Disc brakes: introduction to rotors

The rotor is the proper name for the disc that gives the disc brake its essential raison d’être. As with calliper mounts, it has taken time for the industry to decide on a standard – four- and five-bolt hubs have been and gone (and in the case of Hope Technology, four and three bolt hubs have come around again) but the sixbolt hub is now the most commonly used.

Shimano’s alternative to the six-bolt mount, the Centrelock, has been adopted by other manufacturers including DT Swiss. It uses a rotor with a splined ring which mates with a splined ring on the hub shell and is locked into place with a modified cassette lockring. It’s quicker and easier to swap discs with this system, as you only need to loosen and tighten one ’bolt’, but that bolt can only be tightened with the dedicated lockring tool and a large spanner, rather than the easy-to-carry Torx/Allen key that a six- bolt mount requires. If you have Centrelock hubs and want to run six-bolt rotors, you can buy adapters that allow you to switch between the two. As well as the choice of size and mount, you will also have to…

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