Chris King R45 hubs

[dbnm]

How often do the hubs need to be rebuild and/or have the bearings replaced?

[PNW]

Originally Posted by dbnm

How often do the hubs need to be rebuild and/or have the bearings replaced?

+1. Mine were serviced recently but would love to know as well.

[quickfeet]

The short answer is it depends. Chris King says every 6-12 month’s of riding in normal conditions or 3 months in the wet. Bearings should need replaced if taken care of.

[moobikes]

The bearings and moving parts last a loooong time if you take care of them.
All bearings are easily serviced, including those in the driveshell/ freehub.
Regrease more often if you ride in the wet/ dirt. Otherwise once a year is enough.

>>>>>No special tools needed to do routine clean and lube. <<<<<<

[parallelfish]

Originally Posted by moobikes

The bearings and moving parts last a loooong time if you take care of them.
All bearings are easily serviced, including those in the driveshell/ freehub.
Regrease more often if you ride in the wet/ dirt. Otherwise once a year is enough.

>>>>>No special tools needed to do routine clean and lube. <<<<<<

Absolutely true!

It is a simple design, easily serviced. The hub tool is only needed for bearing replacement - something a looong way down the road (if ever) if properly adjusted and maintained.

[kramnnim]

After one rainy ride, mine were full of water.

[berserk87]

I've owned 2 sets of Classics hubs and had them serviced once each in about 14 years. I had a set of R45's for about a year but sold them and the wheels they were built into. Not sure about the R45's but the Classics were tough hubs. I neglected them and rode them in all conditions (one road and one MTB) and had no issues until that many years later. Hopefully the R45's are like that, but as I said, I had less experience with them.

[zambenini]

I have had a set of R45s for a little over 7 years. They are getting their second service and second set of rims right now, ridden all terrain, road and gravel, but only occasional wet as I'm pretty fair weather. We'll see, I guess, how they do this time around, but the first time they got service was at about the two year mark and they were fine at that point.

I heard an anecdote about a classic BMX hub that was found submerged on a bike in a drainage ditch for a long time and when disassembled was evidently OK. Don't know if it's true. But they are supposed to be pretty OK in a lot of conditions.

[jonnyBgood]

I've had a few different sets of King hubs and ride in a lot of different conditions.

I typically service them every other season depending on use. I'm a little different though as I like to service things on my bike so it continues to run super smooth

[bob heinatz]

3 years on mine and they still perform great. Maybe I should have them serviced but have not felt the need yet.

[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by quickfeet

The short answer is it depends. Chris King says every 6-12 month’s of riding in normal conditions or 3 months in the wet. Bearings should need replaced if taken care of.

3 month in the wet, requires new bearings?
Thats a major pita.

[topflightpro]

Hmm, I've had a set for about 8 years now, and I'm not sure I've ever had them serviced.

They still spin perfectly. They're on their third set of rims too.

[bentaco]

I rode a set of CK classics on my cross bike for 3 seasons of racing plus a good amount of commuting through wintry slush/snow in Chicago. While I never had to replace the bearings, the freehub pawls were sticking significantly and just needing a cleaning/regrease.

[zzy]

Originally Posted by quickfeet

The short answer is it depends. Chris King says every 6-12 month’s of riding in normal conditions or 3 months in the wet. Bearings should need replaced if taken care of.

If true: HAHAHAHAHHAH. Go look at the retail price of a new set of CK bearings, front and rear, to understand how truly absurd this is. You also need proprietary tools to do the work.

[kgreene10]

Serviced once in 6 years of training regularly. That service was only incidental to getting them converted to 11sp.