Chris King MTB Rear ISO 6 Bolt Disc Hub
The Chris King MTB hub is what people mean when they say a hub should outlast the bike. Machined and assembled in Portland, Oregon, around King's own bearings, the Chris King MTB hub uses the 72-tooth RingDrive freehub, a full-contact drive that engages every tooth at once instead of a handful of pawls. The Chris King MTB is the hub we point serious trail riders to when they ask what will still be running in ten years.
The Chris King MTB Rear ISO 6 Bolt Disc Hub described here comes in Boost spacing with centerlock or 6-bolt rotor mounts, and it has the Gen 4 driver system: universal axle, solid preload spacers and a driver that pulls straight off for service or a cassette-type swap.
We only sell the Chris King MTB hub inside a wheel we build. Choose your rim, spokes and nipples in the configurator and the wheel ships from our shop in Georgia laced, tensioned and trued by hand.
Design and construction
RingDrive is the heart of it. Two helical rings with 72 teeth engage across their whole face under load, so a hard pedal stroke on a steep ledge does not hang on two pawls. Five degrees of engagement is quick enough for technical climbing and quiet enough to live with. The Chris King MTB hubshell is machined from aluminum bar and the flanges are canted toward the rim so the spoke leaves the hub in a straight line, which builds a stronger wheel with more even tension.
King's bearings are made in-house from heat-treated, surgical-grade steel, races machined in matched pairs so they wear together. They are adjustable for preload, rebuildable and, famously, get smoother as they run in. The seals are the labyrinth type that King has used for decades; they shrug off pressure washing better than most.
How it rides
Ride quality on a Chris King MTB hub is mostly about what you stop noticing. There is no freehub skip under load, no creak, no bearing play developing after a wet month. The 72-point engagement is instant enough for trials-style moves without the drag you get from ratchet hubs pushing past 100 points. The sound is the famous angry-bee buzz; run a heavier lube if you want it quieter.
Weight is competitive rather than featherlight. Chris King builds the MTB hub for longevity first, and it is happy under e-bike torque and downhill abuse.
Specifications
| Position | Rear |
|---|---|
| Axle options | Thru Axle 12x148mm Boost Rear, Thru Axle 12x157mm Super Boost Rear |
| Driver bodies | Shimano HG 8,9,10 & Dynasys MTB 11spd, Shimano Micro Spline 12spd, SRAM XD 10,11 & MTB 12spd |
| Drillings | 28h, 32h |
| Spoke head | J-bend |
| Brake | 6-bolt disc |
| Left flange diameter | 57.4 mm |
| Right flange diameter | 57.4 mm |
| Spoke hole diameter | 2.6 mm |
| Weight | 366g |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Finishes | 3d violet, black, black matte black punch, gold matte 50th, jade matte, mango matte, midnight matte, red, silver, turquoise matte |
About this listing
What sets this listing apart from the other Chris King MTB hub versions: 6-bolt rotor mount, Thru Axle 12x148mm Boost, Thru Axle 12x157mm Super Boost, 28h, 32h drilling, about 366g, in 3d violet, black, black matte black punch, gold matte 50th,. Pick the one that matches your frame and rotor and the rest of the hub is identical.
This is the 6-bolt Chris King MTB hub: the rotor bolts to a flange with six T25 bolts, which is the mount most mountain and gravel rotors still use and the easiest to find a rotor for on the road. If you run centerlock rotors, choose the centerlock version of the same hub instead.
Sizes, fit and compatibility
The Chris King MTB hub, the Chris King MTB Rear ISO 6 Bolt Disc Hub, is listed here in the drillings shown on this page, in Boost spacing (15x110 front, 12x148 rear). Drivers are available for Shimano HG, SRAM XD and Shimano Micro Spline. Rotor mount is centerlock or 6-bolt depending on the version you pick.
The Chris King MTB hub builds beautifully onto DT Swiss, Stan's, Race Face, WTB, Reserve, ENVE, We Are One and Nox rims. The MTB hub is J-bend only; we usually recommend double-butted spokes with brass nipples for trail wheels.
Build it with us
We build this hub to order. Open the Custom Wheel Program with the Chris King MTB Rear ISO 6 Bolt Disc Hub already selected and pick the parts around it; it is offered for gravel and road disc, tandem and e-bike, mountain bike and fat bike builds, and the configurator will not let you assemble a combination we would not build.
Testing, standards and warranty at Chris King
Chris King states it "has been domestically producing bicycle components of the highest quality since 1976" and is "the manufacturer, not just a design house, holistically locating all operations under one roof here in Portland, OR." Its hubs use bearings made in-house: sealed angular-contact bearings with "heat-treated, surgical grade steel races" machined simultaneously "to ensure perfectly matched inner and outer races"; Chris King states "Every single Chris King bearing is inspected and assembled by hand." A March 2024 factory visit reported the bearings are made from 440c stainless steel in more than thirty production steps. Chris King publishes no ISO 4210, salt-spray or bearing-cycle test figures.
the patented RingDrive uses heat-treated stainless-steel drive and driven rings with 72 points of simultaneous engagement (45 in R45 road hubs). Chris King states it is "capable of handling a torque load of over 800ft/lbs, three times greater than other high-end hubs we tested" and a representative said in 2024 it has "never been broken in testing"; a RingDrive service is recommended every 12 months.
