PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Posts Tagged ‘Chris King’

Chris King: R45 Disc Hubs in Stock!

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If you’re a drop-bar disc brake kinda guy, the best option for a road or cross hubset is now available from Chris King.

“Our high performance R45 Disc hubs are built to meet the requirements of the world’s most demanding road and cyclocross riders with the long-term performance, durability, and serviceability that you expect from Chris King components. We equip our R45 Discs with the same race proven 45 point RingDrive engagement system and exceedingly smooth in-house made bearings that were raced through punishing conditions by US National team rider Danny Summerhill during the 2012 Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville.”

Oh and that Cross Racer Disc from Cielo looks pretty fun too!

Beautiful Bicycle: My Geekhouse Woodville Touring Bike

In a lot of ways, my first Geekhouse Woodville touring bike served as a catalyst for me taking cycling more seriously. It was my first custom bike and provided me with ample motivation to just get out there and ride. The first major tour being Portland to SF and from there, I took it on numerous other trips here in Austin. When it was stolen last year, I began planning out a replacement with Geekhouse. There were some things I wanted to change, but mostly I just missed having a touring bike to ride around on.

As it sat en queue, I couldn’t decide on how I wanted it to function. Initially, I wanted a dirt-drop 29′r pack-bike tourer for riding the MTB trails here in town, but then my Independent Fabrication took over that role, so I revisited what I loved the most about my first touring bike. The riding position is what I would consider traditional but having acquired the Bruce Gordon Rock n Road tires, I wanted to make sure it would roll at least a 50c. I also opted for external cable routing and passed on the S&S couplers.

I’ve had great luck with the SRAM XO rear derailleur and its 11-36 range matched with a compact crank. This time I went with White Industries VBC system and a Force front derailleur, converted to a top-pull. With a 50 outer ring and 32, inner, I’ll have a wider range than I would with a triple. Chris King classic hub on the rear and a SON hub with matching Edelux lamp on the front for light.

Paul components throughout: Tall and Handsome post, Touring Cantis. Other components include a Thomson seat post collar, Brooks Swift saddle, Salsa Cowbell 2 with SRAM barcons, TRP levers and MKS Lambda pedals. With all the Made in the USA bling, I got Marty and Brad at Geekhouse to fabricate a one-off custom stem as well as front and rear racks. The beauty of the front racks lie in their low-rider detachable hangers on the front…

I always load front and low on trips. The bike rides a lot better since the handling isn’t compromised as it would with a rear load and these low-riders are low. My large panniers sit about 6″ off the ground, which is perfect on a 43c tire. On top of just looking amazing, these racks weighed a lot less than the Tubus system I had been using previously. The fork is another highlight: internal cable routing for the Edelux lamp and the segmented shoulders have rack attachments.

Even with all those details and that component list, a build can still go south with a bad powder job. Brad really knocked this one out of the park. Olive Drab green with a matte clear adds to the utilitarian / military aesthetic I wanted. I’ve been scooting around town a lot on this beaut and took it on a few trail rides last week and am in love. Even the ride out to shoot these photos was super dreamy…

I still need to dial it in though. The derailleur cables are now routed under the tape, mostly to make it easier to mount a Swift Industries Ozette randonneur bag. I’ll also need to splice some more chain so I can use the 50t with more of the cassette but for now, it’s riding really well.

That said, it’s not a touring bike until you’ve at least camped on it and summertime in Texas will provide ample opportunities. Right now, I’m just pumped that it came together so well. Many thanks to PAUL, Bens Cycle, Chris at Mellow Johnny’s and the Geekhouse crew for making yet another dream come true.

… also, buy renter’s insurance! Most plans will cover your bikes when they’re stolen!

My Icarus Is Now Complete

My Icarus Viking MAX track bike was incapacitated for a few months while the fork sat en queue at Fresh Frame. After a lot of surface rust started to form around the shorelines, I felt it best to just get it painted, if anything, for the longevity of the bike. Since this bike has one of the uber-rare Chris King stainless steel headsets, I got Bryan Myers from Fresh Frame to polish the stainless crown to match and he even added a little bit of wood inlay in the lug window. I have to admit, I wasn’t completely stoked on the wood inlay but It’s growing on me.

This bike has proven to be one of my favorites in the stable and why wouldn’t it be? It’s a classic track bike with some very unique detailing…

Chris King: New Press Fit 30 and Press Fit 24 Bottom Brackets

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Finally! I’ve been using my Chris King ceramic PF30 BB on my Argonaut and all I’ve wanted is to be able to put one on my Bishop as well. These things are legit and if the word of a raconteur isn’t good enough for you, they’ve been raced exclusively by United Healthcare.

