Basic Chris King Rear Hub Service

Caution: I'm not a mechanic or any kind of bike expert. I hardly know anything at all. But I will try to share what little I do know. What you read here is just based on my own personal experience and the research I've done. It might not be adequate or even accurate.


So don't blame me if you ruin your bike, get hurt, maimed, or die after following my instructions. If you have any corrections or thoughts please let me know - anything to make these instructions clearer or more accurate for others.

It's a good idea to re-lube your Chris King hubs every now and then. Depending on how much you ride, you should do this every other month (if you ride a lot) or every 3-6 months as suggested by Chris King.

A full service is recommended once a year, but if you ride more you may want to do it twice a year. To do this, you'll need the hub servicing tool. We won't cover that here, just the basic service.

Here's a quick guide to servicing your rear hub.

Here's what you'll need:

• Two 5mm hex wrenches
• WD-40
• Chris King Ring Drive Lube
• Tri-Flow lubricant (I have substituted this with Finish Line chain lube)*
• General grease (I use Park Tool Polylube 1000)
• A toothbrush
• Some rags

Get this from Aspire Velotech

And if your cassette is still on your hub you'll also need:

• A chain whip
• Cassette lockring remover (I use the FR-5G from Park Tool)
• A crescent wrench

First, you may want to familiarize yourself with all the parts. Here's a screen capture I took from the Crhis King manual, below.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Remove your wheel from the bike
2. Take the skewer out of the hub
3. Wrap the chainwhip around a gear, insert the lockring remover, put the crescent wrench on the lockring remover and crank it to the left, unscrewing the lockring
4. Pull the cassette or cog off the hub
5. Put a 5mm hex key in each side of the axles, where the skewers used to be, and unscrew the hub assembly a bit
6. Pull the driveshell assembly (including axle) out of the drive side. 



Driveshell assembly with axle still inside

7. Now you can pull the driveshell out
8. Then by hand, unscrew the silver cone and axle from the main axle. Unscrew them from each other.
9. Next pull the axle out of the driveshell. It may not come out very smoothly, just pull, you won't break anything. Here are the two parts you will now have:



A cleaned axle after removal



Driveshell. Note wear from cassette and singlespeed cog that was added later.

10. Now that you've taken it all apart, you can get to the RingDrive, the hub shell bearings, and the driveshell bearings.
11. Spray some WD-40 into the driveshell assembly (image below), and around the outside, to clean it up. You may have to use a clean rag or toothbrush to get all the junk out. There could be sand and all kinds of trail gnar in there.



Cleaned driveshell assembly.

See those cylindrical bearings? Those are the needle bearings. Clean them up and then put a thin layer of RingDrive Lube around them. Put it aside.
Next, using a knife or other sharp instrument, lift up the silver snap ring around the hubshell assembly. Carefully take out the rubber gasket under it. You will now see the bearings. Make sure you put these two parts back together facing the same way you found them (don't flip either over)



The snap ring here is still dirty - it's the part touching the gold hubshell



Snap ring and gasket removed. You can see a few bearings too

12. Squirt some WD-40 around the bearings. Be sure not to get any on your rotor if you're lazy enough to have left it on like I was. Also clean the Drive Rings inside the hubshell assembly with a toothbrush. Let it all dry.
13. Next, run a 3/4 ring of the Ring Drive Lube around the bearings. Spin the bearings to spread the lube around evenly.



You can see the lube running from about 3 to 12 o'clock

14. While you have the Ring Drive Lube out, spread some over the Ring Drives inside the hub. Put your finger in the non-drive side of the hub, from below, and jiggle the rings so as to open up a gap to insert the lube.



See a bit of lube on the Ring Drives.  Jiggle them with your finger from the non-drive side.

15. Clean the snap ring and gasket and put them in facing the same way they were originally (don't flip either over). Make sure the bearings can spin freely. If they don't, the snap ring is likely to be improperly seated. Mess with it until everything spins nicely.
16. Drip some Finish lines around the splines of the driveshell assembly.
17. Pop it into the hubshell assembly.
18. Bead some Tri-Flow along the area of the axle where the needle bearings rest - it should be a slightly fatter section. Slide the axle back in.
19. Put a little bit of general purpose grease on the threads joining the axle ends and adjusting cones. Screw them together until just a bit of threads can still be seen.
20. Thread this assembly (axle end and adjusting cone) onto the axle fairly tight, but not so tight that the hub can't spin. Tighten the adjusting cone first, then the axle end. For more details on this process see this post, Adjusting Chris King Hubs.
21. Tighten it all up again with a 5mm hex key in each side.

