Two-piece rotor construction is how SRAM cuts weight without giving up braking performance, and the CenterLine X is the road and gravel-focused version of that design. A stainless steel brake track handles the friction and heat while an aluminum alloy carrier sits at the center, so you get consistent stopping power without the rotating mass of a one-piece steel rotor. It's the lighter-weight sibling to the standard CenterLine, using the same braking surface pattern but shedding grams through the dual-material construction.

The edges are rounded rather than squared off, which addresses the UCI's road racing rotor safety requirements and also makes wheel swaps easier — no sharp corners to catch on frame or fork during install. If you're racing UCI-sanctioned road events, this is one of the rotor styles that meets the rulebook. For everyone else, the rounded profile is just a quieter, snag-free rotor edge that plays well with quick wheel changes at the roadside or in the pits.

Cutouts in the braking surface serve double duty. They clear water, grit, and pad debris off the contact zone so bite stays consistent in wet or dusty conditions, and they let heat escape faster on sustained descents where a solid rotor would soak up temperature and start to fade. Pair that with the aluminum carrier acting as a heat sink, and repeated hard braking on long descents feels more predictable at the lever.... Read More