Shimano new thicker 2.2mm rotor, the RT-750, in 200 or 220mm diameters is now officially live. Their mountain bike rotors have historically been 1.8mm thick and tapped out at 203mm (except for the cheaper RT-66 that was available in 220mm).
The RT-750 is offered in the usual mounting styles—Center Lock (CL750) and 6-Bolt (6B750). Unlike Shimano’s XT or XTR rotors, it does not feature a two-piece design with Shimano’s Ice Technology.
The rotors are claimed to offer all the usual benefits of going bigger and thicker 😶—more power/bite, better heat management for consistency over long runs and less chance of bending.
We’ve seen the new rotors raced at World Cups this season, so one can assume they provide some benefit over Shimano’s previous rotors. But the optics of running what appears to be stamped rotors doesn’t immediately scream performance compared to say SRAM’s HS2 rotor.
Dropping a thicker and bigger rotor 2026 isn't super newsworthy, but it does feel very Shimano. The reality is that many other brands have offered thick (or thicker) 220mm (or larger) rotors for many years, and the RT-750 is competing in a large pool of gravity rotors.
I've asked for weights and more detail on how the rotors are made. I'll update the article if/when any new information is received.
Shimano RT-66 | Shimano XT RT86 | Shimano RT-750 | SRAM HS2 | Hope Fixed Rotor | TRP RS05E Race Rotor | |
Thickness | 1.8mm | 1.8mm | 2.2mm | 2.0mm | 2.3mm | 2.3mm |
MSRP (USD) 200/220mm | 203mm - $49 220mm - $60 | 203mm - $80 | 200mm - $60 220mm - $75 | 200mm - $70 220mm - $75 | 200/200mm - $62.40 | 203mm - $77 220mm - $85 |
I know everyone loves to discuss brakes, as evident by our rotor thickness/size and brake nerd forums. So what do you think of these rotors? Would you buy them, or are you sticking with what you're currently running?
i'm ready for the dislikes, but hell no, 262 gr for a 200 rotor is nuts, plus, it doesn't look flush just like the cheap shimano rotors that seem stamped, and the price is nuts too for what it is, Radic HD rotors are cheaper, thicker ( 2.3mm ) and 70gr lighter per rotor... i mean 140gr just on the rotors without any sacrifices and a better quality rotor overall, meh, i feel shimano has lost it in the last few years
It goes in the right direction for thickness, but definitely not for quality.. Stamped rotor for that price? Nah. In the end, once the rotor is bedded in, it probably provides 99% of the power of a laser cut rotor, but it takes longer to bed in, looks horrible and worst of all, cheap. Aliexpress rotors that cost 10% look way better ....
Do better Shimano, you're lagging way behind everyone else.
stamped rubbish for the same price as a hs2?
and $10 cheaper than the Really good TRP r5 rotor......
Much like apple users... shimano fanboys will lap this up.
I am that and i wont lap. Better than being a sram cheerleader bc that shits hot garbage
About time they caught up with where everyone else got to years ago.
Hopefully this means less pre warped rotors being inflicted on the customers.
At times it felt like more than half of the rotors were bent fresh out of the packet when I was installing them on customers bikes at the shop.
The super budget brand rotors that someone had ordered off AliExpress and slapped their own logo onto were better most of the time quite frankly.
The 3D renders look a lot better than the reality...
Even if these are technically flat and level, I've been bitten by stamped Shimano rotors too many times. I'll stick to laser cut/machined discs.
For what is worth, min thickness written on HS2 1.7mm. On these shimano rotors it is written 1.5mm. So basically, on HS2 you have only 0.3mm of useful brake layer. On shimano it is "whooping" 0.7mm. So they might last a lot longer.
Purely based on the pictures, it looks like they might have optimized layout for stamping. Or/and improved the stamping process. Stamped RT66 has some low and high spots, that can produce some vibrations. From the pictures alone, this one looks better.
Still expensive for what it is..
Where did you see the weight?
Also @Jason_Schroeder when has Shimano made a floating rotor?
I have a hunch that the 2 piece rotors (ice tech or whatever their new marketing equivalent is) will drop with the new mechanical xt 12spd.
Sram can't make a straight, properly heat treated rotor to save their lives. Even the cheap stamped Shimano rotors stay true better than the HS2, and I bet the new ones are going to be the same story.
OK TRP, ball is in your court now (I want some 200mm S05e so I can ditch my dinky spacers). Best value rotor out there.
Yeah I guess XT/XTR isn’t floating huh? Just updated the article.
This opinion is several years out of date. Incidentally that’s how out of date new Shimano products are.
Confirmation they are stamped? The pics I saw of rotors mounted on WC bikes showed edges radiused on both sides. That does not happen from simple stamping, a secondary operation would be needed.
Correct, they are just two piece, but are firmly riveted. In that regard the new centerlock rotors are exactly the same. Previously Shimano did make 2-piece 6-bolt rotors too to save some weight and have a stiffer rotor? They would need it with IceTech anyway because of the middle aluminium layer which doesn't do much for stiffness. So I guess those are, in 6-bolt at least, 2-piece out of necessity first and for everything else second.
I see Flow mountainbike has these weighed and they are indeed 262 grams for the 6-bolt (single piece) variant. There are many spokes so it should be stiff at least.
As for cut vs. stamped, here are Flow's pics of the edges. They are suspiciously rounded and the edge does correspond to a stamping operation. What I would like to see is the back side. If it's the same rounded-wise, then I'd say it's not just stamping. For now, to me it's inconclusive, but suspiciously stamped.
https://d36myxw5t262l6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/29130300/Shimano-220mm-2.2mm-disc-rotors-21.jpg
https://d36myxw5t262l6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/29130303/Shimano-220mm-2.2mm-disc-rotors-22.jpg
https://flowmountainbike.com/fresh-produce/shimano-2-2mm-rotor-rt-cl6b7…
It's out. I don't see any floaty bois.
my hunch was wrong. was not expecting mechanical xt 12 today
Didn't they outsorce product development to their customers?
can you run these new thick rotors on the old shitter MT520 brakes? I want to remove some of the dead band and would like to try 220's
Yes you can, even any 2.3mm from Hope, Radic, trp and so on
from a quick compatibility check, those are not compatible. only new brakes with LV fluid. https://productinfo.shimano.com/en/compatibility/C-461
I can't speak to the MT520 brakes, but I started a thread in 2020 to ask people about running 2.3mm rotors on Shimano brakes. Lots chimed in and nobody cited any problems with running that arrangement. But again, nobody specifically mentioned trying it MT520 brakes, so YMMV. If you do give it a try, share your results in the forum!
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/2-3mm-rotors-on-Shimano-brakes,10886
Well it’s not true, and for those disliking, either work for Shimano or unable to bleed and set up brakes I guess, no other explanation
deadband is related to piston seal rollback. Any reduction in deadband due to thicker rotors will be temporary. It will return to normal as the pads wear, though the thicker rotors are likely to stay straight and the pads can be run closer to rotors for minimum deadband.
Shimano has two bleed blocks for the new brakes, white one is for thicker rotors, old/yellow one is for 1.8 rotors.
Does the new bleed block fit in the old calipers?
People keep on calling them stamped but are they actually confirmed to be stamped?
Straight 200mm is long overdue for Shimano but where's my 240mm for my 32" wheel bike? We'll need more leverage on the bigger wheel Shimano... 😅
Just look at them, there’s no way laser cutting folds the edges like that
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