I own a Creo Expert that came with carbon wheels. I changed out the Shimano freehub with a DT Swiss XD driver so I could run SRAM 10-50 cassette as the bike now runs all SRAM Eagle 12 parts. I want an extra set of inexpensive wheels to take traveling. I can find a bunch of used alloy Creo wheels that all have Shimano HG drivers. Want to know if an XD driver exists for wheels labeled DT Swiss 470 (they do not have DT Swiss hubs, only rims).
Seeking XD freehub driver for Creo alloy wheel
- Thread starter eddief
- Start date
I wonder if it is a hub similar to this one? This guys says 12mm hex key. I thought I saw elsewhere 11mm.
I can't understand this foreign language in this vid, but in the comments someone asks what size hex and he writes "12mm."
I can't understand this foreign language in this vid, but in the comments someone asks what size hex and he writes "12mm."
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
@mschwett: Perhaps you know the answer.
The standard rear hub size for gravel bikes is 12x142 mm. However, Specialized put 12x148 rear hubs on e-bikes such as Creo or Vado SL. How to find replacement wheels then? Even Specialized wheels such as Roval etc are 12x142! I could see something like spacers to convert the 142 to 148. Any information?
(Replacement of my rear "big" Vado wheel, 12x148 mm hub and 25 or 27 or 30 mm inner rim width required building a new wheel!)
The standard rear hub size for gravel bikes is 12x142 mm. However, Specialized put 12x148 rear hubs on e-bikes such as Creo or Vado SL. How to find replacement wheels then? Even Specialized wheels such as Roval etc are 12x142! I could see something like spacers to convert the 142 to 148. Any information?
(Replacement of my rear "big" Vado wheel, 12x148 mm hub and 25 or 27 or 30 mm inner rim width required building a new wheel!)
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
there are some wheels available in “road boost,” the 12x148, from specialized and others, but not that many. These, for example https://shopbikesupply.com/products/roval-terra-clx-boost-110mm-x-148mm-spacing or these https://www.dtswiss.com/en/wheels/wheels-road/hybrid-gravel/hg-1800-spline or these https://www.citybikes.com/product/roval-rapide-c-38-boost-disc-wheelset-392489-1.htm and a handful of others.
many creo comp riders replace the stock DT swiss R470 wheels, often with ones like the above. you can also have a wheel builder make you ones with 12x148 hubs, which are offered by DT Swiss and a few others. a lot of people use adapters as well https://www.wheelworks.co.nz/converting-your-hubs-to-boost/ but you know me, I would absolutely not go there for a critical load bearing component!
I have the Terra CLX wheels on my creo, with the new ratchet EXP DT Swiss hub, they’re fantastic. quieter than the even more expensive hubs on my aethos.
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
it looks very similar to that. the NDS cap was very hard to pull off on mine, but once it was off I just stuck a nail through that hole in the “Axle” part and used an open wrench on the other side.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Thank you very much for the extensive answer Mark!
Oh yes. Did so for my Vado with the latest DT Swiss 350 rear hub.
As I understand, the new DT Swiss 350 also has a new Star Ratchet and it is almost silent. My buddies laugh and say "it is because there is a lot of grease inside!" However, none of them could try the new 350, so what do they know?
This will be for a spare set of travel wheels for my Creo Expert. They will go inside a travel case and I prefer they be inexpensive and decent. Some folks with lower model Creos replace their alloy wheels with carbon and the alloys show up used on ebay. My Creo uses an XD driver but most alloy sets come with Shimano driver. I want to convert alloy set to XD.
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
yep, exactly why i did it. i put larger off-road tires on the original alloy wheels, and left road tires on the carbon wheels. both have sram 10-42 cassettes which require the XD driver.
phase 3 - my used wheels arrived in the mail today. End cap would not come off by hand or by pliers. Decided soft wooden jaws in the bench vise was worth a try. That worked perfectly. TURNS OUT THIS HUB DOES NOT REQUIRE A LARGE HEX KEY TO ENABLE REMOVING THE DRIVER. Once you get the end cap off it exposes two holes across the diameter of the axle into which you can slide any tool that fits. Then wrench flats on one end and the a tool through the two holes on the other end to unthread the keeper. More like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=rem...#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:bb37e9e2,vid:9yVcs2TGidA
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
lol, that’s literally exactly what i said in post 8…. i used a nail.
yes and until i got the cap off there was no certainty whether mine had the holes or needed a hex key. we're good aren't we
.
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
i won’t relate the embarrassing experience i had trying to get the thing apart the fury’s time! let’s just say it involved a walk of shame from the shop!yes and until i got the cap off there was no certainty whether mine had the holes or needed a hex key. we're good aren't we
me too. ready to visit my LBS but decided to try one more thing. did not pull out my hair this time.
Sorry to be more bother but...I did remove the pressed on end cap and the threaded one too. I thought an easy tug on the freehub body would get it off. But I tugged and tugged and it would not pop off. What am I missing in this step? Usually I can consider myself a much better mechanic than what I am showing here.
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
glad you got it out! it was one of those things that ought to be dead easy but was un-intuitively tricky for me. after doing it once it’s been a piece of cake since.
imagine my surprise on my other specialized road bike when i took the wheel off for cleaning and after removing the very obvious lock ring on the cassette, everything literally fell apart from gravity. multiple parts on the floor.
Parts falling out. Sounds like the beauty and danger of a DT Swiss freehub body? So the carbon wheels on my Creo have DT Swiss hubs too and the cassette was installed on that rear hub with a 1.85mm spacer. So I of course moved the spacer over to the new Formula hub when I installed the cassette on that one. Torque it down, installed on bike and then test rode it. Shifting was terrible with my SRAM AXS drivetrain. I micro adjusted a bunch but still crap. It dawned on me that the old freehub was XDR and new one was XD. So took the whole damn thing apart, removed the spacer, reinstalled the cassette, and whamo finally all is working correctly. What an adventure.
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