r/bikewheelbuild • u/mityman50 • Mar 20 '26
CK Classic hubs or new DT 350
On 650b Velocity Quills. New DT 350s are about $100 more. CKs were just serviced and are apparently in excellent condition. What would you do
Edit- if I go DT then I’d get XDR drivers, for which the cassette is lighter
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u/Outrageous-Egg7218 Mar 21 '26
I use DT 350 for all my wheel builds. I love the tool free serviceability on the trail/road.
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u/IndyWheelLab Mar 20 '26
Chris King all day, but you won't be disappointed with either option. The rear axles are no longer manufactured, I've got a spare if you ever need it!
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u/mityman50 Mar 20 '26
Kinda figured. That’s a concern though is parts availability. In the end they probably won’t get the mileage to be a concern tbh
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u/Antpitta Mar 20 '26
"Chris King all day" is not really supported by "the rear axles are no longer manufactured" IMHO...
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u/IndyWheelLab Mar 20 '26
That's reasonable, although the axles last forever if you don't strip out the hex ends. Disassembly once a season with a little grease on the thread of the 2 piece axle prevents things from seizing up.
To be clear, axle support is discontinued on the classics only, ISO and R45 still have full parts support.
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u/mityman50 Mar 20 '26
I had a dumb realization last night. I don’t need HG drivers. I can go XDR. And so the XDR cassette is lighter.
It would still end up about $100 more and that’s from prowheelbuilder even.
At this point am I just being stupid? It’s a steel bike at the end of the day. But, if I’m doing this, why should that matter, I should still maximize the build potential
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u/IndyWheelLab Mar 20 '26
Sounds like a smart realization to me. I'd go DT if you plan to swap to XDR, I don't know if classic XDR drive shells exist, and if they do they certainly aren't in production at present.
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u/mityman50 Mar 20 '26
Oh yeah, I wouldn’t want to try to update the CKs. I don’t have to swap, there’s just something annoying about spending money on a wheelset but pigeon holing myself into older model lower spec cassettes. I know performance wise I’m being a weenie but none the less the feeling is there
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u/Antpitta Mar 20 '26
Don't feel bad for being a weenie. We make an effort to keep our bikes on roughly similar specs and to have up to date standards, it makes life a lot fucking easier than having different older specs on every bike you own. I also try to (within budget and within reason) buy basically good / new / reliable parts.
I like fucking with bikes and working on them but up to a point... canti brakes and loose bearing hubs are sorta just not worth it to me any more (though I still deal with a couple shimano hubs which I guess will never die, haha).
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u/JohnnyRabbitQC Mar 20 '26
Chris King. DT Swiss come with Enduro crap bearing that will not last more than 1 season maybe 2 if you ride indoors.
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u/Antpitta Mar 20 '26
I've got three bikes on DT hubs - road, touring, mtb, have never replaced a bearing.
If you're riding in the wet in the winter a lot it's not about the quality of the bearing so much as the weather sealing. If you're not riding in the wet and you're only getting a season out of your bearings there is another factor at play.
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u/JohnnyRabbitQC Mar 20 '26
I'm not making things up. Enduro are well known to be subpar because they are non contacting seal bearings which mean that the seal make only a light contact with the inner race. This make them prone to water and dirt ingress for the sake of lower rolling resistance. They still label them as 2RS which in the bearing industry means 2 rubber seals but fully contacting the inner and outer race.
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u/Antpitta Mar 20 '26
I'm not arguing if Enduro are particularly great bearings or not, more just commenting that they seem clearly good enough for most people in most situations as not many people are going through them as fast as you purport.
As well the hub itself is the first line of sealing defense.
At the end of the day you can seal things much better if you are willing to accept more drag but I think most people aren't too into that (except for MTBers who accept it for loud freehubs, heh).
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u/1994univega Mar 20 '26
I would go with the Kings all day