Set it and forget it.

A little pricey.

I don't know what other reviewers are complaining about. I have had these hubs for about 5 years and have done NOTHING to them. They just work. I recently sent back my rear wheel because there was some side to side play. After five years of riding with no maintenance, this is to be expected. I sent the wheel to Chris King and got it back about a week later. They charged me $25 for labor and replaced everything except the shell for FREE. What more can you ask for in customer service?

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Shimano

Rebuildable. Kind of an eco friendly alternative in a throw it away society. If you read the manual, you figure out that 2 allen wrenches will tighten up that side to side wobble in a couple of seconds.

Price?

My first King wheelset stopped buzzing after 3-4 years of riding aggressive XC twice a week. I took it into a shop, $35 to clean it and lube it (I was expecting to drop like $100 and therefore put it off for a few rides) and it's good to go.
Second King wheelset, rear hub started to have side to side play during the second ride. I thought I would have to take it in to the shop for service (didn't want to spend the $, nor lose trail time), looked up the King FAQ site, and was stoked to find out that to tighten things up (and lube too) all you need is a couple of allen wrenches. Try it, the whole axle comes out, everything is there ready for some lovin!
I think hub shell stretching is a bit of a myth, anything with bearings that carries a load and is out of adjustment is going to wear prematurely. Back the nut off your cars wheel bearing and see what happens... things will get sloppy but don't blame it on the hub stretching...

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Hope Pro 2, Hadley, Maverick, BETD/Goldtech

Strong. Light. Beautiful.

A bit fiddly. Noise will annoy your riding buddies, especially when you're on their a##. Alumninum driveshell can deform, even if you use XT/XTR cassettes with integrated spider.

This is the only hub I can ride.

I am a clydesdale rider who actually likes to climb. Problem is, I'm 220lbs and ride a 33lb bike in Colorado and Utah. With a 22 tooth front ring and a 34 tooth rear, I'm constantly subjecting the hub to ~240 foot-lbs of torque, with peak loads of above 300 (standing on the pedals and pushing/pulling while clipped in).

Shimano hubs last 2-4 months, Suntour XC-Pro last ~2 months, a Kore "Hoochie" hub lasted 1 ride! I don't break the hub, only the free-hub (ratchet) mechanism. Pop-pop-grind-oops no more forward motion -- "infinite" gear.

Chris King ring drive hubs are rated to 800 ft-lbs. I've even run a 20tooth/34tooth combo on Slickrock. I've never broken one.

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I am afraid to buy anything else because I've gotten so used to breaking rear hubs. Shimano, Kore, Suntour hubs break too easily, traditional freehub designs cannot take high-torque climbing.

Strength, Reliability, Ease of use, Lack of worry, Looks, Warranty, Customer Service, Ease of maintenance, Cool clickity-clack rear drive-train noise...

...hmm...maybe the price, but these are well worth it.

Before I got the Kings, my typical rear involved rebuilding my rear hubs 4-5 times a year. No I am not writing about mud and dirt getting into the hub, rather I am referring to the freewheel just giving a loud SIGH and retiring itself. yeah, its real fun to have to bring cone wrenches, a #10 allen, and an extra freewheel on epic rides.

With the Kings, ZERO complaints other than...where's the King bottom bracket at.

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DX, LX, XT, XTR, Hadley, Ringle, Ritchey, and Syncros

weight, strength, brand name reputation, instant engagement

price? i got mine used for $150 though so i'm not complaining

This hub is awesome... it spins smooth, the engagement is almost instant when you start to pedal, it can withstand DH abuse, needs minimal maintenance. The price is pretty steep, and i wouldn't pay full retail (i can't afford that much!) but i got a deal and i plan on buying the new '02 disc hubs for my other bike. chris king makes awesome parts, even if they are a little expensive.

Simply the best made.

Expensive.

