This is Jas.
As expected, this time of year brings us overhaul requests almost every day.
We’re quite good at overhauls, actually.
Of course, we welcome bikes not purchased at our shop as well, so this rainy season, when you can't ride as much as you'd like, is the perfect time for an overhaul.
Anyway, today's request is for a Chris King R45 hub overhaul and a wheel rebuild.
First, let's take apart the Chris King R45 hub.
You can easily disassemble the rear hub to this point without any special tools. If you don't need to replace the bearings and are just performing a standard overhaul, this is as far as you need to go.
From here on, it’s all about thoroughly removing the grime.
Once clean, we reassemble everything correctly. Crucial to this step is applying grease to each hub bearing and the RingDrive, which produces the unique "Angry Bee" sound characteristic of Chris King rear hubs.
The original RingDrive Lube sold by Chris King was designed for both the RingDrive and hub bearings. However, to ensure optimal performance for each, (1) a new Performance Hub Bearing Grease dedicated to hub bearings has been released, and (2) the RingDrive Lube has been improved as version 2.0.
Performance Hub Bearing Grease is a low-viscosity hub bearing grease developed, as the name suggests, to achieve excellent bearing performance under all conditions. It is a proprietary, fully synthetic lubricant from Chris King that provides low rolling resistance and superior longevity.
Then there's RingDrive Lube 2.0, a new nanoparticle lubricant developed by Chris King specifically for the RingDrive to further improve the durability and wear resistance of their rear hubs. The lube maintains its performance without degrading, even in winter or extremely cold climates.
Once lubrication is complete, we reassemble the hub. Of course, this process can be done even with the wheel fully built, so it's a piece of maintenance I’d love for you to try proactively on your own. Since this job involved disassembling the hub and rebuilding the wheel, we also took the time to meticulously clean the hub shell, which is hard to reach once the wheel is built.
This time, we are rebuilding onto carbon rims. The ENVE SES 3.4 is also available as a complete Chris King wheelset.
Especially with rim brake rims, the time will eventually come when the rim wears out and needs to be rebuilt. The strength of Chris King hubs is that they are built to be used for a very long time as standalone hubs; even when it's time for a rim swap, you can give them proper maintenance and rebuild them onto new rims to keep using them again and again.
To all Chris King hub users, please try these simple maintenance steps yourself.
Oh, and just in time, we’ve also received new water bottle designs from Chris King!
Joining the lineup are the bottle featuring the aforementioned helix spline motif, and one featuring the motif of the 1952 Hestika lathe, which was the first piece of machinery Chris King purchased in 1976.
Use the lube to keep your helix splines running smooth, and make sure to stay hydrated for your summer rides!