Currently using Hope Pro II, but looking at a new wheel build and fancy taking this opportunity for a bit of an upgrade. Used to lust after Chris King, but now Industry 9 look rather tempting as well.

Anyone experience of both?

Thoughts?

I enquired about some I9's.
Mango hubs with mango to black fade spokes and flow rims.

When they told me how much they'd be i went for Kings instead.

I9's might be nice but they ain't that nice.

Though standard colours may be a bit better priced.

MmmmmmMango.

Kings are over rated, they're not light, they need some fettling to keep them working to their full potential, they have tonnes of bearing drag.

DT240s FTW.

I've been using a pair of I9 classic hubs for about 7 months now. I went for the classics so I could use normal j-bend spokes. The proprietary spokes can snap and when they do it is nearly always right at the hub leaving a very short stub threaded into the hub. These either come out straight away or are stick completely. If thy get stuck it can write off the hub body. There's also the availability issue with the I9 spokes; you can get normal spokes anywhere. The proprietary spoked builds are really quite hard to build properly too and take a lot of practice to get right. Not sure how well the places that currently stock them can build them yet.

I've had no problems at with the hubs though and they run very quickly with virtually no drag at all. The engagement on the rear is super fast which is great but makes it feel a bit crap when you swap back to a normal hub.

my CK are beyween 9 and 4 years old.
still dragging, still sweet as.
minimal intervention and 15 minutes every 4 months or so means i have stunning hubs running super sweet.
fronts never been opened fwiw……………

Never had a prob with CK, rear hub super easy to look after, no crappy pawls, and mine never dragged from new.

matthew_h – Any experience of the how well sealed? How'd they fair in the winter mud?

Had both; now got two sets of i9. I found the i9 engagement is faster, both hubs sound sweet, but for me the ck's always needed tweaking (to remove play in the rear).

Only snapped one spoke in three years.

I9 bearings lasted about two years.

Bearings on mine are still absolutely fine, even after spending their first few weeks commuting through snow, salt and ice etc. Dead easy to replace too when needed.

Dead easy to replace too when needed.

That's what i love about my i9's

ZTR hubs and alpine rims, cx ray spokes for me. Superlight combo, look good ( altho colours limited), and roll quick.

Check out 'just riding along'

I have I9 wheels and they have been pretty nice. Got a bit of a flat spot on my rim a while back. It still seals up fine, but I'm a bit worried about how well somebody can build it back up if I switch the rim for a new one.

With this in mind my next wheelset will probably use normal spokes again.

But no complaints… Had CK before this, it worked fine too (bike was stolen).

interesting that the I9 bearings need to be replaced.
one of my rear CK's is approaching 9 years old and is still on the original bearings, albeit, regularly cleaned and re-greased……..
the beauty of CK is the quality of the balls and the quality of the seal, and the arrangement of the axle interface with the bearing shell….

toons – you mention play in the rear – this usually disappears after a sustained period of riding, but i agree that initially you have to constantly take out the play during the running in period [up to 1000 miles in cases !!!].

I had the CK's for 3 years and still had to adjust them (complete PITA).

Re Bearings; in the winter i was doing a set brake pads every ride and I've never had a bottom bracket last more than one winter. So it's all about where you ride and the conditions.

Any good LBS will be able to rebuild the i9’s. Maybe in a few years when everybody has stopped building due to Hope, then maybe, you’ll struggle to get them re-built!

I had the CK's for 3 years and still had to adjust them (complete PITA).

+1

If they were lighter than the competition, or rolled better, or cheaper then I would understand, but they're not any of those!

Hopes always been fine for me, never understood the need to spend so much more. I guess some people have more money than sense…

Hopes always been fine for me

They may be fine for you but that doesn't mean other people haven't had problems with them…

Indeed, still more money than sense though…

Hopes always been fine for me, never understood the need to spend so much more. I guess some people have more money than sense…

For one, there are significantly lighter options than Hope, if that's your bag. Kings just aren't one of them!

I have both CK’s and I9’s.

The Kings I have had for years and they are excellent IMO, for many of the reasons already outlined. For me the pick-up is excellent, and I like the fact the fact that they can be stripped down to component parts (which are easily available) and re-built like new. For some here, lightness is a virtue, but it is not a consideration for me – performance and component durability is, and King hubs have that in my opinion. I don’t think the bearings are the best sealed in the world, but they are durable in my experience – I run a headset and 2 BB’s as well, and the same can be said for them – but that is the trade-off in making them easily accessible and serviceable. The bearing quality however seems excellent and they run like new after a quick clean and re-lube. If your philosophy is fit, forget and chuck when it wears out then Kings aren't for you. I don’t find servicing particularly onerous nor have I found the service interval required to be excessive by any means (and I have ridden them in some right shitty conditions down the years). Another plus for them is that you’ve got plenty of options as well in terms of axles (which running 20 & 15 mm at the front and 12 mm BT and 9 QR at the back is important to me).

Which brings me to I9’s and Hopes (since you mentioned them and I ride those too). Hopes are cheap and easy to maintain, but the quality is not that of CK or I9 by any measure, and the biggest issue for me is their poor engagement compared to either of CK or I9. Hope also have good options for axle swapping of course, but their approach to using end caps on the front hub rather than a full width axle leaves something to be desired in my opinion (CK and I9 using a ‘proper’ full diameter axle).

My I9’s have been excellent – I have been running them now for around 2 yrs. They have pick-up which is comparable to King, and they seem to produce a phenomenally strong wheel, and the bearings are still running sweet with no maintenance yet on my part. Mine use their own straight pull spokes, and when built initially with a light Mavic rim I was surprised at how much of a beating they took. One issue I have with them (and this may not be an issue with their J-bend hubs) is that the spokes do require periodic re-tensioning and hence a bit more maintenance than I have encountered with my other wheels. Indeed, I recently had them re-built on Stan’s Arch rims and my local bike shop said they were an absolute bugger to tension during the wheel built. I haven’t ridden them on these rims to see how this build will hold up as I am going to sell them. They will of course need a customary re-tensioning no doubt! The reason I’m selling, if you’re interested ; ) , is because my rear hub (currently a 9mm QR) cannot be converted to 12mm, which what I now need, as it’ll only accept a 10mm BT axle conversion.

So, I would have to say I am with singlespeedstu on this – I9’s are nice, but if you want a nice set of wheels go King. Anyway, that’s my tuppence worth, take it or leave it!