100% made in the USA, with a 5-year warranty, available for 24mm or 30mm PF shells, fully servicable bearings, available in ceramic or stainless and of course, in all the colors of the Chris King rainbow!

Here’s the press-release from Chris King:

“Introducing Chris King Press Fit 30 and Press Fit 24 Bottom Brackets. Equipped with our legendary in-house made angular contact bearings, compatible with our precision grease injection system and backed by an industry leading 5-year warranty, this is the only Press Fit bottom bracket you will need to install in your frame.

We have created our Press Fit Bottom Brackets to uphold the Chris King standard of precision craftsmanship and high-performance function. Based on our phenomenally successful Threaded Bottom Bracket system, our Press Fit Bottom Brackets will give your customers the same performance, serviceability, and dependability that they have come to expect from every Chris King product. With a range of additional conversion kits we are proud to offer a Chris King solution to your Press Fit needs.”

The time of disposable PF30 BBs is now gone. Pick one up today from Chris King!

Beautiful Bicycle: Jesse’s Hufnagel Fire Road Racer

Ok, brace yourselves here. This bike is absolutely stunning. It’s no secret that Jordan Hufnagel made some Beautiful Bicycles in his days as a frame builder and I feel like in the last few months of his torch time, the bikes he built were so full of class and character. Ty’s cross, his own porteur and Jesse’s “Fire Road Racer”.

When you are from LA, you’re very familiar with the various fire roads and singletrack off-shoots. After spending time on his road bike, carefully descending down these rutted and rocky descents, Jesse decided it was time for a more fitting vehicle… See more in Gallery!

Beautiful Bicycle: Columbus MS Lemond Road

I can really appreciate builds like this: vintage steel with a mix of modern componentry, especially when you add a tubeset like Columbus MS into the equation. This bike rolled into Shifter Bikes while I was in Melbourne and it was one of those bikes that didn’t like to sit still. It kept wanting to roll. Was it the legacy of Greg Lemond that was trying to establish a forward momentum? Who knows… but the Campagnolo Centaur 10, Zipp wheels, Thomson cockpit and Rolls saddle probably have something to do with it.

Beautiful Bicycle: Lauren’s Icarus Commuter

Any guy will tell you that putting a bike together for his lady can be an emotionally taxing event. Luckily for me, Lauren knew exactly what she wanted when I proposed the idea of buying her a new bike for her birthday. She loved my Icarus and Ian’s work but wanted something practical to commute on here in Austin. I was pushing for a full-on touring bike but she doesn’t like the idea of bigger tires and wanted something zippier.

What we agreed on is a mashup of a few things: primarily a long-reach caliper, lower trail road bike. It’ll fit 28c tires and fenders or 32c without, it has rack mounts on the front and the rear for any sort of light touring or camping we’d do but most importantly, the front cockpit is by no means racey…

She liked the riding position of her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine build but wanted the bars a little wider and better stopping power than her cantis. After finally wrapping my head around figuring out what she wanted, we met up with Ian of Icarus Frames, who measured her and went through the new frame procedure.

In the meanwhile, I started looking for parts. Rather than going all budget, I splurged a bit and went with a lot of American-manufactured products. Ian was making a stem to accomodate the back sweep of Nitto Albatross bars to which we’d run barcon shifters on. Chris King had these “ox-blood” Sotto Voce headsets at NAHBS, so I picked one up. Then, I consulted my friend PAUL and kinda went all out. Soon, I had purchased Canti Levers, polished Medium Racers, Moon Units, Polished Tall & Handsome seat post, Funky Money cable hanger and it didn’t stop there…

As with any commuter, gearing is a key factor. Lauren had been riding a single speed to work consistently but some of the hills en route to her teaching job were a bit tough. We also want to be able to do longer rides out to the hill country, so I chose the White Industries VBC cranks (46/30) with a mid-cage Shimano 105 rear derailleur and a 12-32 cassette. Shimano 105 hubs to H+Son TB 14s are bomb-proof, budget wheels. Topping the build off are Panaracer Paselas 32c, Brooks B 17 S saddle and tape.

The paint would be from Fresh Frame and the color we chose is an elusive one. Was it blue? Or green? It changes with the light. In the shade, it’s sort of jade but in the sun, it sparkles blue. Whatever it is, the final product is stunning.

