What is the importance of bike wheel hubs?

Question

I recently purchased a used bike from my neighbor because it fit me well and seems to be a nice bike. Everyone keeps telling me that the Chris King wheel hubs that it has are great. What makes them great and is there anything I must do to maintain them?

Answer 1

Yes the hubs are really important, as it is an integral part of the drivetrain. And yes, the Chris King hub is one of the best. And yes - the noise is real cool. but, here is why:

Chris King bearings are actually guaranteed for 10 years (unheard of) - might not matter with a used bike but you know they are quality.

The noise comes from their hubs having more engagement points than a standard hub. A standard hub has 24, Chris King has 72. That is 3x as many!! That means that power starts going to the wheel faster...

As for maintenance, I overhaul my hubs once a year. Take them somewhere that has experience with CK hubs though...

Answer 2

King hubs are one of the best hubs out there. Industry 9 and Hadley are on the same level.

Hadley and King have been a long time in the market, so there's a lot of feedback on them.

The hubs are what make the wheels turn, and are very important.

As they mentiones, King rear hub has like 72 engagement points. Shimano hubs (until 2006) had 18, as well as Mavic and other companies. I9 has like 92 or something engagement points, and Hadley has like 72 or 104 or so.

What this means is that on climbs, if you stop and have start riding, you feel the wheel engage a lot faster to the drivetrain than on lower engagement points.

Newer XTR and XT (2007) hubs have 32 engagement points, which are great.

Other hubs have 24 (like Hope Pro II).

It also depend on how much money you want to spend on wheels. Most probably, if you build some wheelset using King, I9 or Hadley you could look at something around 1,000 usd.

I have some nice wheels with DT Swiss 5.1 rims laced to Hope Bulb rear (32 engagement points) for around 500 bucks (maybe a little less, don't remember how much).

Some Shimano XT hubs laced to mid range Mavics or Alex Rims or Sun should go for around 200 to 250, depending on the shop.

Answer 3

chris kings are great best chris king makes good hubs. its all about the wonderful sound you hear while your not pedaling. the high pitched and quick, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. as for maintaining them, just keep the bike as a whole clean. i've never had any problems with hubs. but the gears, chain, and all need to be clean occationally

Answer 4

Chris King makes the best hubs and headsets on the market, in my opinion. They are beautiful, strong, functional, and nearly indestructible. They are also very expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Their drive mechanism in the rear wheel is rated to 800ft/lbs of torque, or about the same as the output of a diesel pickup. You will never be able to come close to that, but it gives you an idea of the level of engineering King puts into their parts.

The company itself is a manufacturing marvel, and they make everything in-house. They don't outsource their bearings, don't use cheap metals, and don't send parts out to be anodized. The factory is fully self-contained, and they recycle EVERYTHING including metal shavings, chemicals and waste water.

As far as your hubs go, get a bike shop to give them a quick once-over to make sure they don't need lube or cleaning, and just ride the crap out of them. I have had King headsets on both my road bikes, and after the initial couple of rides to settle the bearings I have never had to do anything for maintenance. They simply look good and feel smooth as butta year after year.

In short, King components are designed to outlast your bike, and are worth the investment. Score one for YOU!

Answer 5

only if you have a quick release, once every 3 months you need to clean it dry it and grease it but not with oil but with grease, make an even layer of grease and don't put to much