this may need to be moved to the components/wrenching section. if so, i apologize. i know there's a lot of builders in this section as well so i thought maybe they could help.
i recently purchased a set of wheels built up with chris king r45 hubs. they're rolling great and i'm very happy with the build but shortly into owning them (maybe 10 hours of riding) i started hearing a clicking sound from the front hub. it occurred only during hard out-of-the-saddle efforts, particularly on steep climbs where i'm throwing the bike side-to-side. i had read the CK manual mentioning the need to adjust bearing pre-load after the hubs break in a bit so i figured that was the problem. i followed the instructions (although i lack the cone adjustment tool), down to even measuring the torque applied to the 5mm bolts. the problem persisted. finally one day i discovered that if i really clamp my QR skewer, the problem disappears. i figured this is the same as tightening pre-load anyway, so i tightened the pre-load more than before (previously hand turned till tight, then backed off 1/16 turn; this time didn't back off at all) and installed QR as normal. the problem was gone until about 20 miles into the first ride. tightening QR more made it disappear.
so...what gives? it's clearly a pre-load problem here right? has anyone else ever experienced this? this is my first experience with CK's so i'm a little annoyed. do all CK owners just crank the hell out of their QR to get this problem to go away?
note: yes, i did speak with my builder about it. it was built out of state so they couldn't assess the problem first-hand (i can't recreate it in the shop anyway, has to be conditions i described above). they tried to diagnose and told me to adjust pre-load. so i'm hoping i'm just doing that wrong.
i recently purchased a set of wheels built up with chris king r45 hubs. they're rolling great and i'm very happy with the build but shortly into owning them (maybe 10 hours of riding) i started hearing a clicking sound from the front hub. it occurred only during hard out-of-the-saddle efforts, particularly on steep climbs where i'm throwing the bike side-to-side. i had read the CK manual mentioning the need to adjust bearing pre-load after the hubs break in a bit so i figured that was the problem. i followed the instructions (although i lack the cone adjustment tool), down to even measuring the torque applied to the 5mm bolts. the problem persisted. finally one day i discovered that if i really clamp my QR skewer, the problem disappears. i figured this is the same as tightening pre-load anyway, so i tightened the pre-load more than before (previously hand turned till tight, then backed off 1/16 turn; this time didn't back off at all) and installed QR as normal. the problem was gone until about 20 miles into the first ride. tightening QR more made it disappear.
so...what gives? it's clearly a pre-load problem here right? has anyone else ever experienced this? this is my first experience with CK's so i'm a little annoyed. do all CK owners just crank the hell out of their QR to get this problem to go away?
note: yes, i did speak with my builder about it. it was built out of state so they couldn't assess the problem first-hand (i can't recreate it in the shop anyway, has to be conditions i described above). they tried to diagnose and told me to adjust pre-load. so i'm hoping i'm just doing that wrong.