[Closed] Buyers remorse - convince me i haven't made a mistake!

I love Shimano hubs so I've no Idea why you'd want to cancel the order.

XT hubs are excellent. DTSwiss make several hubs in 148 microspline.

Looked after cup and cone are superiour to cartridge.

There,I've said it.

Certainly over in retrobike we use a lot of early wheels and they're still going strong,so must be a reason.

Should be good wheels. The only thing I would do is open up the hubs and pack them with good quality grease before you use them. Shimano tend to be a bit stingy with grease, adding loads more extends the service time and reduces the potential for problems. I’ve run shimano hubs for years with no servicing needed when I’ve done this.

You buy wheels to suit your discs..?

Inyernal width of the rims used to be on the small size for todays wider footprint tyres
Have they got sensible 25mm + yet?

😃😎👍. That’s cheered me up then - thanks. I mean if a massive brand like Shimano use them there must be a reason. Easy servicing is what I am getting. Having recently taken apart my existing hubs and found the bearings were in top shape with nice clean grease reinforces what you say above.  The freehub on the other hand was a complete mess with black/brown mucky grease in it. In fact not being able to find a replacement anywhere was what got me started looking for new wheels anyway -in the hope that an upgrade would give me a better freehub.

Another vote for cup and cone here, I'd have them in all my hubs if I could.

If any play appears, fix it asap. Give the bearings a once over annually regardless. Once you realise how they work you'll see they're not complex or difficult to work on, they just require a tiny bit more knowhow than cartridge bearings and occasional tlc but can last forever.

You buy wheels to suit your discs..?

well it’s an E-MTB so there is a speed sensor in the disc which limits the choice somewhat so I wanted to make sure I got centrelock wheels.

Have they got sensible 25mm + yet?

These are 30c. 8120 Deore XT 29

These in fact M8120

Am a Shimano fan boy for all items except their hubs. Hate them, never managed to get cup and cone hubs tensioned up correctly. Also found their 12mm hub axle sleeve to be too weak and prone to snapping. Just my experience \ opinion, prefer cartridge bearings for their reliability and ease of maintenance. Pop them out, pop the new one in, job done. Hope or dT swiss hubs, more expensive but last forever (or at least outlast the current "standard" 🙂 ).

Hope and DT Swiss do microspline as do Hunt (nice wheels), DT Swiss are centrelock (as far as I remember).

PS: I know lots of people find it easy getting the cup\cone tension right first time, every time. I'm just not one of them (watched lots of vids). That and bleeding Avid Juicy brakes are just 2 skills that have eluded me 🙁

I mean if a massive brand like Shimano use them there must be a reason.

Re tooling is very expensive.

And you can get magnets/sensors that fit to 6 bolt rotors, in the right position using the rotor bolts. I run my 6 bolt rotors on a (DT Swiss) centrelock hub, with an adapter. Works as it should.

Personally I would never have cup and cone wheels. Once the bearings wear then the wheel is effectively scrap. And yes - despite what the fanbois swear they will wear over time and although you can buy a new hub to take the cups and cones from its tricky to replace the cups

When you say "over time", what are we talking about, 1000 miles? 2000? 10,000 - (hopefully!!!) I know proper maintenance etc will make a difference but assuming they are well maintained.

The hubs will outlast the rims if you follow the advice above.

Normally with Shimano and a modest amount of TLC/greasing those fiddly little balls, it's the freehub mechanism that will fail first. That for me is a second reason to stay as far away as possible from Shimano hubs, as this isn't serviceable. Supply issues frequently make replacement freehubs as rare as rocking horse poo. You'll see them listed sometimes, but ... Anyway, I despise the throwaway culture of some Shimano kit.

@feed - I feel your pain about bleeding Avid Juicy brakes. Been there, tried that. and tried that..

My oldest Shimano hubs are 13 years old and have done a lot more than 10,000 miles. 😊

I have a look at them every year/couple of years when I remember. They're still on the original bearings.

