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Chris King Adds Carbon Mountain Bike Wheel Options, XD Driver Upgrade Option

Written by Tyler Benedict
17 Comments
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chris-king-XD-upgrade-new-enve-carbon-race-trail-mtb-wheels

In April, Chris King announced their XD Driver Body freehub option, giving SRAM 11-speed users a way to add their existing King hubs/wheels to their 1×11 bike.

Now, they’re making that available as an upgrade option on prebuilt wheels, and they’ve got a new hoop to show them off. Technically, it’s an upgraded wheelset, but there’s a lot new about it. Their Carbon Race Trail wheelset is now built up with ENVE’s new M60 forty rims and come standard with ceramic bearings. And they’re promising to ship them within 14 days of ordering.

Need something more aggressive? Look for new Chris King Carbon Race All Mountain wheels built with the ENVE M70 thirty rims, coming soon.

chris-king-STD-upgrade-new-enve-carbon-race-trail-mtb-wheels

Retail on the Carbon Race Trail is $2,850 with standard freehub body. Add $40 for XD driver body. Weights are 1560g for the 27.5″ wheelset and 1600g for 29er.

ChrisKing.com
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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17 Comments
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whc
whc
10 years ago

Only $2850

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Chsad
Chsad
10 years ago

Why no M50?

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LP
LP
10 years ago

Yeah, only 2850$? 😉

More seriously, how does carbon make wheels better? Lighter, stiffer, more solid? With such a difference in price compared to alloy rims one would expect a significant upgrade in performance. I never got a chance to try a carbon wheelset, I would be curious to get opinions from others.

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MarkV
MarkV
10 years ago

Is carbon worth the $$$’s…..hmmm, hard question, but with ENVE rims a difference is felt and a significant one at that. Since you can tension them to a much higher level, they have some real benefits you notice right away and a stiffness that feels very unique.

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alex
alex
10 years ago

Chris King rear hubs are in a class of their own- nothing else comes close.

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Tim
Tim
10 years ago

@Alex- In my experience (owner of one Classic rear hub, one Single Speed rear hub, one ISO Disc rear hub), every King rear hub either wobbles from low preload on the bearing, or suffers from chain sag when backpedaling from too high tension on the bearing. This was true on all the hubs I owned, and is also true on every King rear hub I ever encountered on the trail- whenever I see one on a bike, I walk up and rattle back it and forth. The Ring Drive is an inherently high friction design. Other hubs with high engagement don’t suffer this problem.

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kong
kong
10 years ago

I’m with Tim here. Not sure what the draw to Chris King hubs are? They are more difficult to service then other hubs in the same class, they have high drag compared to others and cost the same if not more then other top end offerings. That being said- you can get them in cool colors like brown and mango!

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Joel
Joel
10 years ago

If you set up a King correctly it will stay in adjustment for years. The new locking ring design is very easy to use and is foolproof. Hating on something that you do not know how to adjust is dumb

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MGK
MGK
10 years ago

I couldn’t agree more with Tim. I’ve owned 3 King wheelsets and had the very same problems, not impressed and annoyed as hell. Overrated quality. I’ve advised friends to look elsewhere for hubs. Joel, don’t assume we don’t know what the hell we are doing,.

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Tim
Tim
10 years ago

@Joel- two of my King rear hubs had the Allen lockring system, and it had the same problems as the “standard” (i.e., upcharged King proprietary) collar. I know what I am doing when it comes to adjusting hubs (and brakes, headsets, bottom brackets, and so on). That’s how strong King propaganda is: if an experienced mechanic can’t get their stuff to work, it must be because of the mechanic, and not the product. I was was snorting their lines for a long time, too, then went back to a $100 rear hub, whereupon problems instantly ceased. Rumor has it, if tighten the QR way, way down on a King rear hub, it stops rattling.
Joel- do you have a King rear hub? Can you testify it does not rattle?

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Tim
Tim
10 years ago

And I am not a King hater- their headsets and front hubs are good in my experience. Can’t say about bottom brackets. Stuff should work well with a minimum of fiddling.

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CXisfun
CXisfun
10 years ago

I dunno, I have multiple King wheelsets right now. I’m not experiencing any of the loose hub or high drag issues. Guess I’m just lucky.

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thesteve4761
thesteve4761
10 years ago

So, what’s the difference between that wheelset purchased from Enve, and that wheelset purchased from King? Are ceramic bearings and the point of sale the only difference?

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Tim
Tim
10 years ago

At the risk of beating a dead horse: the locking collar uses a quite small bolt located in a weird position, so that only a ball-headed wrench will work, making it weird to reach, especially with the rotor mounted, to get the exact bearing tension. Then it comes out of adjustment, anyway. That is not foolproof. When I was using their hubs, that bolt was even in an English (non-metric) size which they fortunately ditched.

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Joel
Joel
10 years ago

I have seven rear King hubs. Iso mtb, classic road, classic cross. All work perfect. All the time

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Hotep
Hotep
10 years ago

Never had a problem with any King component, ever. Total bike jewelry that wears like iron.

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Chainwhipped
Chainwhipped
10 years ago

“Are carbon rims worth the extra $$?” Hmm . . . Well, the rims aren’t any lighter, they’re only marginally stiffer, they’re just as easy to kill as aluminum, and they’re hard to source for a rebuild. But at least they cost a lot more money.

In road racing, carbon tubulars make sense for aerodynamics and weight, but as soon as you go to clinchers, the weight advantage vanishes and aero means el zippo when the rim is drafting off of a 2.3″ tire. So unless these rim makers can make something that weighs the same and costs the same as alloy, and then offer some sort of performance advantage (substantially greater width, stiffness, etc) they’re just not worth it if you have to pay for them.

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