Chris King hubs
Discussion
I've had my CK 45's built onto Enve SES rims (sapim xray spokes) for about 2 weeks now and I'm very impressed. I had Zipp hubs previously and these seem to roll even better. Just did a 190km ride on Sunday (longest ride to date) and the wheels were effortlessly fast. I can't give you much idea of durability or maintenence yet.
Oh and the hornets nest buzz you get from the freewheel is great too
Oh and the hornets nest buzz you get from the freewheel is great too
Got chris king hubs with Eve all mountain 29ner rims. the hubs are superb. Utterly bombproof in my opion. 2 really hard winters and about 2000 miles on my tallboy, mixture of natural trails, trail centres Very wet, dry conditions. I stripped them earlier this month more because I thought I should not because they were any issues or symptoms and they were in near perfect condition. I would assume the road hubs would be of the same quality.
Also got CK 45s laced to SES 6.7s. Happy with them, but can't really tell much difference between them and my Aelous 5 D3s with DT Swiss 240 Hubs aside from noise (and looks). Done several thousand kms on them with no problem, but you wouldnt expect anything less (although I'm stealing myself for failure at somepoint as anything "high-end" appears to be made of cheese).
I'd guess all hubs at this level are much of a muchness and unless you are allergic to a certain brand; you pays you're money and takes your pick.
I'd guess all hubs at this level are much of a muchness and unless you are allergic to a certain brand; you pays you're money and takes your pick.
I've got ISO disk hubs on my mountain bike. Built as 36h on mavics with dt db spokes. They're nearly 12 years old and still going.
Rear hub has been rebuilt three times mainly to clean the ringdrive, with a new axle and stainless steel freewheel body four years ago. Apart from that only needed the odd spoke retension. Struggling to keep the axle tightened without a touch of play now, so looking at replacements.
Front has been fit and forget apart from retensioning.
I'm a big fan and if I can afford it, will only replace like for like. Love the sound of the rear freewheel.
For info: The bike is steel hardtail and has been to almost all of the uk trail centres repeatedly, offroad all over England scotland, swiss alps and uk and continental touring.
Would definitely employ the best wheel builder you can get access to, hubs of that quality deserve it and will result in stronger, longer lived wheels normally.
Rear hub has been rebuilt three times mainly to clean the ringdrive, with a new axle and stainless steel freewheel body four years ago. Apart from that only needed the odd spoke retension. Struggling to keep the axle tightened without a touch of play now, so looking at replacements.
Front has been fit and forget apart from retensioning.
I'm a big fan and if I can afford it, will only replace like for like. Love the sound of the rear freewheel.
For info: The bike is steel hardtail and has been to almost all of the uk trail centres repeatedly, offroad all over England scotland, swiss alps and uk and continental touring.
Would definitely employ the best wheel builder you can get access to, hubs of that quality deserve it and will result in stronger, longer lived wheels normally.
okgo said:
I cannot tell the difference between £500 Royce hubs and £100 shimano ones, starting to think its mostly just vanity. Dura ace hub spins longer if anything than the Royce one.
I agree re Dura Ace. I have a couple of sets of wheels and they're really excellent hubs. Had one pair for about 25 years and still like new. Rocksteadyeddie said:
I agree re Dura Ace. I have a couple of sets of wheels and they're really excellent hubs. Had one pair for about 25 years and still like new.
Is this a sort of rhetorical question?, for someone in Pedal Powered, you know what you talking about (or are least in my opinion). If you are happy with DA, why change to CK at double the cost? Aside from durability, surely hubs in isolation (at DA level and above) must be exceptionally difficult to realise / observe real world gains. I might go with a wider rim is possibly / almost slightly discernibly better in blustery conditions when the yaw angle is just right; but hubs? Its like Princess and the Pea in here. Maybe, the question should have been – what am I missing with a “monkey” on a set of hubs? Probably nothing, so why are they now so popular? I guess when people are building wheelsets or bikes and going top of the line for frames, group sets rings etc etc; you can get caught in the “weakest link” syndrome so everything is 10/10s (although I just noticed those gold Royce hubs; curses); but I’d also suppose that yes there is an element of vanity involved (and we must not let that get in the way of a wind tunnel proven extra watt).
I can’t feel any real difference between my ENVE wheels and Bontrager Aelous. They both have similar aero profiles, run good hubsets; just the later costs 600 quid less. If I was building new wheels with good rims, I’d spec the best hubs I could afford (relative), but also in respect of the rest of the bike build. It’s not something I’d do in isolation (personally); but I’m lazy so don’t switch wheels around much. Basically, my Racing 1s stay on the AiR for commuting; the Aelous on the Madone and the ENVE’s on n+1 when it finally arrives (although I’m running them on the Madone whilst waiting). I can't tell which ones are the fastest as each bike has a slightly different set-up or use.