@highlandman - well that unfortunately is my experience with my current wheels (freehub is basically toast and no replacements to be found other than in a brand new wheel) so I thought a better spec freehub in a more expensive wheel would be worth it. I'll be pretty fed up if I get the same issue with the new wheels..... I wonder if contacting Shimano might help - when I first had an issue with the freehub and I took the bike back to where I bought it complaining that the pawls weren't engaging they said that sort of thing was outside the warranty and charged me for servicing the wheel. Bearing in mind the bike has only done 1200 miles from new. I was annoyed but assumed it must be my fault for cleaning it too often or something (although I don't jetwash it etc). When it started sounding a bit rough again after only a 100 miles or so I decided to take it apart myself which is where I discovered that one of the sealed bearings inside the freehub itself was goosed. As above - no replacements to be found so new wheels ordered....

I mean it's a bit much on a £3500 bike TBH.

It was a bit of an impulse buy as they were ,surprisingly, in stock (in Germany but it was free delivery)

I hope you've/they've factored Brexit into the costs

I've an XT rear hub on my fat bike. It's done about 5,000 km including winter commuting in salty slush.
The hub does need adjusting every so often, but it's still on orignial bearings.

I found that if they were used irregularly, water would get into the hubs (as it does for most) and would sit in the lowest part of the cup/cone, which would then pit the irreplaceable cup.

At this point, the hub/wheel was scrap. This was on both an XTRM960 rear and a pair of XTR M975 wheels.

On my commuter which was used multiple times per week, this never happened, but on a small collection of MTBs, used perhaps once every few weeks, this killed the hubs.

Dreaded ??

Bets hubs I own are Dura Ace. Beautiful things that last forever and run smooth as silk all the bloody time.

Since when were they "dreaded" ?

As an old fart I remember when cup and cone were standard/the only option. Have no remorse, friend, they will be a fine set of wheels.

I have cartridge on my On-one 456 h/t and c/c on my other hardtail. I ride them roughly equally (XC in Scotland mostly, so a fair bit of mud and weather). The c/c wheels have easily outlasted the cartridge bearings. Plus personally I think maintenance is easier, not requiring presses or concern about getting the cartridge in 'true' to the last micrometer etc etc.

+1 for c/c

never managed to get cup and cone hubs tensioned up correctly.

It's just a matter of fiddling with it till its spot on, and you are talking very fine tolerances.
Thankfully, as a complete wheel you can feel more if it rattles. Remember you can tighten it when it's in the dropouts, as both nuts will turn together, so put it in, tighten the QR, and give the wheel a wobble holding onto the rim/tyre. Any play slip in a cone spanner and tweak it a tiny bit.

I had a pair of XT hubs on an old hardtail. Buttery smooth when new/after too long spent adjusting them. Yes, they will feel better than most cartridge bearings, but the faffery isn't quite worth it for me. If you keep them in tune, they will run forever.

Nice - I'll keep them then. 🙂

Thanks all. New rotors arrived today too so I'm going to end up with two complete sets of wheels. Perfect - I can put the MT500s on when I want to go out in the slop and keep the XTs for "best" 😁. Or something. I can also learn more about adjusting them with a set to play with.

Dreaded ??

Bets hubs I own are Dura Ace. Beautiful things that last forever and run smooth as silk all the bloody time.

Since when were they “dreaded” ?

I only called them dreaded as I had read one or two disparaging posts before I started this thread. I am older and wiser now! Thank you all  very much for your input. Happy bunny.

Not only that I managed to get out today for the first time in two weeks and had a lovely ride out to the coast. Marvellous. 😎

irreplaceable cup.

At this point, the hub/wheel was scrap.

Nope, see below:

although you can buy a new hub to take the cups and cones from its tricky to replace the cups

It's pretty much the same as replacing a cartridge bearing.

My oldest Shimano hubs are 13 years old and have done a lot more than 10,000 miles. 😊

I see that and raise you an XT Parallax hub that came on a 1995 KHS Montana. I regreased it before Christmas and everything was super shiny inside.

No idea how many miles it's done as I got the bike second-hand, but the frame was welded in two places and I broke a lump hammer getting the quill stem out, so I doubt it had an easy life!

I couldnt do it, I hate cup and cone with a passion. Sealed cartridge bearings last forever anyway as long as you dont jetwash your bike frequently and the rim will likely be toast long before the hub.