This is the XCD front hub with the end caps removed. Bearings are very smooth rolling and pretty big. The hub is pretty simple. My only gripe is that the 15QR caps have nothing that hold them in place other than the axle. So when the wheel isn't in the fork the caps will fall off easily. The QR caps are firmly held in place and I needed a QR to remove them.
The spoke holes on both the front and the rear seem large enough to fit Alpine III if you wanted. I was able to pass an Aerolite bladed spoke easily through the flange.
Six pawl free hub. Once the axle cap is removed, the free hub easily slides off. Everything is held in place with O-rings. There is no adjustment of anything.
Most web sites list this as six pawl and 48POE but that is really kind of mis-informative. With the hub apart you can see (hard to tell in the picture) it's actually 24POE and while there are six pawls, the way it works is that at any given time three of those pawls are engaged. So there are 24POE and two sets of 3 pawls that alternately engage. Interesting system IMO. The internal threading on the axle is for the M10 bolt on option.
XCS - weight of bolt on with M10 bolts. 385g 334g without the M10 bolts.
XCD - weight of 15QR. 138g. Front hub is pretty low weight.
XCS - weight of QR. 334g. The weight is the same as the bolt on without the bolts. 10g heavier than the claimed 325g.
XCD - weight of QR. 148g. Right there at the claimed 150g. The QR caps are heavier than the 15QR as they slide into the hub and hold themselves in place. The 15QR caps sit in place. If you were changing a flat on the trail you have to be careful with the 15QR caps because they will just fall off. I'm guessing that is the result of the search for light weight.
I'm lacing these to Velocity P35s with DT Super Comp spokes. Wheels should weigh in at the 2000g mark. Not bad for P35s. I weighed them at 604g and 602g.
