XT Rear hub 135 to 130mm respacing?

[Philip Kim]

I have no experience with respacing hubs and thought I could use some help here.

I bought this wheelset from Rivendell and it came with the XT rear hub. Can I respace these to 130mm? If so how? Can I just pull it with a vice

I can't tell if the black knurled piece of metal on the non-drive side is a spacer or not :/

If so, do I just pry it out with a vice grip?

Thanks!

[Tim Gavin]

The black knurled piece you circled is the end cap of the cone/spacer stack.  You need to keep that knurled end cap, the knurling is what secures the wheel in the dropouts when the skewer is closed.

However, if you remove the knurled end cap and the rubber/plastic dust cover behind it (large black cone shape), you should find that it covers a set of spacers.  You may be able to remove ~5 mm of spacers and end up with a 130 mm stack.  The dust cover may not fit any more without trimming.

However, the axle itself will still be 5 mm too long, and that may interfere with proper skewer operation.  You can trim the axle, but you'd want to chase the threads with a tap after sawing (recommended technique is to thread the tap on, saw off the end, then unthread the tap to clean up the end threads).

Or, you may be able to replace the axle with one that already 130 mm.  I believe these 9 speed XT hubs still have a standard steel axle.  My 10 speed XT hubs (XT-T780) definitely don't; they have an oversized aluminum axle with end caps.

I recommend removing the cassette and freehub when doing axle work, and securing one end of the axle in a bench vise.  Use something to protect the threads from the vise jaws.

Alternatively, just cram the 135 mm hub in your 130 mm dropouts.  The rear triangle of your bike (1st gen San Marcos?) should be able to spread easily, without affecting alignment seriously.

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[Bill Lindsay]

NO VICE GRIPS EVER.  

If you've never done this, you will do well to consult with a mechanic.  Consider it thoroughly while the wheel is still in a state where you could theoretically return it and start over.  

[Philip Kim]

Yeah, I think I'll bring it into the bike shop and see if they can do anything about it.

[Tim Gavin]

On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Philip Kim <phili...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, I think I'll bring it into the bike shop and see if they can do anything about it.

I would call the shop in question before a visit, because some shops will say "sure, no problem," where others will be confused and unwilling to help.

I concur with Bill, NO VISE GRIPS on bikes, at least if you want to re-use the fastener.  For removing stripped nuts or bolt heads on ancient bikes, then Vise Grips may be the correct tool.  They bite, literally.

Tim 

[Jim Bronson]

I have one of those later model XT Hubs with the aluminum axle also. Don't know if mine is the T780 but it definitely has an aluminum axle.  I jam it in the 130 spaced dropouts, been that way for a couple of years now, no problems.  

You do need to pull a little bit to get the wheel in there, which on the side of the road fixing a flat is sometimes a pain, especially when your rando buddies are impatiently waiting.  For me I'm a (currently) 280lb ex-football type so the strength required is not really an issue, but you'll need to judge whether it's reasonable for you or not.

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[Dave Johnston]

I imagine 99% of bike shops will say it can't be done. However it is possible to reduce the spacing of the hub, maybe down to 131mm and I've done it as below.

1. Take off that rubber cone seal, you can just do that now without disassembling anything.It can pop off and slide over the "retaining spacer"

2. Underneath that rubber cone you will see between the outer adjustable lock nut and the adjustable cone a 3 to 5mm thick spacer that has an outer diameter of 19.1 mm, and an 10.15 ID of  and the rubber cone has a recess designed to fit over this spacer. Measure the width of this spacer since removal of this spacer is the most you can shrink the hub spacing, however completely removing this spacer is not advisable because then the rubber seal won't work right so you will either have to leave the rubber seal off or..

3. Replace the spacer with a thinnest washer of the same outer diameter. I found one at the hardware store that was the perfect outer diameter, close to the inner diameter, and 1.5 mm thick, but I have also used a pedal washer that was less than 1mm thick, but it took careful centering since the inner hole was larger than the spacer.

By replacing the 5mm spacer with a 1mm spacer, I was able to go from a 135mm hub to a 131mm hub.

Dave J
Northern Neck, VA

[Dave Johnston]

Whoops I forgot to mention trimming the axle length. It might be possible to order a shorter axle from Wheels manufacturing (website show out of stock), any QBP stocking bike shop can do it.

Or you can hacksaw the axle down. I would not recommend "trimming" the rubber seal. The sealing edges are special shaped to fit the hub side an spacer side.

 If you are riding primarily on road you may not need the seal. The drop out pictured looks like a Soma San Marcos, which is more a roadish bike.

-Dave J

[Jeremy Till]

It should also be noted that respacing your hub by removing spacers on the non-drive side will require the wheel to be redished to keep the rim centered in the frame.  You will be increasing the dish and thus the tension differential between drive and non-drive side spokes.  Another reason to maybe consult with an LBS with a competent wheel guy/gal, to see if they think it's a good idea with your current spoke lengths and tension.   

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 11:26:26 AM UTC-8, Philip Kim wrote: