XT Hubs

[topher]

Hey,
Im in a complicated process of building a new bike. So its abit of buying new stuff for the xc bike and transfering the old stuff onto the frame i just bought. I was thinking about getting some xt hubs. I push my stuff pretty as far as xc goes. I am going to race competativly next season. I want to get myself a new wheelset mavic 819's on xt's. I was thinking 240's however im not to sure about buying from a overseas site(chainreaction). Would xts hold up reasonably well? Easily servicably is the key here aswell. Any input you could give would be great.
Cheers
Chris

[udi]

The XT's will be easier to service in terms of bearings, because they are looseball - but will also require service more often. The shimano freehub system is non-user serviceable afaik, and I doubt it would be anywhere near as durable as the hugi's star-ratchet setup.

On that note, if by serviceability you are referring to the freehub mechanism, then the hugi is nothing but a joy to work on. A gently pull seperates the cluster/freehub body from the hub and you can clean the ratchet area (plus the star ratchets and springs) and re-lube with either an incredibly light grease or a generous weight oil. DT have their own specific star-ratchet lube which is the recommendation, but i've been using ATF for a long time now with excellent results. The bearings are sealed cartridge so when the time comes just pop them out and get some new ones in there, shouldn't be any dramas there. The 240's run labyrinth seals, and stainless steel bearings, so while water will probably never get in, short term water intrusion won't cause any problems anyway.

Finally, if you are a weight weenie, i'm pretty sure the 240's would be a fair bit lighter. All this at a price though, obviously...

On the up side for the XT's, they are reasonably cheap, sealed, and work well (provided the cones are adjusted correctly) and should do for a long time. When it starts feeling bad, just clean out the cups/balls/cones, repack with grease, and readjust. :)

So really, it depends where your preferences lie, and how much you are willing to spend.
-Udi

[Rider]

When I was getting my new wheels about two years ago i was going to get XT hubs but I decided to get DT Swiss Onyx hubs instead. From memory I think they are lighter, and after 2 years of pretty hard XC riding the rear hub has only just needed servicing. But that's after a wet winter with lots of racing in the mud and washing with a hose for a while which was very stupid. If I had washed my bike properly the rear hub would still be going fine.

[topher]

Im leaning towards the xt just because i can get the stupidly cheap with centre lock rotors aswell for under $200.

[miko]

I've been through a few XT hubs over the years, I'd have to say they do a good job. I've used them for XC and harder, and they've held up well. One of them is getting crunchy bearings now, but that's because I haven't serviced them as much as I should. They are easy to service, I'm just lazy sometimes. Two thumbs up for XT hubs though.

[Cúl-Báire]

Never really been a fan of Shimano hubs, I find unless they are brand new, they genrally get too much play in them. Others though have ahd great success which makes me think maybe they arent that bad. Certainly newer ones are going to be better.

There are better out there but you can get them cheap... DT Hugi's are good but very expencive. Ask Bodin about the hugi durability though- I beleive he road them through the Simpson Desert :)