Chris King implies that Campy hubs MAY be coming soon!!

[weiwentg]

I saw a Cyclingnews article from NAHBS about how Chris King is returning to his roots as a framebuilder. I glimpsed the Campy components on his bike, and snorted to myself that because he was so rigid about not building Campy, he couldn't use his hubs or his bottom bracket on his own bike ... but then the article said that Campy splined R45 hubs might be coming out soon. If that's actually true, I might just sell the silver Campy Record hubs I'm holding on to...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/on-show-2011-north-american-handmade-bicycle-show-part-2

[crownjewelwl]

oops...didnt read the article and just saw the pics...guess they were campy hubs

[Elefantino]

I can almost hear the bees now.

[ultraman6970]

Well he could be using a conversion cassette, right?

[tuscanyswe]

Is that a custom ck headset or did he go all out and went no ck on this one?

[fourflys]

the Swiss Cross is a hot looking bike, but I'm not sure it's worth $1300 since it's tig'd in Taiwan... not anything wrong with where it's made, just that you can get a Gunnar for the same price and maybe even a hair cheaper... edit- the Gunnar Crosshairs O2 is $1190 with the same fork that comes on the Ritchey (WCS cross)...

and I just don't get why ANY bike would be built without water bottle bosses (Cielo Cross)... unless you're a pro, I'm guessing you train on the same bike you race on... and how much can 4 bosses weight anyway? :confused: so, I just looked at the Cielo website and the cross frame they have on there has water bottle bosses, I retract my criticism about them... although some other makers do leave them off the race frames...

anyway, here is the new Swiss Cross...
http://cdn0.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net/2011/02/26/2/ritchey_swisscross_full_view_600.jpg

[cody.wms]

They've been "almost here" for so long, I quit waiting. I'd love a set, but I don't think they'll ever exist.

[willmeeker]

didn't Mavic make a cassette that fit shimano splined hub bodies with campy 10 speed spacing?

Or was I dreaming?

[cody.wms]

There are options for 9 and 10 speed Campy groups on Shimano wheels. The Mavic casette was one option. Wheels Manufacturing makes conversion cassettes, as does (did?) American Classic. You could also respace a Shimano cassette to Campy in those days. The problem now is that the 11 speed Campy cassette is too wide for a Shimano body.

[weiwentg]

I don't recall CK ever saying that their Campy hubs were "almost here". That lame excuse was reserved for their bottom bracket, I thought. In contrast, I think CK had always maintained that they wouldn't do Campy hubs, market too small. I would have understood if they just said that our engineering resources are limited, and we're unable to devote enough time to make a BB. Don't string people along.

I think Mavic made a conversion cassette that fit only their Ksyriums, or something like that. Wheels Mfg and American Classic were the other two options, the Wheels cassette being of higher quality but more expensive.

CK himself had a complete Campy drivetrain on his bike, shifters and wheels.

[oldpotatoe]

I don't recall CK ever saying that their Campy hubs were "almost here". That lame excuse was reserved for their bottom bracket, I thought. In contrast, I think CK had always maintained that they wouldn't do Campy hubs, market too small. I would have understood if they just said that our engineering resources are limited, and we're unable to devote enough time to make a BB. Don't string people along.

I think Mavic made a conversion cassette that fit only their Ksyriums, or something like that. Wheels Mfg and American Classic were the other two options, the Wheels cassette being of higher quality but more expensive.

CK himself had a complete Campy drivetrain on his bike, shifters and wheels.

IMHO, CK hubs are a very complicated answer to a simple question. Even their R45 hubs are a nightmare inside, take a long time to OVH, need a $300+ tool kit to do it completely...On the other hand, DT, Campagnolo, shimano, even White hubs are simple in comparison, work really well and are often cheaper.

[weiwentg]

IMHO, CK hubs are a very complicated answer to a simple question. Even their R45 hubs are a nightmare inside, take a long time to OVH, need a $300+ tool kit to do it completely...On the other hand, DT, Campagnolo, shimano, even White hubs are simple in comparison, work really well and are often cheaper.

you're a boring, stodgy guy. stop ruining my bike lust moments.

(jk)

[oldpotatoe]

you're a boring, stodgy guy. stop ruining my bike lust moments.

(jk)

Tee hee....they do come in pretty colors...

[bicycletricycle]

king hubs are ridiculous internally, however, the colors are very nice.

Tee hee....they do come in pretty colors...

