Cyclocross - Shimano XT rear hub spacing at 132.5?

I have an '07 poprad disc.

I heard that a spacer can be removed from a rear shimano XT disc hub hub to give it 132.5mm spacing. AND I also heard that you can add a spacer to the Bontrager Select Disc Road rear hub that came with the bike giving it 132.5mm spacing as well. And there you go, a beefier wheel set for off road and some slicks on the OEM wheels for on road and the disc brakes stay in alignment.

Can anybody out there correct or confirm this? All of the above may be completely wrong. I don't know. Thanks.

I have a Salsa Casseroll with 130mm spacing, and I can easily, no special effort required, slip my 135mm mountain bike wheel in there. So before you go trying to space out a special axle, just try an ordinary wheel. It's steel, it flexes nicely.

Eric

You can also have a 130mm axle put in

Thanks. I want to continue using the OEM 130mm wheel with a set of slicks, and even though the frame could go between, 130mm and 135mm, I bet the disc brake will go out of alignment and need to be adjusted.

Nowheels . . .how hard is it to replace an axle to a 130? I've never rebuilt a hub before.

thanks very much

I don't know how convertible the XT hub is, per your suggestion, however the guys at my LBS say that I should wait to buy my wheelset until Shimano releases their XT and XTR hub with disc (which will soon be offered in 130mm spacing.)

The problem with switching between 130 and 135 is that the disc tabs will be out of relative alignment every time you swap wheelsets. You can certainly respace your frame to 132.5 or 135 but I would personally do that only if all of your wheelsets were the same size.

Having disc brakes, we have our own unique set of challenges in wheel selection.

Min, I'm not sure I understand. XT already has a disc option. Now, I'd be interested in that 130mm spacing. Will that be offered 2008 XT? It may become 130mm by taking out spacers.

What spacers are you talking about? I have an XT hub for downhill racing use and I saw no spacers. And to clarify, yes the difference for 2008 is that they are reputedly offering 130mm spaced disc hub vs just 135 disc hub.

BTW, I stuck 24" (24"x3.0") downhill rims with XT hubs (135mm) into my Poprad (130mm) last night just to see what the fuss was all about. All I did was stretch the stays aparts and the wheel dropped in easily. The rotor and RD was out of adjustment, but this means that 135 works FINE on Poprads with no cold-setting required. Just adjust the brake calipers and RD adjustment and you are ready to roll.

Catch me on 24s, foolio! (Obviously, I don't actually ride like this. I wanted to simply see how it fit.)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/gbae007/24s.jpg

Your experiment is pretty interesting. You should keep your poprad like that. :-)

WIth regards to spacers, I'm just going by what I heard from a LBS here. I've never personally delt with XT hubs.

Thanks for the tip on the 130mm hub option. hope they actually do it.

Min, I'm not sure I understand. XT already has a disc option. Now, I'd be interested in that 130mm spacing. Will that be offered 2008 XT? It may become 130mm by taking out spacers.

You would also need to swap the axle if you are running QR's.

I regularly go back and forth between a DA hub (130) and a XT (135) without issue, although I have cantis and not disks on my poprad.

I went to a different LBS to confirm the 130mm option for XT's. As far as they can tell looking at the catalog, 130mm doesn't exist for 2008. They also had no idea what spacers i was talking about, so they probably don't exist either. The search continues . . ..

I went to a different LBS to confirm the 130mm option for XT's. As far as they can tell looking at the catalog, 130mm doesn't exist for 2008. They also had no idea what spacers i was talking about, so they probably don't exist either. The search continues . . ..

Dude, like I said in the post with my silly 24" wheel, 135mm spacing will fit fine in your Poprad Disc.

Dude, like I said in the post with my silly 24" wheel, 135mm spacing will fit fine in your Poprad Disc.

Min,

I hear ya, but I'd like to continue using the Bontrager wheels that came with the bike and there's that brake adjustment/dish problem.

Hell, just sell me your Bontrager wheels because you're getting that pair of Zipps. :D:D:D

that remind me. Min, what hubs are you getting for your new wheel set?