While the bike is shown here, sans racks, we’re in the process of tracking down a good front basket and a rear rack for panniers. The bike is light, coming in at just a hair over 19 lbs and it “rides like a dream”. If it were my bike, I would have done a few things differently but that’s the beauty of a custom bike, you get what YOU want and trust me, there are few arguments I’m willing to engage in with this lady. She always gets what SHE wants… who can blame her? Further down the road, I’ll look into new panniers and maybe a porteur bag but for now, I’ve spent enough money on this thing!

Many thanks to Austin Bikes for the build, Bens Cycle for the assistance in the components, Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames and Bryan Myers at Fresh Frame.

Beautiful Bicycle: My Independent Fabrication Deluxe Reduxe 29′r MTB

Everyone that reads this website has had a moment in their life where cycling became something more than just pedaling around. They found a bike, or had a moment out riding that changed their perspective forever. For me, it was a mountain bike in college. Sure, I had bikes growing up, but they were always used for transportation, or hitting a kicker ramp and some trails once and a while. It wasn’t until college that I found something I vibed with. The trails became an exit from architecture school. I sucked and was slow but loved going fast and mostly avoiding the occasional wreck.

That was over 10 years ago and since moving to Austin, I’ve wanted to get a new MTB but never really had the opportunity arise. I didn’t necessarily want a modern machine and preferred steel. This year at NAHBS, when I walked up to the Independent Fabrication booth, this blue beauty caught my eye. I walked over, checked it out and quickly realized that THIS is what I was looking for. Rigid, modern components, throwback Somerville geometry and an Igleheart fork. It looked like a modern day Fat Chance.

Gary walked up and told me how the Deluxe Reduxe came about. Last year, when Chris Chance came to NAHBS, he was asked what he thought of modern day MTBs and his reply was something along the lines of “things got really complicated”. The Deluxe Reduxe is IF’s answer to that. They hired Chris Igleheart, ex employee of Chris Chance to make 20 forks and IF would make the frames. They were each painted either electronic blue, hot lime or lavender.

Decked out with Shimano XT, which uses arguably some of the best hydraulic disc brakes in the industry, Chris King throughout, with Crank Brothers Cobalt bars, stem and post. The Deluxe Reduxe is topped it off with hand-laced Luxe Wheelworks Stans Tubeless wheels and some Racing Ralphs. It was even Mudfoot blue!

Knowing that I had to have it, Gary and I struck a deal. For me, the parties involved in this bike are so special and so Somerville that it was a worthy MTB choice. Here in central Texas, things can get rocky, fast but since I’m used to pulling lines on the cross bike, I’ve found this bike just eats that shit alive. I have a general rule about posting my bikes: don’t post about them til you’ve had a moment with them and this week, I’ve had a few. Last night when I shot these photos, I had one of the best rides on it yet.

This bike and I have clicked real hard this week. I’ve crashed a few times, finding the pocket on a sharp turn but have been able to pump and thrash through some technical sections with ease. It just jams through my favorite trails. As shown here, it’s all stock, even with the XTR pedals. I wanted to give everything a chance before swapping parts out. In the end, I’ll probably go ENVE cockpick and post. I’m not a fan of the Crank Brothers Cobalt post but the bars and stem are growing on me. I’ll switch to tubeless when I’m back from China as well.

What about suspension options? Well, Igleheart told me it’ll be tricky but possible, only because of the rake. This bike has a trail of 73mm. A rake of 50mm and a heat tube angle of 71 degrees. I could lock out a 100mm Fox at 80mm and achieve roughly the same HTA but I don’t think that’s what this bike deserves. At some point, I’ll go full suspension but right now, this is a great machine for how I’m riding.

If this is something you like, there are still a small and a medium Deluxe Reduxe for sale at IF for $4,500, which considering the parts alone, is a steal for steel. Contact IF for more information.

2013 NAHBS: Cielo and Chris King

Each year, I love watching people’s faces as they enter the Chris King compound and although the metaphor “like a kid in a candy shop” is somewhat dated, it’s application here is quite fitting. I can’t even walk into their booth without picking up at least a headset (purple!). This year at NAHBS, the Portland based frame builders and component manufacturers brought all kinds of eye candy. My favorite project bike was the champagne and purple Sportif Racer but people were tapping the top tubes and squeezing the brakes of the Cross Racer and Overlander (which I totally didn’t get a good photo of).

At this point, you’re probably not even reading the copy anymore, so check out the gallery for more goodness!