You can find the official Chris King instructions here, and a super fast video here, but it would be a lot easier if they had photos.

*I'm not a mechanic and I'm not sure if using Finish Line is a good idea, but I have hear of others doing it and I've had no issues doing it, but I can't promise you that you won't.

Adjusting Chris King Hubs

Caution: I'm not a mechanic or any kind of bike expert. I hardly know anything at all. But I will try to share what little I do know. What you read here is just based on my own personal experience and the research I've done. It might not be adequate or even accurate.


So don't blame me if you ruin your bike, get hurt, maimed, or die after following my instructions. If you have any corrections or thoughts please let me know - anything to make these instructions clearer or more accurate for others.


Many say that Chris King parts - especially the hubs - are the best you can buy for a bike. All the components within the hubs (bearings, races, etc) are said to be manufactured individually by Chris King in Portland, Oregon. One look at them, or any other King product, and the quality will be evident: beautifully machined stainless steel, titanium, and aluminum in a wide range of colors.

Furthermore, the performance and weight of Chris King hubs are among the best available. Sure, there are lighter hubs, but I doubt there are many lighter hubs with such incredible engagement. Engagement refers to the immediacy with which the hubs grab and rotate the cassette or cog after you move your crank. More engagement means faster and finer ratcheting.

Chris King hubs have 72 points of engagement. Other brands have 72 (such as Hadley) but many have only 48, 36, or 24.

This may sound trivial, but any mountainbike (or trials!) rider that has used them will tell you that in technical sections it sure is nice to have.

Chris King hubs are, however, fairly expensive, but you get what you pay for. You get almost a lifetime of use - that is IF you maintain and service them properly.

If the wheel wobbles left-right as indicated by the arrows,
the hub may need a simple adjustment

The Chris King documentation clearly states when and how to service their hubs, which includes a quick tune-up after a few hours or days of use. (Full Chris King hub and headset manual here - .pdf.) In this period they can become loose, which can be alarming for many first-time owners who spent so much money on them.

These owners don't need to worry as mostly all the servicing that the hubs need can be done at home. All that's needed is a few basic tools, some time, and a desire to learn.

If you lack any one of these things stop reading this now and head to your shop (bring $50-$100 at least)!

Adjustment of Bearing Pre-load - Front or Rear Hubs

Left: Axle end & adjusting cone from front hub
Right: From rear hub

This will be needed any time the wheel seems to move left-right while the skewer is firmly clamped in the drop-outs. This will happen during the initial break-in period. It can happen to the front or rear hub. If you notice this check to make sure your skewers are not simply loose.

If the hubs are brand new you'll just be running through the break-in period which will begin from when the hubs are brand new and may continue up to about 60 hours of riding.

Even on broken-in hubs, you may be able to notice some side-to-side play as you ride. It can be a very unsettling feeling, but don't worry, it can be fixed on the trail, very easily.

Tools needed: Two 5mm hex keys (you may need to borrow a friend's if you only have one)
Estimated time: 90 seconds for expert; 5 minutes for beginner

Step 1: Remove the wheel from the bike.

Step 2: Take the skewer out - be careful not to lose the threaded end cap or the little springs on the skewer.

Step 3: Insert a 5mm hex key in each side of the axle, where the skewer was, and twist each one counter-clockwise. A small aluminum assembly of a cone and a cylindrical knob will screw off (the axle end and adjusting cone).

Two 5mm hex keys counterclockwise

Step 4: Using just your hands, you should be able to separate the axle end and adjusting cone from each other. They are threaded too.

Step 5: Screw the adjusting cone back onto the axle again - without the axle end - and tighten it pretty tight with your fingers. You should be able to spin the wheel between your hand easily by holding onto the cone and the axle on the other side. If it doesn't spin you've threaded it on too tight.

Step 6: Thread the axle end into the adjusting cone by hand. Then really tighten down it using hex keys in both sides (same as in step 3, but tightening).

Step 7: Reinsert the skewers. (By the way, Chris King says not to use titanium skewers - only steel-shafted skewers.)

Step 8: Put the wheel back on the bike, and ensure the skewers are very tight - 1,100 lbs. of clamping force according to Chris King, however much that is! All wobble and play should now be gone, and the wheel should freely and easily spin. If there is still play, the cone is not tight enough. If the wheel doesn't spin easily the cone is too tight.

Step 9: Readjust if necessary.