I just read daves review and felt I should post this for perspective. Four years ago, I bought chris King hubs after my XtR's blew up after 10 months of NW riding including 3 overhauls. I too was a shop mechanic at the time- the XTR's were considered kind of a joke because you couldn't get new races+cones for them, which sort of defeats the purpose of loose ball hubs...
Anyway, the Chris kings rocked out of the box, requiring only a light clean and lube job for every six months of NW riding- and all that was required are 5mm allen keys!
After relacing these hubs many times and riding them for 2-1/2 years, I decided to go disk. I was so excited when I called Chris King and found out I could order new hub shells for less than a new pair of LX hubs! A friend of mine had the amazing King tool that was used to pull the guts out my old free hub, as well as the shell bearings, and after cleaning and re-lubing these were installed into the new hub shell. The whole job took about 20 minutes and my hub worked better than new when I was done.
I've ridden them for 1-1/2 years since, with one clean+lube...At this point these hubs have been to Moab 4 times, Sedona 3x, Flagstaff 2x, whistler a few times, and all over washington and Oregon States, year round. These hubs have been ridden off-road on the average 20 to 40 miles a week, every week, year round for 4 years, all on the original bearings. I don't think you can expect that from any other hub, unless you are replacing the cones, races and bearings often (not to mention the freehub!) what does that leave besides the shell? Obviously Chris knows this because of the stupid warrantee he offers...
As for Dave's review, I'm sorry he didn't like the hubs but I can't fathom why. King does offer a bunch of different lubes, and it is really important that these are used instead of any old grease. I have found my kings to have less rolling resistance than other hubs I have owned or worked on (except maybe brand new dura ace road hubs)But the important thing is that they require virtually no maintanence and are about the lightest thing out there! Here in the NW, we ride through 2-4" of mud most of the year anyway, so rolling resistance isn't much of a worry. Sealed bearings in general have more drag than loose ball hubs, but not enough to be noticable while riding. It should be said that these hubs do need to be re-tightened after wheel lacing, as said in the directions.
Also, as for daves point about the disc weight, adaptors are no longer required and the weight has not increased.

Anyway, just a little perspective from a guy who's really happy that he doesn't have to overhaul his hubs anymore, ore replace them every 6 months.

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72pt

Price
If you tell something they'd like not to hear, chris king won't give you warranty
Customer service
5-year kid level drilling job
bearing
rolling resistance

The one I purchased today was the worst hub.
(king SS rear hub)

Spoke hole drilling was worse than the chinese hub.

I mailed king and they rejected my mail address.

I've paid $400 and got the botch.

I complaint Ms Adrian Knapp about bearing price before and sounds like she put my address to black list.

You can try my e-mail address vengo_subito@hotmail.com and
chris king rejects it and other fake email pass.

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none

beautifully machined, light, easy to adjust, servicable, reputed to be tough.

have to adjust frequently and very tight tolerances for adjustment (see below), expensive, listed weights don't include adapter, which is needed to attach rotor.

the hubs are beautiful but.... if they are adjusted right (according to the instructions) they have a gluey feel, don't spin freely. if you back off 1/8 of a turn on the adjuster then they spin nice but they seem to loosen up on the trail and then you start getting rub between the rotor and the pad. readjust and you find they're only slightly too loose. in other words, the bearing adjustment tolerances are very tight and, when adjusted correctly, these things don't run as smooth as most hubs i have dealt with. i also think it is misleading to report a 282 g weight when you then have to use a 40+ g adapter to attach the brake rotor.

by the way, i am 46 and have worked on bikes for 30+ years and have been a pro bike mechanic for a number of those years. these hubs are ok if you don't mind some drag. but if you're compulsive about your equipment, you might be disappointed, as i was. after reading the rave reviews, i have to conclude that people are being swept off their feet by chris king idolotry or that my hubs were off spec.

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XT, XTR

Yep its me again from 2005, see previous review below. I kept riding this rear hub even though it wobbles, but now I've run into a new problem. The ratchet that had been a great selling feature (immediate engagment for pedal kicks) has blown up on me. I can now spin entire revolutions w/o the ratchet engaging. Had to walk out a few miles uphill on my last ride to get back to the trailhead because the freehub is toast.

I think there is an option to swap out the aluminum for a steel one, but I'm not sure yet if that would replace the ratchet or just the shell so will do some research to figure it out. Also haven't determined yet if this is something my local shop will do or if they have to send it back to King.

Depending how steep the estimates I get turn out I'll give it a try but may be time to retire this hub and relace w/ a new brand.

Great out of the box, but over time have had issues that I'm not thrilled about.

Updating my 2005 rating because I'm not as upset today, and I'm sure there are other hubs out there much worse that deserve fewer chilis.

I'd love to see a post from anybody who has also stripped out the freehub on a king rear discotek and any word on what it took to fix/replace that.

-LW

Awesome bearings that are rigid and free flowing. Excellent power input characteristics (I guess if you have 3 times as many cogs --72 vs. 24--as your competitor in, it is instant on).
Absolutely gorgeous finish and set.

Sounds is a little annoying when coasting. However, the first time you peddle up a hill you know its quality in these hubs.
($310 for set is little expensive but they are very high quality)

I am an extremely hard rider on components (bent more of them then one can count) and these hubs are just barely getting warmed up. They are highly engineered and quality components that look great (mine are red). I have not had any of the initial break in period that people talk about (they worked well right away and have not had to adjust). I love these things and are great for people who push there equipment and value precise handling.

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