King hub stopped engaging

[p nut]

I spoke to the head tech at CK earlier this year and he said the Ringdrive oil is no longer recommended. Just use 10W syn motor oil (Mobil1 is a good one). I had skipping issues in the cold and now is all good.

[11.4]

I had over 15,000 miles on each of two pairs of King Classic hubs, all in the wet Pacific Northwest. Never serviced either one of them.

The traditional lore about the Classic hub is as follows:

1. Rarely if ever needs maintenance.
2. It requires a very light lube, either Ring Drive or motor oil or, in very cold conditions, TriFlow.
3. It's noisy with thin lubes, so people switch to greases, which then don't allow the ring drive to work.
4. Service on the rear consisted of removing the QR and axle end cap, then push the axle out and simply pull out the whole free hub. Spray the **** out of the innards with TriFlow until it looks pristine inside and the TriFlow comes out clear. Optionally add some motor oil and reinstall. If you have to do the bearings, you only need to remove the split steel ring, lift out the o-ring seal, and re-lube the hubs inside (also using light lubes); then reinstall the seal and the split ring and be sure it's fully seated. That's all there is.
5. No matter what you do to it, just clean and lube it and it works fine again. We had a drawer of replacement seals, seal clips, and bearings for those hubs and we never, ever, used a single one. Ever. Spare parts are a non-issue. And there are plenty of CK hub tools floating around, but the only times they've had to be used is when someone fools around with a hub and jacks up the bearing set. (Or if someone wants to upgrade to ceramic bearings or swap bearings).


CK hubs started as MTB hubs in the Pacific Northwest, which is about as dirty a use as you can find. They were ridden into the ground for years before King even came out with a front hub, and then finally started offering road hubs. Because MTB was all Shimano, there was never a Campy road option and CK never really cared. The point is that their design was about as battle tested as a hub could be and it was the gold standard for reliability.

As for your hub, if you fill it with water and freeze it it'll stop engaging. If you (or somebody) used a thicker grease inside, it'll stop engaging. Other than that, there isn't really anything to break. It's a slightly more complicated design than others but that in no way means fragile or subject to wear.

[weaponsgrade]

I’ve also had a King hub that periodically wouldn’t engage over the course of a ride. Turns out it just needed some service. I think the previous owner used some grease which just got too sticky for the spring.

[BikeNY]

Originally Posted by berserk87

That's just not accurate. I used and abused mine for years without doing anything to them. The only maintenance that I had done was at a shop after 14 years of use, on 2 different sets (one road and one MTB). The reason I owned King hubs to begin with was that I could ride them and forget about messing with 'em.

The cold should not be an issue, either. I rode mine on the coldest ride I have ever done (0 F with a 17mph wind). The ride was physically painful due to the cold but the hubs were fine.

I've had a 3 sets of road hubs and a set of MTB hubs from King. Raced them, had them submerged in muddy water, etc. Great product.

I did have a friend that kinda had the lockup issue last year (the hub didn't seize). The WD40 trick worked on his and he was back on the road quickly. He got his used so I don't know what the deal was there. Maybe the prior owner lubed them with something he shouldn't have. They were gummed up inside.

All I know is my brother and a good friend that we used to ride with all the time both had King hubs on the mountain bikes. Both of them had to service them about every 6 months, or they would stop engaging. This was on mountain bikes, but not really wet or sloppy riding. Not a big sample size, but it's enough to keep me away.

I settled on DT hubs many years ago and have been super happy with them. I have multiple sets or 240 and 350 hubs and have never had an issue. Every once in a while I pull the freehub off to have a look and then just put it back on because the grease still looks great. No blingy colors though...

[moobikes]

The mechanism in a DT 240/ 350 is basically the same as the one in a Chris King, implemented in different ways. No pawls in either design. The DT hub design leaves the drive mechanism pretty exposed but protects the main drive bearing behind the ratchets. When that bearing needs replacement (and it will), you will need a special socket and a bench with a vice. The DT ratchets are very easy to clean, though.

In the King hub, *everything* can be serviced with nothing more than allen wrenches and a metal pick to open the bearing seals.

[Kristjanz]

I got a Classic king hub for $100 that developed this problem after a a month. It would randomly just not engage and it started to feel dangerous. It was well used when I got it and the grease had caked. Cleaning and proper greasing didn't solve it. Eventually a friend of mine who has a had a few CK hubs opened it up. The drive and driven rings were very worn. We replaced those and it's been perfect ever since. http://www.avt.bike/WebStore/merchan...ct_Code=PHB525

CK service was trying to point me in another direction. I hope this is helpful for someone.