chris king and campy

[firerescuefin]

Can someone tell me why they won't make a Campy compatible free hub. Their answer seems to be a line of bs. Did Mr. Campy steal his.girlfriend on his trip abroad as a youngster?

[AngryScientist]

i wonder the same thing often.

its seems as a baseless generalization that the folks who buy campy have an eye for well made, tough as nails, and aesthetically pleasing stuff, right up the king alley, why are they shutting down that potential market, i have no idea.

you definitely have the leading theory with Mrs. King shacking up with the boys in the campy bus.

[veloduffer]

I would guess that CK is uncomfortable with designing a hub to accommodate the extra dish needed for Campy's drivetrain. CK doesn't like integrated headsets either.

[Ralph]

Maybe the size of the Campy market isn't large enough.

[nahtnoj]

The size of the Campy market is small, and the size of the road market is small relative to their MTB sales.

I bet it is something on the order of 5% of 10%.

[Dave B]

Ironically King rides a campy equipped bike, just uses a cassette that works on his splines with campy spacing.

[JMerring]

Originally Posted by Mr.President

Ironically King rides a campy equipped bike, just uses a cassette that works on his splines with campy spacing.

of course he does - he has an appreciation for the best that life has to offer.

[ergott]

The bearings they use in the current freehub body are too big (outer diameter) to fit inside a Campagnolo freehub body because Campy uses deeper splines. Their answer as to why not is that they don't feel comfortable using smaller bearings to accommodate the splines.

They are great people. I think that everyone that wants King hubs for Campagnolo should call them and ask. Business is business. If enough people ask who knows, maybe they will bow to market pressure and make them.


Then call up the folks at Phil Wood and demand the same.

[bshell]

ergott has the actual answer.

And I'll pose this question...why doesn't campy re-evaluate their splines/freehub body? In 22 years of cycling (limited wheel sample size, admittedly) the only freehubs I've had problems with were campy Neutrons. They split lengthwise along the spline.

Been using King on Mtn/CX since the early nineties. Even started using King with Campy 10sp on my CX @ 2 years ago. Certainly not 'perfect' but I've got thousands of happy miles on them.....

[ergott]

Originally Posted by bshell

why doesn't campy re-evaluate their splines/freehub body?

That would be a better solution. It would only make their wheels better.

-Eric

[derosa_guy]

Originally Posted by bshell

the only freehubs I've had problems with were campy Neutrons. They split lengthwise along the spline.

I've never had this problem with the Neutron freehubs, but I do keep cooking the bearings, which require a complete freehub replacement. I'm fine with doing service on my stuff, and nothing lasts forever, but $80 every 5k miles kinda stinks. I think King has it right with the bearing size.

[firerescuefin]

Originally Posted by ergott

The bearings they use in the current freehub body are too big (outer diameter) to fit inside a Campagnolo freehub body because Campy uses deeper splines. Their answer as to why not is that they don't feel comfortable using smaller bearings to accommodate the splines.

They are great people. I think that everyone that wants King hubs for Campagnolo should call them and ask. Business is business. If enough people ask who knows, maybe they will bow to market pressure and make them.


Then call up the folks at Phil Wood and demand the same.

Eric...although my urban legend of Mr. Campy hooking up with King's highschool sweetheart...(and therefore no Campy support) was juicier, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I have sent numerous e-mails to King, because I love their stuff, but am not going to run an adapter cassette with my current Campy Record drivetrain.

[AndrewS]

It's not like they are the only one making nice hubs. I keep hearing more and more good things about White.

[firerescuefin]

Originally Posted by AndrewS

It's not like they are the only one making nice hubs. I keep hearing more and more good things about White.

Andrew....maybe so, but can White's hubs be described as below

"It rolls good with angry bee sound"

As told to Chris King customer service by Akiyoshi Takamura, a Japanese rider and King customer....now made into a Chris King T-shirt.



http://chrisking.com/store/t_shirts/t_angrybee

[AndrewS]

No... but they are shiny, and bulge in the middle like the proverbial "wax tadpole".

(Also, $100 cheaper.)