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6 bolt and center lock compatibility

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6 bolt and center lock compatibility

Old 04-08-22, 10:08 PM
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Gresp15C
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6 bolt and center lock compatibility

I'm thinking of building some new wheels for my wife's bike. I noticed that for the kind of hub she needs, a center lock hub is a little cheaper than 6 bolt. My question is: Will the disc be in the same position as on her old rear wheel, so that she can swap wheels without too much fuss? Or will she need to re-position the rear brake? Any other pitfalls that I need to know about?
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Old 04-08-22, 10:58 PM
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>Will the disc be in the same position as on her old rear wheel, so that she can swap wheels without too much fuss? Or will she need to re-position the rear brake?

Should be very close or the same. You may (or may not) have to reposition the caliper slightly. Same goes for a new 6 bolt hub anyway.

FYI there are adapters for converting 6-bolt discs to centerlock.
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Old 04-09-22, 08:16 AM
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Perhaps the centerlock hub will be cheaper but I believe centerlock rotors are typically more expensive than 6-bolt for equal quality.
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Old 04-09-22, 09:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Gresp15C
I'm thinking of building some new wheels for my wife's bike. I noticed that for the kind of hub she needs, a center lock hub is a little cheaper than 6 bolt. My question is: Will the disc be in the same position as on her old rear wheel, so that she can swap wheels without too much fuss? Or will she need to re-position the rear brake? Any other pitfalls that I need to know about?
Even if the new wheels were 6-bolt, she still might have to fiddle with the calipers when switching wheels, so I wouldn't base your wheel decision on that. But in theory, both 6-bolt and Center Lock place the rotor the same distance from the hub. If the 6-bolt rotor is slightly inboard compared to the Center Lock rotor, you could conceivably shim the 6-bolt, but not the other way around. Even then, the odds of getting both wheelset's rotors lined up exactly the same is remote. The good news is that making the necessary caliper adjustments will quickly become a two-minute operation with practice.

Hope this helps.
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Old 04-09-22, 09:11 PM
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Polaris OBark
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I use two very thin shims under my 6-bolt rotor to make it equivalent to the center-lock rotor on another rear wheel. The front wheels are interchangeable with no shims.
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Old 04-10-22, 05:56 AM
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It should be similar but even with 2 of the same wheels you may need a little caliper adjust.
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Old 04-11-22, 08:45 PM
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Thanks, all!
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Old 04-12-22, 03:47 PM
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They make shims to adjust minor differences so wheels can be swapped without fiddling with the caliper. I ordered a set of 4 with my centerlock wheel/hub thinking they might be hub-specific, but looking at them, they're certainly generic. You just need centerlock shims or 6 bolt shims. Search for shims online and look at Youtube for info on this sort of thing.
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