Hey everybody, welcome!
It's been a while since I used anything but Shimano rotors, you see that XT SM-RT86 that can be expensive
I usually recommended the SLX SM-RT66 for entry-level rotors
but since the new ones are made in China, I started to look for an alternative
and that's how I found the Galfer Wave rotors, let's take a closer look at these!
And I'm bringing this up because the SLX RT66 rotors used to be made in Japan,
you see this is probably laser cut and then polished
as opposed to that the ones made in China, they seem to be stamped.
You still have this available for both resin and metallic pads just like in the past
but this is probably just a cheaper method of manufacturing it.
Galfer is been making motorcycle gear since the 90s but now they have this bike line.
And here at the back of the package you're gonna see all the rotors that they offer today.
I have the Wave 1.8 mm rotors, they also have the 2 mm thick for e-bikes,
they also have the floating rotor that you see over here and then some road and even a trial version of the rotors
and they all seem to be made in Spain.
Scanning that QR code is going to take you to their website where you're going to see that they have pads
and a few other accessories for bikes that's all that's in their lineup for now.
At the front of the package you're going to see this extra label that's going to give you
the part number, the diameter of the disc, the fact that these are 1.8 mm thick
and this is all in a plastic sleeve with the rotor wrapped in cardboard.
These are IS 6-bolt rotors and you are getting the 6 bolts over here
but compared to Shimano you are not getting this extra tiny little shim
that is supposed to keep the bolts in place.
Galfer just seems to rely on the Loctite that's already applied on the six bolts provided.
On closer examination the rotor looks beautiful, you see Galfer here,
this is the part number, you're going to have the minimum thickness as 1.3 mm, an interesting detail
because if you look at any of the Shimano rotors minimal thickness is 1.5 mm.
Starting from about the same thickness these can last longer!
On one of the spokes you're going to see this is 160 mm, so the size, and you can see the center being painted.
They're also mentioning the high temperature resistance surface or breaking surface which is right up here
because of the high carbon content.
And here at the back of the packaging you're going to see the recommendation on proper pad alignment with the disc.
And I mentioned the rotor thickness, here's the Shimano 1.72 -1.73 mm
Galfer rotor is 1.82 mm, so 1.82 going down to 1.3 mm min,
and this is 1.72 mm, with minimum 1.5 mm.
So the Galfer would last longer than the Shimano SLX.
Also you see this little sticker here telling you not to cut your hands.
You're not going to cut your hands because these are not sharp edges anymore.
They're pretty sharp on the Galfer because this is probably laser cut
and I know you guys are going to scream at me because I'm touching the surface.
Yeah just use alcohol after installing these.
For those of us interested in weight here's the SLX at 112-113 grams.
You have the XT rotor 160 mm, that's 109-110 grams so about the same weight.
Well Galfer is supposed to be 99 grams and it comes up to 101g
so we're talking about 10 grams difference between SLX or XT for that matter and this new Galfer Wave
the 1.8 millimeter version of it.
And if you're wondering the 180 version of this disc is 124 grams
versus the 120 g specified by Galfer.
This Wave disc also comes in 180, 203, and 223 mm,
from 180 mm and up you have a 2 mm thick rotor as well.
As for the installation this is very similar to any other IS 6-bolt discs
you have the maximum torque specified here at 4Nm
and you're gonna need a T25 TORX to tighten this up just like with the Shimano rotors.
And remember to tighten these up crisscross so the opposite, again 4Nm
T25 TORX, and finally
wipe the disk clean with alcohol
and you're ready to go out and bed in your new rotor, I cannot stress that enough!
Quite a few rides and a couple of races on these new Galfer rotors and you know what?
They are actually really good!
Very easy to bed-in, and the rotors give you a nice bite when the pads touch the rotor.
No noises whatsoever, no squeals or anything like that so from now on
I think these are going to be my preferred one piece rotors as opposed to the good-old SLX RT66 from Shimano.
So what do you guys think about these new Galfer discs?
Would they be a good replacement for the Shimano discs you're currently using?
Let me know in the comments below.
Also if you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment,
and until next time hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!