Chris King hub oil

[p nut]

Wondering if any of you have found found alternatives to RingDrive gear oil?
I need to relube as my hub started skipping on the last ride. Only 300 miles in the hub so it's surprising but hope that will solve it. Just can't find any locally.

Thanks.

[moobikes]

Mobil One or any high quality fully synthetic engine oil is the recommendation from CK. I have also used Pedros Synlube to good effect.

[Mikej]

I think skipping means dirty or was it super cold ?

[p nut]

Engine oil, huh? I do have some Mobil1 5w-30 in the garage. Seems a little thin, though?

Temps during the ride was 70deg. Hub is dusty, but not dirty (it's a SS hub, fyi). Never rode in mud or even got it wet. I have another CK hub but never had this happen. Riding normal, and all of the sudden, it'd be like if I dropped a chain. Then it would catch towards the bottom of the pedal stroke. It happened about 3 times in a 5 mile stretch.

[Fatty]

Unless there is a ton of play in the hub it shouldn't be skipping at 70 degrees.
Might want to give King a call. I've only used ring drive lube in King hubs, no issues down to single digit temps.

[berserk87]

Something is amiss there. I've ridden King hubs at 0F with no trouble (from the hubs anyway). Sounds like the are too new to be fouled with dirt. I would also recommend contacting CK.

[parallelfish]

Assume you are referencing the R45 hub? The manual specifies Mobile 1 10w-30, with RingDrive also being acceptable. You can find it on the Chris King website.

Did you perform an initial hub adjustment when first installed on the bike? Have you performed any adjustments since? When new they can get loose quickly, and require periodic adjustment until broken in. This is also covered in the manual.

I suspect the issue is the hub needs adjustment.

[p nut]

Thanks for the comments. The hub is a ISO 135mm singlespeed hub on my MTB. I had it built at Colorado Cyclist and personally made no adjustments.

But I did speak to CK. They were very helpful. Apparently, the RingDrive oil is no longer recommended (except for bearings and maybe some other internal parts). They said that it's too thick and potentially the cause of the skipping. They're going to have me ship the wheel (they're providing the shipping label) to them so they can take it apart, thoroughly clean and relube with the now recommended 10w-30 syn oil (pref Mobil1 as mentioned above). I'll be without the wheel for a couple weeks, but hope that takes care of it.

Great customer service from these folks.

[Mikej]

I spray mine out wit wd-40 also.

[berserk87]

Thanks for the info guys. I knew about the WD40 thing as a cleaning agent, but did not know that King is now recommending the use of 10w30 as a lube. The cool thing about this place is learning.