[golden boy]

I'm a big fan of Chris King hubs, love the feel of their engagement. I have pre-ordered a new Chris King rear hub from an online retailer. 12 week lead time, giving me plenty of time to mull over the fact that Chris King is now only making centerlock-compatible hubs. I can't speak to centerlock rotors since I've never used them. My concern is that buying this hub will drastically limit the available selection of brake rotors, essentially limiting it to Shimano rotors, right? I don't like the idea of being "locked in" to running Shimano rotors. In my personal experience, I find Shimano rotors on the thin/flimsy side, with lots of rubbing against the brake pads, thereby necessitating constant truing of the rotors. Maybe I just suck at truing rotors, but I rarely if ever had to true the (thicker) Magura rotors I ran on a previous bike.

Anyone NOT buy new Chris King hubs for this reason? Thoughts?

 

[dan l]

I like the Shimano rt66 rotors myself, but I’m on the 6 bolt program. I haven’t noticed different durability compared to my sram/avid rotors. There are other reasons to not like center lock, this isn’t a valid one in my experience. I also think there are better reasons to choose a diff Hub.

Don’t sweat the small details. Have a brew instead.

 

[CrozCountry]

How about finding used hubs? Kings last.

 

[Organ]

Lots of good center lock rotors other than Shimano. I personally like Swissstop. You can also get a small adapter to use any 6-bolt rotor with a center lock hub. You can’t do the opposite.

I don’t particularly think center lock has any real advantage over 6 bolt and it was an unnecessary standard, but at this time it’s not a huge drawback either.

 

[VegasSingleSpeed]

How about finding used hubs? Kings last.

There's a 12-week lead-time on that, too.

 

[Nutball]

While I prefer regular 6 bolt hubs, centerlock hubs do have advantage of working with both centerlock rotors and regular 6 bolt rotors. You can use any 6 bolt rotor you'd like via an adaptor ( I prefer the DT Swiss centerlock rotor adapter).

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Jayem]

While I prefer regular 6 bolt hubs, centerlock hubs do have advantage of working with both centerlock rotors and regular 6 bolt rotors. You can use any 6 bolt rotor you'd like via an adaptor ( I prefer the DT Swiss centerlock rotor adapter).

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Some, like my magura 220s, have warnings on them specifically about not using them with a CL adapter. Most should be ok, but there are more CL options now, Magura and others.

 

[ziscwg]

I'm a big fan of Chris King hubs, love the feel of their engagement. I have pre-ordered a new Chris King rear hub from an online retailer. 12 week lead time, giving me plenty of time to mull over the fact that Chris King is now only making centerlock-compatible hubs. I can't speak to centerlock rotors since I've never used them. My concern is that buying this hub will drastically limit the available selection of brake rotors, essentially limiting it to Shimano rotors, right? I don't like the idea of being "locked in" to running Shimano rotors. In my personal experience, I find Shimano rotors on the thin/flimsy side, with lots of rubbing against the brake pads, thereby necessitating constant truing of the rotors. Maybe I just suck at truing rotors, but I rarely if ever had to true the (thicker) Magura rotors I ran on a previous bike.

Anyone NOT buy new Chris King hubs for this reason? Thoughts?

I didn't not not buy a CK hub, but I was going to build up a new wheel set soon. I loved my CK hub I had for 12 yrs. I even still have the rebuild tool. Anyone want it for $100??? It's for sale now since I'm not buying a CK hub for my new wheel set. I like 6 bolt. There are options and there are adapters, but spending that kind a money, why would I compromise?

 

[kevin_sbay]

TRP makes good centerlock rotors. Have run their 180mm on both my hardtail and full susp.

 

[vikb]

I'm not interested in CL or a CL adaptor. There are a lot of great hubs out there. No need to buy a CK unit if you don't want CL.

 

[golden boy]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies. It's good to know that there are non-Shimano centerlock rotor options. I think I'll stick with my CK purchase.

 

[alexbn921]

The new generation XTR rotors are the best rotors ever made IMO. If you don't need 220mm rotors, then the center lock standard is far superior to the 6 bolt system. It keeps things perfectly centered and has a much more robust interface all while being lighter.

