That wait wasn’t long! Just last week we got a detailed look at DT Swiss’ Micro Spline freehub, but were told freehubs wouldn’t be readily available on their own. Now Shimano has updated us, that the DT Swiss Micro Spline XTR freehubs WILL BE available separately for wheel upgrades from DT!
DT Swiss XTR-compatible Micro Spline freehub body
The official word from Shimano now is that yes, “DT can sell the freehubs to individuals to upgrade their wheels“. That is a welcome update, and seems to stem from some confusion along the lines between the two parties (we take that to mean Shimano & DT Swiss) about timelines for groupset launch & availability, the availability of new DT hubs with the Micro Spline, and of the freehubs themselves.
So to good news is..
If you have a recent DT Swiss complete wheelset or wheelset built with recent DT Swiss hubs that use the DT Star Ratchet – they will be new XTR M9100 Micro Spline compatible! No need to worry about rebuilding or replacing expensive carbon race wheels. Not even any creative hub purchase/trade exchanges will be necessary. Just a simple tool-free swap (unless you want to use the Unior Hub Genie that I thought up) including special axle endcaps give you standard Shimano 10/11, SRAM XD, or new Shimano Micro Spline 12 speed compatibility.
In fact, while Shimano’s own XTR hubs will be mostly Boost spaced, you can still fit the Micro Spline freehub to pre-Boost DT hubs if you are upgrading a pre-Boost bike to the new racing groupset.
Of course we still are going to have to wait for availability of that shiny new XTR drivetrain – that won’t show up for retail sale until Fall 2018. Until then, rest assured that DT Swiss will be able to get you a Micro Spline freehub for a tool free wheel upgrade in time to install your new 10-51 Shimano XTR M9100 12-speed cassette. (And when the time comes for 12 speed XT, you’ll be good too.)
