# Shimano rear hub - # of points of engagement



## joshik123 (Aug 13, 2009)

hi

i have a shimano FH-RM30L, 32h, qr rear hub on my bike (stock off a specialized rockhopper). 

im annoyed by the low number of contacts points (or what seems to be) in my rear hub. 

i dont want to go thru the cost of re-lacing my rear wheel with a better hub, can i just change the hub body for a better one with more points of engagement? will any shimano freehub body fit on my FH-RM30L hub?


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*16 points...*



joshik123 said:


> hi
> 
> i have a shimano FH-RM30L, 32h, qr rear hub on my bike (stock off a specialized rockhopper).
> 
> ...


... and no, I don't think you can slap on a newer 36 point XT freehub.... but I could be wrong. I think I asked that a while ago and that was the answer.

Yeah, 16 points is annoyingly slow engagement.


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## traffic002 (Dec 16, 2008)

16 sounds about right. I counted about 15-ish on my Deore hub.

The newer XT hub with 36 should be a nice upgrade. Basically gotta buy the hub and then relace wheels. Might be a good time to upgrade spokes to DT competitions as well.

I'll probably build a nice wheel for my singlespeed using a Hope 2 SS hub (48POE) and then in the spring, replace the Deore hub on my Rush with an XT.


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## tomsmoto (Oct 6, 2007)

it would probably be cheaper/easier to buy a prebuild xt wheel.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

You might be able to fit an upgraded freehub to your hub, but may need to add/remove a spacer between the hub and freehub body. I don't think I'd put one of those newer XT (77x series) freehubs on though as they don't have a great reputation for durability.

I might be more inclined to try the freehub from the new SLX freehub (FH-M665). It has 32 POE, but hasn't been out long enough to get an idea of how durable they are. Then, of course there are the new 29er Shimano freehubs that go to the FH-M529 and FH-M629 hubs. Just not sure how many POE they have. Lets hope it more than the Shimano standard of 18 they use on so many of their hubs.

You can bag on Shimano hubs for their low POE count, but generally, if you want to move up the food chain, it's going to cost a good chunk of change to do so. Then you get to deal with things like needing more expensive cassettes so your fancy aluminum freehub body doesn't get gouged so badly you have to hammer them off.

It's cool to have champagne taste in rear hubs, but they won't be had with a beer budget.


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