Ive got to choose between these two hubsets, which would be best for a cotic soul, im edging towards the kings for quicker engagement and easely adjusted bearings

Jon

I had the same dilema when i built my bike up last Month !

I went for HOPE Pro 2, Then ended up with an inset KING headset and kinda regretted not getting the KING hubs.

Mind you my old Bulb hubs from HOPE were on my Bullit for 8 Years 😯

King= nice but pricey
Hope= nearly as nice but cheaper

I have both, Kings don’t seem any quicker to engage to me.Hopes are easy to service, change bearings etc,adaptable qr.15mm,20mm. I got the King wheelset cheap off of ebay otherwise I would have bought another set of Hopes.

Loving my King hubs here to be honest.

The rear hub engagement is great IME and has made it far easier to get up technical things. On stripping it down to service, the machining inside is spectacular. I still have no idea how it works though.

The King rear makes a far nicer noise than the Pro 2 IMO too. Pro 2’s sound like a 1950’s football rattle.

DT 240. Cheaper than King with less maintenance, lighter and better rolling than either. 36t star ratchet upgrade for King like engagement.

What’s the difference between a pro 2 and pro 3…except price?

Neither. At that price – ROYCE.

I’ve had both King and Hope, and now I have 3 sets of Hope hubs and no King. The Hope hubs engage fast enough for me – I didn’t notice any difference in engagement except between Hope/King vs. low-end Shimano.

Hopes are more serviceable, have all spares easily available, and good backup. Everything wears out, but at least Hope will get you up and running again.

I am DT-curious but don’t have the £ to try them out 🙂

I have DT 240’s as well, Hope are lighter (yes I have weighed them) 240.s better rolling ? can you really tell.

After spells of Hope and King hubs, with problems from both teams I now have DT 240s on two of my bikes and 440s on my DH bike. Flawless use for three years. Don’t think i’ll ever use anything else, though I do fancy some i9s some day maybe 😉

Chris king hubs sound like a bloody air siren. Hopes sound much better IMO therefore hopes for me 🙂

Again I don’t like the CK noise, Pro II for me – reliable (IME), adaptable (what axle flavour would Sir like?) and fully home servicable with no special tools.

Chris king hubs sound like a bloody air siren

Really? Mine sounds like I’ve got a swarm of angry bees chasing me 🙂
Quieter than proIIs”’

Have both, like the CK ‘pimp’ factor but prefer the fact I can service the proII’s myself. Though I needed to replace the bearings after one years use, I thought they’d last longer

Also second the fact I personally cannot tell any difference in ‘pickup’ I have even ridden the wheels back to back to try to tell…but then again I can’t really see much difference between my TV and a HD version!

the machining inside is spectacular.

You, my friend, need to get out more.

Oooo, are Royce doing disc hubs now? Must have a look for those.

Of the options though, King, Hope stuff isn’t nearly as good as it used to be.

i have pro2’s and DT240’s. The pick up on the DT is noticably better than the hopes but for the money you can’t really go wrong.

The king’s i had before were very nice but i wouldn’t pay full whack for them

I have DT 240’s as well, Hope are lighter (yes I have weighed them)

You need new scales then, 240s are about 30g lighter, Centrelock ones are lighter still.

Can I suggest dealing with this problem in three stages…
1. Find out who imports/distributes Chris King….
2. If it is who I think it is, talk to people who have dealt with him….
3. Realise that above and beyond that, spares for CK will be more problematic in this country than spares for Hope, decide to buy Hope!

I must vaguely admit I do like the noise CK rear hubs make!!!!!

And…in my experience…DT hubs were not very weather proof ie…a lot of the water that hits the outside seems to end up inside

That saved me the trouble, was going to post almost the exact same question today.

King are imported by Evolution Imports, who share premises with Bromley Bike. Headed up by Mark someone or other. I’m not sure he’s the best ‘advert’ for Chris King products!

Oooo, are Royce doing disc hubs now? Must have a look for those.

Yup. They have for quite a while now. And let’s be honest, they make King hubs look shoddy and over complicated. 🙂

If you want quality, King everytime over hope.
Look into Hadley too

Royce are heavier and no axle options.

King.

Royce are heavier and no axle options.

They’re also cheaper, British, rarer, waaaaaaay better looking, and you’ll be able to leave them to your gradkids in your will 🙂

I was not impressed with king front hub on a friends new bike… he had to file his front disk mount on a brand new Fox 36 fork so the disc rotor would clear it!!

Apparantly King front hubs(certainly the model he had) have a wider disc spacing…nasty!!

Hope would be my first choice. I understand there is nothing wrong with King rear hubs and in terms of pawl engagement Hadleigh (spelling?) hubs are great too. In my experience though Hopes are very good. If you want super heavy duty pawl engagement you can upgrade them to a stainless steel freewheel. I have done that on my FR/DH bikes. Lots of hubs now come with aluminium freewheels including Hope King etc to keep weight down. For maximum reliability if you are a real “masher” its worth getting the stainless one.

Oops you said for a Cotic Soul… sorry for going OT. For that I would keep a standard pro 2 with Aluminium freewheel to keep the weight down. I use the pro 2 aluminium freewheel version on my trail bike and its fine despite going through losts of wet winters.