Front wheel torquing out, hitting brakes

[bcpayne]

So I have the same frame and fork that I have been using for about 9 years (Litespeed Catalyst with Kestral EMS fork). I just put my third set of wheels on it about a month ago (Mavic CXP33, Chris King Hubs, 3x Revolution spokes). Yesterday for the first time, I experienced the wheel flexing to hit the brake pads when I was out of the saddle and put some effort in to the pedal stroke! This has never happened before and I can't figure out why?!?!

I'm a big rider (~205lbs), but until yesterday I've never had a problem with anything flexing enough to rub on the brakes. And it's not like the brakes are set at a tight tolerance. The wheels are true, since they're only a few weeks old and have about 300 miles on them. Everything else is the same as it's always been, and I can't figure out why this is happening now.

It's not like the wheelset is weak or anything, and when spinning along, there are no problems. Yesterday's ride was flat, and I noticed the rubbing just excellerating from stop signs. A couple weeks ago I was in the hills, doing a lot of standing climbing, and never heard a peep.

If you have any ideas, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

 

[mikendres]

Spokes. Check those. I bet every single one could be tighted evenly another 1/4 turn. What do you think?

 

[daveornee]

So I have the same frame and fork that I have been using for about 9 years (Litespeed Catalyst with Kestral EMS fork). I just put my third set of wheels on it about a month ago (Mavic CXP33, Chris King Hubs, 3x Revolution spokes). Yesterday for the first time, I experienced the wheel flexing to hit the brake pads when I was out of the saddle and put some effort in to the pedal stroke! This has never happened before and I can't figure out why?!?!

I'm a big rider (~205lbs), but until yesterday I've never had a problem with anything flexing enough to rub on the brakes. And it's not like the brakes are set at a tight tolerance. The wheels are true, since they're only a few weeks old and have about 300 miles on them. Everything else is the same as it's always been, and I can't figure out why this is happening now.

It's not like the wheelset is weak or anything, and when spinning along, there are no problems. Yesterday's ride was flat, and I noticed the rubbing just excellerating from stop signs. A couple weeks ago I was in the hills, doing a lot of standing climbing, and never heard a peep.

If you have any ideas, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

Loose bearings and/or loose spokes.

 

[drewski]

So I have the same frame and fork that I have been using for about 9 years (Litespeed Catalyst with Kestral EMS fork). I just put my third set of wheels on it about a month ago (Mavic CXP33, Chris King Hubs, 3x Revolution spokes). Yesterday for the first time, I experienced the wheel flexing to hit the brake pads when I was out of the saddle and put some effort in to the pedal stroke! This has never happened before and I can't figure out why?!?!

I'm a big rider (~205lbs), but until yesterday I've never had a problem with anything flexing enough to rub on the brakes. And it's not like the brakes are set at a tight tolerance. The wheels are true, since they're only a few weeks old and have about 300 miles on them. Everything else is the same as it's always been, and I can't figure out why this is happening now.

It's not like the wheelset is weak or anything, and when spinning along, there are no problems. Yesterday's ride was flat, and I noticed the rubbing just excellerating from stop signs. A couple weeks ago I was in the hills, doing a lot of standing climbing, and never heard a peep.

If you have any ideas, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

i haven't used them, but i hear that king hubs have a break-in period where things loosen up a bit and need retightening. i don't know if you need a special tool to tighten things up (which i seem to recall as well), but that sounds like what you're experiencing.

maybe a thread title specifically about king hubs which points to this thread might get folks with experience to chime in?

 

[dhk]

A rider I was with last month had this same issue on some wheels that she hadn't ridden in a while...brakes were rubbing up hills. The rear rim was easy to push side-to-side, and the spokes sounded very low when I tweaked them. A trip to the LBS wheelbuilder brought the tension back and solved the problem.

Easy enough to check the hubs first of course before going back to the wheel builder.

 

[daveornee]

i haven't used them, but i hear that king hubs have a break-in period where things loosen up a bit and need retightening. i don't know if you need a special tool to tighten things up (which i seem to recall as well), but that sounds like what you're experiencing.

maybe a thread title specifically about king hubs which points to this thread might get folks with experience to chime in?

Sometimes wheel builders that are not experienced with new Chris King hubs will loosen the hub to try to compensate for seal drag. When the seals wear in, the bearing looseness show up even more.
Front hub adjustment
1. Insert 5 mm hex wrenches into both ends of axle assembly.
2. Hold left hand stationary and turn right hand counterclockwise 1/4 turn until
assembly is loose.
3. Hold hex wrenches stationary and adjust bearing preload with adjusting cone.
4. Advance adjusting cone until it just contacts bearing, then back off
approximately 1/16 turn (this allows for axle compression while under skewer
clamp pressure).
5. Once preload is set, tighten axle assembly to 100 inch-pounds.
6. Double check adjustment by clamping wheel into fork with quickrelease.
Check for play or binding, and readjust if needed.

You paid a dear price for the wheel(s). If you can bring them it back to where you purchased it, you can tell the owner of the shop about your experience and see what he/she says.
Set-up
The hub(s) come pre-adjusted from the factory. The adjustment has been made anticipating spoke tension and skewer compression. Because of variations in wheel-building practices, a minor adjustment should be performed upon completion of the wheel build. The grease in your hub will provide optimum performance between 30°-110°F.
There is sometimes a bit of break-in adjustment required. Chris King suggest checking after 5 - 10 minutes, then 5 - 10 miles, then 20 hours, and finally 60 hours. I think you will find that the seals continue to break-in during the first 50 hours of riding. When the seals are dragging it makes precision bearing preload adjustments difficult, but not impossible.