In short (cut out the blah blah, slow day here) if you are happy with DA, you're probably not missing much.
stongle said:
Rocksteadyeddie said:
I agree re Dura Ace. I have a couple of sets of wheels and they're really excellent hubs. Had one pair for about 25 years and still like new.
Is this a sort of rhetorical question?, for someone in Pedal Powered, you know what you talking about (or are least in my opinion). If you are happy with DA, why change to CK at double the cost? Aside from durability, surely hubs in isolation (at DA level and above) must be exceptionally difficult to realise / observe real world gains. I might go with a wider rim is possibly / almost slightly discernibly better in blustery conditions when the yaw angle is just right; but hubs? Its like Princess and the Pea in here. Maybe, the question should have been – what am I missing with a “monkey” on a set of hubs? Probably nothing, so why are they now so popular? I guess when people are building wheelsets or bikes and going top of the line for frames, group sets rings etc etc; you can get caught in the “weakest link” syndrome so everything is 10/10s (although I just noticed those gold Royce hubs; curses); but I’d also suppose that yes there is an element of vanity involved (and we must not let that get in the way of a wind tunnel proven extra watt).
I can’t feel any real difference between my ENVE wheels and Bontrager Aelous. They both have similar aero profiles, run good hubsets; just the later costs 600 quid less. If I was building new wheels with good rims, I’d spec the best hubs I could afford (relative), but also in respect of the rest of the bike build. It’s not something I’d do in isolation (personally); but I’m lazy so don’t switch wheels around much. Basically, my Racing 1s stay on the AiR for commuting; the Aelous on the Madone and the ENVE’s on n+1 when it finally arrives (although I’m running them on the Madone whilst waiting). I can't tell which ones are the fastest as each bike has a slightly different set-up or use.
In short (cut out the blah blah, slow day here) if you are happy with DA, you're probably not missing much.
Rocksteadyeddie said:
Right on Q I snapped a spoke on my front wheel on the way home tonight. So smashed out of true it was hitting the brake blocks on both sides with the QR as far off as it would go. So 25 miles on a badly rubbing wheel. It's a sign right?
Yep, sounds catastrophic. You need new wheels just to get back out there. Or a new bike. ;-) What rims though?
Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there's a lot of commuting in London now on 50mm carbon, is it the sun bringing out mildly OCD cycling obsessed crumpet?
stongle said:
Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there's a lot of commuting in London now on 50mm carbon, is it the sun bringing out mildly OCD cycling obsessed crumpet?
Guilty (in part - my power tap is laced to a 50mm carbon wheel with alloy brake track, and use that with one of my winter wheels on the front of my six to commute on nice days.. - soooo much nice than riding the cross bike, and there is no way I'm riding the nice bike into london!Rolls said:
Guilty (in part - my power tap is laced to a 50mm carbon wheel with alloy brake track, and use that with one of my winter wheels on the front of my six to commute on nice days.. - soooo much nice than riding the cross bike, and there is no way I'm riding the nice bike into london!
I ride 6.7s a few times a week, and don't even have the powertap excuse! Rather glad I did'nt today though, after a track stand epic fail at the Tower Bridge / Tooley Street lights. I'd be even more miffed if I'd ridden good wheels.Johnny said:
Out of interest how much does Wheelsmith charge for CK 45s built up on Enve 45 rims & Sapim CX-Rays in black..?
I expect I'll see an answer here before I get chance to call and ask.
Not 100% sure about the enve 45 price, but built up onto and Enve SES 3.4 (a better rim IMO) you are looking at around £2,200 I believe. Pricey but arguably the best all round wheel set you can buy.I expect I'll see an answer here before I get chance to call and ask.
ChrisMCoupe said:
Not 100% sure about the enve 45 price, but built up onto and Enve SES 3.4 (a better rim IMO) you are looking at around £2,200 I believe. Pricey but arguably the best all round wheel set you can buy.
I just got Enve 3.4 SES Clinchers on red King hubs. Fantastic wheel set. Rims are superb. Other than the loud noise from the freehub I would be fibbing if I said I could tell a difference between any other hub than the King. Look fantastic mind Dowks said:
ChrisMCoupe said:
Not 100% sure about the enve 45 price, but built up onto and Enve SES 3.4 (a better rim IMO) you are looking at around £2,200 I believe. Pricey but arguably the best all round wheel set you can buy.
I just got Enve 3.4 SES Clinchers on red King hubs. Fantastic wheel set. Rims are superb. Other than the loud noise from the freehub I would be fibbing if I said I could tell a difference between any other hub than the King. Look fantastic mindGassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff