Though most mountain bike shave moved to thru-axle designs, there are plenty of bikes out there with standard quick release fork design- new and pre-owned. When quality, performance, and budget are driving your decision, choose Shimano XT M8000 series hubs. The XT Front Hub is a proven, solid design that is stiff, rolls smoothly, and works with all 100mm wide QR fork dropouts. The disc brake mount is the Centerlock spline design. With the release of the M8000 series 11 speed group, Shimano refined the weather protection, as well as managing to reduce the weight from the M785 series by 22 grams.

Labyrinth and Contact seals have seen a quality upgrade to better keep mud and water out of your hub assembly. Shimano employs angular contact bearings, which best the handle radial side loads that impact the axle, bearing, and shell interaction. That force puts immense stress on the bearings, axle and shell. Angular contact bearings carry that load freely into the concave-shaped bearing race of the XT hubshell, meaning this design and execution basically eliminates the counter-rotational force that even the best rolling sealed cartridge bearings can't avoid. The cup and cone system is adjustable, serviceable, and durable. Proper hub adjustment and service will ensure many years of optimal performance. The forged alloy hub shell carries the bearings and stiff alloy internal axle.

The Centerlock disc rotor mount is simple, clean, and easy to use. Even if you choose to run a 6-bolt rotor with a converter, installation and removal takes only a few seconds. The interface is solid, fully stabilizing the rotor and delivering stopping force immediately across the hub. XT hubs have always been among the best values on the market, and the M8000 series is no different. With the improvements, and great price, there is no reason to expect that to change. If you need to replace an older disc front hub or wheel, or prefer to build a CenterLock disc brake front wheel that won't break the bank, start from the center, and choose the XT M8000.