Chris King's videos
From Chris King
Certifications
- Made in USA (Portland, Oregon) — Chris King states it has been domestically producing bicycle components since 1976 with all operations under one roof in Portland, OR (source)
- King Lifetime Warranty — Hubs, headsets and bottom brackets including bearings warranted for the lifetime of the original purchaser; non-transferable (source)
- B Corp certification (2020, since lapsed) — Certified B Corporation in April 2020 (first US bicycle component maker); company later withdrew from recertification (source)
Sources on Chris King's site:
Chris King publishes those results; ProWheelBuilder builds the hub into a wheel and does not test it in a lab.
Building it at ProWheelBuilder
Chris King manufactures the MTB hub in Portland. ProWheelBuilder is an independent wheel builder in Georgia, not the manufacturer, and we build Chris King MTB wheels to the rider: measured ERD, spokes cut to length, staged tensioning with a gauge, stress relief, and final truing before it ships. We set the bearing preload with King's adjusting clamp as the last step.
The configurator recommends a spoke count from your bike type and weight, shows only parts that fit this hub's drillings, and prices the wheel live.
Centerlock or 6-bolt?
This is the 6-bolt version at 366g, about 30g heavier than the centerlock version of the same hub. In exchange you get the most universal rotor interface there is: any ISO 6-bolt rotor from any brand bolts straight on, and a replacement is findable in any shop anywhere.
Centerlock rotors do not fit this one, with or without an adapter - the adapters run the other way. If your rotors are centerlock, take the centerlock version instead.
Fitting is six T25 Torx fasteners, each done up to a modest torque rather than one big one, so the braking load is shared across the pattern. Use threadlocker, work around the rotor in a star pattern rather than around the circle, and check them again after the first ride or two. A rotor bolt starting to back out announces itself as a tick under braking long before it turns into anything worse, so it is a cheap habit.
This is also the interface to pick if you ride somewhere remote or travel with the bike. A spare ISO 6-bolt rotor is cheap, packs flat, and will bolt onto very nearly any other wheel you might end up borrowing - and a shop in a small town is far more likely to have one on the wall than the centerlock equivalent.
Warranty
Chris King's warranty. Chris King warrants hubs, headsets and bottom brackets, bearings included, for the lifetime of the original purchaser on items sold new since 1 January 2019. Proof of purchase is required, and King recommends registering within 30 days.
ProWheelBuilder. Built into a wheel by us, this part is covered by our own one-year wheel warranty on top of the maker's. For a year we replace broken spokes whatever caused them, and we cover the labor on the wheel - truing, re-tensioning, a rebuild if it needs one. If a rim or hub fails and its maker covers it, we run that claim for you; if the maker says no, you get an eligible replacement rim or hub at 25% off retail. You pay the shipping each way. Wheels built from parts you send us are excluded.
Full terms are on our Policies & Warranty page.
MTB Rear ISO 6 Bolt Disc Hub questions
Will my rotors fit this hub?
This is the 6-bolt version: any ISO 6-bolt rotor bolts straight on with six T25 bolts, which is still the most common and the easiest rotor to replace anywhere. Centerlock rotors do not fit it - for those, take the centerlock version of the same hub, listed separately.
How many points of engagement does the Chris King MTB hub have?
72, with every tooth engaging at once thanks to RingDrive. That works out to five degrees of crank rotation before the hub picks up.
Is the Chris King MTB hub e-bike rated?
Chris King MTB hubs are used on e-bikes and downhill bikes without special versions; the full-contact RingDrive and oversized bearings handle the torque. Tell us it is an e-bike build and we will spec spokes accordingly.
Can I swap between XD and Micro Spline later?
Yes. Gen 4 drivers pull off the universal axle without tools beyond a T10 Torx, and drivers are sold separately.
Why do King hubs cost what they do?
Because the bearings, RingDrive rings and hubshell are all made in-house in Portland from premium steel and aluminum, and because the company warranties the hub for life. Over a decade of riding it is usually the cheaper hub.
Which axle spacing does it fit?
Thru Axle 12x148mm Boost Rear or Thru Axle 12x157mm Super Boost Rear. Measure between the inside faces of your dropouts if you are unsure, or text us.
Does it need special spokes?
No. It takes standard J-bend spokes, which the configurator offers in every gauge and finish we stock.
Not sure? Text or leave a voicemail on 470-253-0929 or email info@prowheelbuilder.com — you will be talking to the people who build the wheels.
