I have been built 3 pairs of customs wheels so far and although I was so keen to lace them around a branded pair of hubs like Chris King, Tune or DT, I could not justify the cost of $500 for a rear unit along, ending up to a $150 pair of BHS.

Whats the reason for asking $800 for a branded set? Does it really justify the money to spend?

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Orbea Orca Gold 6430gr, Orbea Aqua, Tommasini Tecno, FM-066SL 6480gr, Kinesis RaceLight T2, Trek Superfly 100, Trek Session 88, KTM EXC-250

With CK you are paying for the brand, propreitry bearings and for a design that reqires proprietry tools to service. You do get long bearing life apparantly but there other cheaper hubs that do that too.

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www.thecycleclinic.co.uk

I have several wheels with DT hubs, I now think they're over priced...can't really say about CK's but there seem to be more than a few good hubs available now...I personally like White Industries, reasonable price & quality...

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"It never gets easier, you just go faster..." - Greg Lemond

"Because technology alone is a poor substitute for experience." - Richard Sachs

You buy CK for the high POE count, mainly... or you're a poser.

In all seriousness though, there are good and better hubs. And there are really freaking poor hubs (all things Mavic.......). But sure, there are great cheap hubs, Novatec make some för instance. But you'll have a hard time beating DuraAce hubs too...

Different hubs will feel different, and will give different spoke angles, bearing drag, engagement, freewheel noise, axle stiffness, etc... I don't think durability is all that counts.

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Roadbike
Kinesis RaceLight T2

Mountainbike
Van Nicholas Zion Ti

With King you are of course paying a premium for the name, but that name has been established from the level of engineering they put into their products, better QC, and very precise manufacturing of almost all parts including their bearings. Add to that, the fact that they do it responsibly and domestically. The ring drive engagement system is very reliable and proprietary to them. Majority of all the cheaper hubs are using a standard pawl/pawl spring system.

Read this: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Chris-King ... -2012.html
I think you will gain some respect for what the company is trying to do.

I agree there are lots of cheap good hub designs out there. I haven't really heard of anything bad about those BHS hubs.

I agree regarding DT hubs, not that they are bad hubs, but given the price, there are other hubs I would buy first.

It the 'brand' is 'Campagnolo' or 'Shimano', you are also paying for precision machining that is hard to replicate elsewhere. There are not a lot of manufacturers left who are manufacturing with adjustable bearings anymore.

not that I've used them before, but I've heard really good things about phil wood hubs. expensive, but not in the realm of CKs apparently.

you might want to take a look at white industries hubs. not that expensive, but a goood product.

I really like cup/cone (never-ending discussion!) but there aren't too many who still make them, Campagnolo and Shimano being some of the few. ,For some reason, the Dura-ace hubs are heavier, and for once, more expensive than Record hubs, but the latter are only available in 32 and 36 holes. Other than that, I really feel that record hubs have a hard-to-beat combination of light weight, reliability, bearing quality, price and looks (+ excellent quick releases). I haven't tried White Industries, but they seem to be rather expensive in Europe and in the US, too.

just adding the reason I like cup/cone over industrial bearings:
Industrial initially spins nice but wear out, so you are actually riding sub-par bearings for some (too much) time on your wheelset.
Cup/cone just gets better over time. They never wear out if you keep them maintained each 10-15.000km and you are not constantly creating waste by changing cartridge bearings.

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Bianchi EV3, Master Olympic, Pinarello Asolo

Explain to us not in the know why mavic hubs are so poor? It seems like just a simple sealed bearing hub?

The only downside I really see is that the freehub bodies have bushings in them, but I guess all freehub bodies have to wear out one day, right?

It's the freaking preload adjustment. Preloading sealed cartridge bearings, REALLY Mavic? Jackasses... I've had dozens of Mavic wheel pairs, both MTB and Road... And the bushing, don't get me started...

I'm no big fan of the CK lock ring either, but atleast it locks down with an allen screw. On their 20mm front hub though, that's just so daft that I'm lost for words, they should look at Hope how to design a 20mm hub... Basic KISS design.

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Roadbike
Kinesis RaceLight T2

Mountainbike
Van Nicholas Zion Ti

This should really be in the everything wheels forum.

I too am not totally thrilled with the CK preload system. It seems like a choice between too loose resulting in play/noise or too tight and not very free spinning. Yes you can get rid of excessive play/noise but a top end hub should be pretty low in friction when properly adjusted and the Kings are a bit "stiff" for my taste. Interestingly Zipp has a very similar preload system on their latest hubs but they seem much easier to set just right.

I have two identical sets of wheels (with identical tubes and tires), one with Dura Ace hubs and the other with CK R45. The DA feels like it rolls better to me. I prefer to ride the DA equipped set at this point. Granted the CK set has only about 1000 km so maybe the seals will break in a bit and it will start to spin a bit better. Overall I am happy with the King hubs but I can understand how some argue that they do not deserve their price premium over other comparable hubs.

FWIW I never had an issue with the Mavic preload. I rarely had them come out of adjustment and they are very easy to reset.

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The OP posted mentioned Tune hubs, so anyone on here using them? Are they worth it realtive to his general question (cost, verses weight, and value)? Looking at doing an upgraded build and I was wondering the same thing with comapnies like Tune or CK.

As mentioned earlier, cup and cone hubs like the dura ace 9 speed ( and earlier) are a beautiful rolling hub, i had them in a my mountain bike for years and when i sold them the were still butter smooth.

I never got along with king hubs, although they are a very nice product, superb engineering and best finish of any hub available but i had 3 sets and never quite got rid of the drag from the hub body onto the the free hub meaning that it wants to push my chain forward while freewheeling in descents.

Also had 3 sets of tune hubs on road and mtb without exception every know and than one of the free hub palls would not engage properly witch resulted in a bitt of a bang untill the all engaged properly.

Curenly: i run a set of chorus in my road bike, old early 2000 cup cone design, recently spoked new rims around them,they deserve more attention than they get, this are my only road wheel for the last 5 years and yet have to disappoint my for the first time, they might nit be ubberlight, sexy,expensive or boutiqye like, but they do there job in an excellent mather, very happy with them

In my mtb i got a set of hope disc hubs, lightish and not expensive, i just finished a 100 km mtb race in southwestern aus. And when i put my bike in the car i found the rear hub drive bearings are knackerd, feels like square balls inside. Hubs would have done mabee 500 km in the dirt so thats to early to fail specially since i dont really ride in the ,ud ( we dont have mud (; )
Had a look on there site, replacing the bearing should be easy and roughly 40$ for the bearing.

If i had to buy new hubs i love to stay with cup cone design, if money was no object i would give king another shot ( if i had a shimano equipped bike) if its a campy bike i would go campy hubs, you pick them up for 300 or so $ on evilbay

Because it would not be a WW wheels thread without slating Mavic

fwiw, I'm about to ride them this season - will be interesting to see how they hold up. None of my mates have had any more issues with them than any other brand...maybe riding conditions play a part?


Otherwise, I have a set of handbuilt's with NOS alloy Chorus hubs. Favourite wheelset, roll like nothing else.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Can anyone provide a few online stores that sell a decent range of Novatec hubs?

Trying to get my hands on these atm...

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"It never gets easier, you just go faster..." - Greg Lemond

"Because technology alone is a poor substitute for experience." - Richard Sachs