 2010 by Ricky Bobby

[HowellingWulf]

Another useful thread: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/83315-opinions-xt-wh-m775-wheelset-vs-ac-mtb-tubeless/page__hl__xt

[Headshot]

Unless you ride in really gritty mud and water every weekend, you'll not need to service the hubs very often at all. They are very well sealed and very much the same as the all the ther Shimano hubs we all used for years without getting intom a frothy over bearing life and servicing. I have the XT wheels and also run a set of 5 year old std Xt hubs on my g/friends bike. These hubs were not serviced for 4,5 years and the bike shop was able to get them up and running perfectly with new bearings and grease. I expect them to run well for another 5 years - but will service them more regularly

 

Anyone know what size cone spanners you need to do the service the XT's - they seem to come in several sizes?

[brad890]

I'm pretty sure you need a 13 and 17 for the front hub and a 15 and 17 for the rear. I could be wrong that's just what I seem to recall lol

[Headshot]

Thanks...

[Palaeodom]

Seriously how can spokes be so expensive? when you can get 36 DT Swiss for R230????

[Palaeodom]

It does look like alot of support for AC. I only wish I could actually go and ride both of these before buying, its annoying hearing long lists of pros and cons without my own first hand experience of either, the wrong choice means a serious pain in the posterior...and wallet.

 

AC lighter but not stronger hey? I'm a light rider (65k's) but don't want to worry about going to true them everytime i catch some air and/or land badly.

[Johan Bornman]

Spokes are expensive because they are proprietary spokes with integrated nipples and screw-on ferrules. When pricing the spokes, don't forget to add the R6-00 or so for each ferrule. They are priced separately.

 

Shimano has lots of them and they are not difficult to get. I've never had a problem with stock. You do however need two different lengths for left and right, as well as a special spoke spanner.

 

These wheels use oversize aluminium axles so the old 13/17mm cone spanner rule of thumb doesn't work. IIRC it uses one 18mm cone spanner and one 5mm allen key.

 

Don't be tempted to put in another ball. 10 is what it takes. If you put in 11, the cone rides at a different height, your Over Locknut Dimension (OLD) changes, the wheel won't fit properly into the frame and, it will run rough since the balls now run in a ridge where they're not supposed to.

 

These are nice wheels with some good engineering. Shimano managed to fix many of Mavic's mistakes with their tubeless wheels.

 

 

However, if you own a pair, do learn how to judge bearing quality and feel for dirt/water intrusion. Leave it too late and your wheel is ruined.

[brad890]

As always thanks for the good reply Johan :-) was hoping you were going to post something lol as that bearing story was bugging me lol, serviced my xt's the other day for the first time (have done it on my previous bikes before) and after putting the bearings back got to the otherside and was bafuzeled that there was 2 bearings missing as i was pretty carefull when taking them out etc, never mind that I'd added a extra one to the otherside lol

[Nobody]

STAY AWAY from these wheels.

Do yourself a favor and try get a spoke from three of your closest LBS. They will say they can get it for you but the truth is Coolheat or who ever distributes shimano do not have any stock.

 

I have just phoned all the cycling shops in my area and no one has stock.

Its 3 different spokes per wheelset so you have to be specific.