SHIMANO SILENCES XTRWHEELSOCT 8
SHIMANO SILENCES XTRWHEELSOCT 8
Temporary solution for disc brake woes
R. Cunningham
Today Shimano announced that the switch to Deore XT Centre-lock disc brake rotors reduces the unmistakable hum that can be heard when XTR disk brakes and high-zoot XTR wheel are combined. Those who have experienced Shimanos paired-spoke XTR wheel know they are among the most responsive hoops. This is contrary to all that is known about disc brakes. The howl that causes problems is not always heard. Three of the MBAs tested bikes with XTR Wheels, disc brakes, and howled. However, Haros cross-country pro teams had an identical setup, and they remained silent for the entire 2003 racing season. The Shimanos engineers know about the problem and have been working 24/7 to find a permanent solution worthy of their XTR nameake. Their brain trust discovered that switching to the 2004 Deore XT rotor mutes the noise permanently.
Jason Leith from Shimanos claims that the switch adds only three grams to each wheel. This should not be a problem in terms of performance because the rotating mass is so close the hub’s center. It is easy to fix the Deore XT SMRM77 rotors by attaching to the XTR hubs using the same CenterLock hardware. If you have an XTR disc brake wheel set and experience a similar howl when you coast, you can report it to the dealer. They will connect you with Shimano for a free fix. Jason states that Shimano would like to work with bike dealers to gain insight into the problem and share technical information.