Comments on: Chris King Classic vs R45 Hubs

By: Nikola Banishki

Nikola Banishki — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 06:27:54 +0000

In reply to Robert.

Hi Robert,

This is an interesting point. Have you replaced the big bearing and solved the drag ‘issue’ if we can even call it that? Though I have a pair of brand new Chris King ISO (same parts as the classic/different hubshell) that have less than 500km in the dry on them and they show the same drag when backpedalling as the Classics (which have many years/kms on them). In addition (and I could be very wrong) airplane tyres are grippy rubber touching down on rough asphalt so not exactly the same case with balls in polished bearing races (+lubrication). I am definitely curious if you have actually tested it.

Best,

-Nikola

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:07:09 +0000

If you have the classic and are experiencing drag on your chain when coasting you need to service or replace the large hub bearing. This bearing takes a beating because it goes from 0 mph to 32 mph instantly every time one decides to coast at 32 mph. That is 0 revolutions per second to 7 revolutions per second instantly. Have you ever watched the tires of a Jet plane smoke when it touches the ground on a landing? Same principle.

By: Nikola Banishki

Nikola Banishki — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 18:55:08 +0000

In reply to Casey.

Hi Casey,
You are correct, you have 10 gears/cogs with 11 speed spacing that will work with 11 speed shifters. One note, use a metal spacer since plastic ones might get crushed. The spacer that allows 11 speed hubs to use a 10 speed cassette works perfectly in my experience. No need to change your Chris King classic hubs for an 11spd road hub. The ultra r8000 can be run that way as well.

Best,
-Nikola

By: Casey

Casey — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 23:34:09 +0000

Clarification request on the 11spd road hub set with 10 cogs. Once you convert by moving the spacer and removing the cog, you say I am “good to go.” So you are saying that if I wanted to run the new R8000 Ultegra group on my old classic hubs, I would be using the new 11spd SHIFTERs but I would only get 10 speeds as a result of the limit screw?

I am about to rebuild my road wheels and I am facing the question of replacing my Classic hub, so I can run the newer shifter/brake levers and derailleurs.

By: Nikola Banishki

Nikola Banishki — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 06:25:26 +0000

In reply to matthew.

Hi Matthew,
Some general considerations when it comes to 11-speed drivetrains.

Shimano/SRAM 11 speed ROAD cassettes (usually up to 11-36 teeth) require an 11 speed hub, HOWEVER, if you have an older 10 speed hub, you can remove a cog and a spacer; put that spacer behind the cassette and install the remaining 10 cogs as normal. You have 10 gears with 11 speed spacing on a 10 speed hub (such as the CK classic or older r45), adjust the derailleur limit screws and you are good to go. As I mentioned make sure the spacer is metal since once you tighten the lockring you might crush it. The 1mm metal spacer that 11 speed hubs come with so that you can use the narrower 10 speed cassette works wonderfully; you can buy it separately from shops. On road cassettes I usually remove the 15 cog.

Shimano 11 speed MTB cassettes (m8000 xt for example) fit on 10 speed hubs no problem. Therefore Shimano XT cassette would fit the CK classic no problem and you will have all 11 gears, no modification necessary.

As far as shifters and such, I am not sure I understand what you want to do exactly. The general idea here is that you need to have the shifters and rear derailleurs compatible. Since I have been a SRAM user for a while i know that as long as the components are ‘Exact actuation’ they will work with each other. Friction shifting on 10-11 speed I have no experience with. Shimano road and mountain derailleurs might not be compatible with each other, do some research.

Good luck with the setup.

-Nikola

By: matthew

matthew — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 19:49:58 +0000

Hello, thankyou for this article, i picked up an older bike with classic hubs and was trying to learn my way around them, this helped!
The bike is an older curtlo mountaineer. I would love to use the 11 speed xt cassette to essentially run my bike as a wide range 1×10. Did you have success with a non indexed shifter, or will the 11 speed indexed shifter work. By your working, it seems it is “11 speed spacing”, so it should work… I just would love to be certain. Which cog did you huck, i believe with the m8000 cassette it would have to be the 15, 17, or 19? there are two spacers with that.

By the looks of it, all 11 cogs may fit if i were to machine the offending 1.85mm off the back assembly, at least on the xt. what do you think?

I wish i could find a way to use my xtr 950 with that setup, but the new m8000 xt seems pretty nice.

thanks again!