Bicycle Mechanics - Chris King rear hub disassembly

I noticed a gritty feeling in my rear Chris King classic MTB hub. I figured I'd open it up as per the manual and if I couldn't get it back to normal, I'd take it into the LBS and have them fix her up.

So I removed the cassette, inserted two 5mm hexes, held the left, and turned the right counter-clockwise (all as per the manual)- nothing. After 10 minutes of trying I gave up. Is there a trick to disassembling these hubs? It probably shouldn't have taken as much force as I was giving it...

Also, does anyone have a ballpark figure of what it would cost to get it serviced? Thanks in advance.

bump

Get 2 long, preferably t-handle allen keys. Good quality allen keys. And reef on them. It takes quite a bit of force to crack a King axle open, far moreso than would be proportional to the original tightening force. I guess it has something to do with super-fine aluminum threads and the locknut assembly, but this has been my experience with the dozens I have rebuilt.

Is it the bearings or freehub that are feeling gritty? The bearings can be rebuilt but require a special tool to remove, and the freehub will require fresh Ringdrive lube once cleaned out. So you may have to swing by the LBS for either of those anyway. But when it comes to the axle, just crank it.

Andrew

www.cycle-solutions.com

Got it. Thanks

This exchange reminds me why I won't buy boutique parts. First you pay two to three time as much for the item, then it takes a drawer full of special tools, bearings and lubes to maintain them. Shimano and Campy hubs are easy to work on and last nearly forever with simple maintainance using ordinary tools.

That's kinda the point of a King hub......it is more like taking apart a watch than a bike part. I could not agree more that XT, Ultegra or Chorus hubs are a better value than King but for the price of Dura-ace, XTR or Record I think the novelty of a King is worth it. The novelty being that it is an incredible piece of machinery.

That being said, I have never owned a King hubset. I do however have a set of Industry 9s to thrash once the trails are dry........

Andrew

www.cycle-solutions.com

There's a link on the chris king website with pics that shows you how.
http://www.chrisking.com/tech/tech_movies.html

I am pretty sure that king will service your hub for free if you pay for the shipping to get it there. If its not free its like $15 max, I just had it done but cant remember-