 

[dave_f]

Yes, actually when I heard this was coming I picked up a boost CK 6-bolt rear hub from a dealer clearing out what was going to be old stock. I don't even have a bike for it yet. Not a fan of centerlock. Maybe there is some argument for discontinuing 6-bolt from CK, if so I'm not aware of it. Probably the last CK hub I purchase.

 

[bridgestone14]

Yeah this sucks. I have however found that high end shimano rotors work great. There are some solid adapters out there as well. I run a set of i9 hubs with six bolt adapters and have never had a problem.

 

[schnee]

Probably a rare use case, but centerlock is amazing for traveling with a bike. I have them on a Salsa touring bike with couplers, and being able to pull the rotors off and put them back on quickly makes life incredibly easy when having to fit the bike into suitcases, odd luggage holds, etcetera. Not stressing about the rotors bending, because they're packed inside other luggage, is a relief.

 

[dave_f]

The new generation XTR rotors are the best rotors ever made IMO. If you don't need 220mm rotors, then the center lock standard is far superior to the 6 bolt system. It keeps things perfectly centered and has a much more robust interface all while being lighter.

Depends what you define as best. I (and many others) think the best rotors Shimano makes are the RT66. A bit thin, but you can find them cheap enough to simply swap them out for a fresh one when changing brake pads. No chance of creaky rivets.

As with a lot of bike things, manufacturing tolerances are an issue. I've had to mount centerlock discs with a hammer (Shimano rotors, DT 370 hubs). I run two sets of wheels on one bike, the rotors are spaced out further than would be safely possible with centerlock. With 6 bolt, the mounting surface just has to be flat and run true.

In order for centerlock to be perfectly centered and not move around, there would have to be zero tolerance in hub and rotor manufacturing. It's a form fit. Since 6 bolt uses friction, the disc may also not be perfectly centered, but when mounted it's always firmly attached to the hub.

I do get the ease of assembly, if I had a job assembling bikes all day I'd probably be all for centerlock.

 

[92gli]

I prefer centerlock simply because I despise tiny torx fasteners. The wrench/screw tolerances are always garbage and they feel like they're on the verge of stripping just to get them moderately tight.
But, still running 6 bolt on my mountain bike because I tend to keep hubs a long time and rebuild with new rims as needed.
I'm not buying anymore Shimano ice tech rotors though. The very thin outer layer of steel makes them nearly impossible to true without denting the surface. The solid steel 2 piece rotors look great and work just the same IME.

 

[Radical_53]

Anyone NOT buy new Chris King hubs for this reason? Thoughts?

Me. I'm still searching for a pair of ISO boost hubs, so far to no avail. King hubs aren't exactly flooding the market, especially if you're looking for specific colors.
None of my favorite rotors come in CL flavors and I'm not going to start with adaptors.

 

[bridgestone14]

BikeInn might have what you are looking for. Chris king ISO Sram XD 6B Disc Rear Pink, Bikeinn

 

[Jayem]

Depends what you define as best. I (and many others) think the best rotors Shimano makes are the RT66. A bit thin, but you can find them cheap enough to simply swap them out for a fresh one when changing brake pads. No chance of creaky rivets.

As with a lot of bike things, manufacturing tolerances are an issue. I've had to mount centerlock discs with a hammer (Shimano rotors, DT 370 hubs). I run two sets of wheels on one bike, the rotors are spaced out further than would be safely possible with centerlock. With 6 bolt, the mounting surface just has to be flat and run true.

In order for centerlock to be perfectly centered and not move around, there would have to be zero tolerance in hub and rotor manufacturing. It's a form fit. Since 6 bolt uses friction, the disc may also not be perfectly centered, but when mounted it's always firmly attached to the hub.

I do get the ease of assembly, if I had a job assembling bikes all day I'd probably be all for centerlock.

Yeah, based on my experience, we've needed 220mm rotors and 2.3mm thick rotors for a while. I think the heat-shedding ice-tech works well in smaller rotor sizes, but it's still not good enough for the big sustained stuff. As much as the fins and aluminum sandwich help shed heat, there still isn't enough heat capacity, dramatic increases in surface area and volume due to circumference and thickness increase heat capacity much more. Not just for DH-only, but enduro, now e-bikes and even FS fat-bikes (massive wheel mass, need strong brakes).