[guyintense]

IMHO, CK hubs are a very complicated answer to a simple question. Even their R45 hubs are a nightmare inside, take a long time to OVH, need a $300+ tool kit to do it completely...On the other hand, DT, Campagnolo, shimano, even White hubs are simple in comparison, work really well and are often cheaper.

The insides of the hubs are pretty straight forward and Chris King "tool kit" is only around $100. In my opinion their hubs are very well designed and in the off chance you do have to do a complete rebuild they come apart quit easily.
Typically though you just need a couple of 5mm allen wrenches to take them apart enough to refresh the lube. Oh, did I mention they're MADE IN AMERICA?

[bicycletricycle]

a helically driven clutch mechanism is inherently more complicated then the simple pawl mechanisms found in mavic, white industries, shimano, zipp, I9, hope, edco, phil wood, tune and campy systems. The tight tolerances required also leave less room for grit accumulation. All that being said, the main problem i have with king hubs is the high amount of drag they have when free wheeling. This tends to go away over time as the internals get drier. I have also seen more than a few hub shells stretch over time effecting the press fit of the main drive side bearing. I was given the run around on the phone with them, this was on hubs i owned personally and on customers bikes.

In my experience I have had to rebuild my white industry hubs less often than the kings i have owned, however, my white hubs have required bearing replacement, my kings have never required bearing replacement.

White hubs require zero dollars worth of special tools to rebuild.

No hub is perfect i guess, I hope king makes a campy hub, I also hope they change the ugly logo on the r45 hubs and some day turn their attention to a less complicated clutch mechanism.

The level of craftsmanship and attention to detail on chris king components is almost without equal. I think that my next bike is going to have king hubs, bb and headset.

IMHO

[old_fat_and_slow]

If that's actually true, I might just sell the silver Campy Record hubs I'm holding on to...

You can let 'em go already. Two words for Yah....

White Industries (baby) (OK, three words.)


http://whiteind.com/images/640_H2_REAR_SIL.jpg

[oldpotatoe]

The insides of the hubs are pretty straight forward and Chris King "tool kit" is only around $100. In my opinion their hubs are very well designed and in the off chance you do have to do a complete rebuild they come apart quit easily.
Typically though you just need a couple of 5mm allen wrenches to take them apart enough to refresh the lube. Oh, did I mention they're MADE IN AMERICA?

My tool kit, purchased about 6 years ago was pushing $300, the entire kit. Yes, they come apart quite easily and are not rocket surgery to get them back together but they do take a fair amount of time and are overcomplicated for a bicyce hub, IMHO> To overhaul them completely, you need more than 2 5mm allen wrenches.

So since they are 'made in america', then need to be so complicated? I think shimano, Campagnolo and DT hubs do their job really well, are less $ and far simplier...Don't care where they are made.

[Black Dog]

Why is everyone so excited about the possibility of CK hubs that will be campy compatible? He has decided not to support campy compatibility. He could have easily done so years ago. His position is very clear; he does not think that campy compatibility is worth bothering about. Flaunting a campy equipped bike is a bit hypocritical of him.

Why act like a 12 year old girl who just found out that Justin Bieber might be coming to her birthday party? Go out and buy a hub that is just as good from a manufacturer that has always chosen to support the campy standard. For the record I have nothing against CK. I have a CK headset on my campy bike.

[oldpotatoe]

Why is everyone so excited about the possibility of CK hubs that will be campy compatible? He has decided not to support campy compatibility. He could have easily done so years ago. His position is very clear; he does not think that campy compatibility is worth bothering about. Flaunting a campy equipped bike is a bit hypocritical of him.

Why act like a 12 year old girl who just found out that Justin Bieber might be coming to her birthday party? Go out and buy a hub that is just as good from a manufacturer that has always chosen to support the campy standard. For the record I have nothing against CK. I have a CK headset on my campy bike.


I just took a CK HS off my new Waterford and replaced it with a Record one..

FS-black 1 inch threaded 2 nut CK hs..almost new!

$75

[weiwentg]

FYI, the R45 service tools are $169 now.

http://chrisking.com/tools/tls_hubs

Yes, that's still expensive. However, you can definitely adjust the bearing preload and perform basic service on the R45s with just hex wrenches. For advanced service, I imagine most users would probably be going to a bike shop or sending the hubs in to CK.

[Mikej]

AHH, figures you would need a seperate tool for the two different hubs, that is sort of lame. You can do a total over haul with just 2 5mm's and a tiny screw driver to get the clips off the bearing seals. I have a set of Kings on my mtb that are from 96, I repalced a needle bearing. I like 'em!