Chris king has been manufacturing precision components for over 30 years and it is this experience in the industry that is responsible for some of the best components on the market today. Over the years Chris King has built a reputation in the consumer market for high quality components that require little maintenance and demonstrate durability in eyes of any cycling enthusiast. Their headsets are known world wide as the best in the business, their hubs are known as some of the longest lasting, smoothest, and precise on the market. So when Chris King decided to release a 12mm X 150mm rear disc hub, they took their time to make it right with no compromises. After all, this attention to detail is what made their reputation what it is today, so they may as well continue with what they do best – manufacture quality precision components.

The release of the ISO 150mm took place back in 2007. Many people thought the long wait for this hub was due in part to a complete redesign of the hub itself, however, the technology inside this hub is the same RingDrive design as its’ preceding models. Therefore the ISO 150mm is no exception to expectation.

The hub is offered in all 9 Chris King colors, and is available in 32 or 36 hole drillings. Our test hubs came with the optional stainless steel drive shell installed which ads to the durability of any Chris King hub, especially if you’re constantly changing cassettes. However the stock Aluminum drive shell is more than capable of handling the rigors of downhill and freeride abuse, not to mention it’s about 45 grams lighter.

The ISO 150 is built up with Chris King’s proven one piece constant diameter axle. This one piece design separates this hub from other offerings on the market that are usually a two or even three piece axle. The benefit to the rider is that this design improves hub life and reduces ‘play’ on the bearings that hubs usually develop after several hard rides. Another benefit of this hub is that it can handle a torque load of over 800 ft lbs, that’s rated well above any hub on the market.

As with all Chris King hubs the ISO 150 is completely user serviceable. The butter smooth bearings can be adjusted for preload with a 2.5mm hex wrench. Many other designs do not offer bearings preload adjustment; rather the bearings just press into the hub and become worse over time, eventually requiring replacement. To prove they’re the best Chris King offers a 5 year warranty on this hub –something to be said for any downhill component, none the less a hub.

The matching front hub is known as the ISO 20mm and is built on a similar one piece design like the rear hub. The one piece aluminum axle is 20mm in diameter and is 110mm in length, just like many other front hubs, however both ends of the axle is capped with stainless steel axle biters for strength and grip onto your fork.

The ISO 20mm features the same 2.5mm bearing preload adjustment as the rear does, so you can adjust the tension on the hub bearings without even having to take your front wheel off your bike. The whole concept behind this is user serviceability. Say you’re ripping down your local trails and all of the sudden you notice your front hub has developed a bit of play since you last rebuilt the bearings, well you can stop right there on the spot and get rid of that bearing play with a 2.5mm hex wrench. Other hub manufactures suggest you simply tension your fork axle more, squishing the hub together to eliminate this play. For me, that sound’s like a stupid thing to do on your $1000+ suspension fork –creating stress on your fork lowers, opening the door to damage. Or you might even have to take that brand new hub to your shop to get some new bearings pressed in…

Like the rear ISO 150mm, the front ISO 20mm has a 5 year warranty. So you’re new wheelset will run smooth for years to come.

If you’re serious about the components you run, you’ll know that the $369.99 rear, and $179.99 front MSRP prices (US Dollars) are a small price to pay for the best hubs money can buy, alongside the best customer service in the business.  So if you’re in the market for a new hub set take a look into the Chris King line and see why they’re established themselves as the best in the business.

If you have any questions about this article feel free to email me at the address listed below, or if you want to learn more about Chris King products, visit their site: www.chrisking.com

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorporated.com