From the White House to an Open House 2010 - 2019
My Visit To The Whitehouse by CD
Everyone with a bicycle, it seems, has a Chris King story. One discovers very early on in their employment at Chris King Precision Components that they will be told these stories in great detail. Tales of a single headset passing from one frame to another, (I’ve heard as many as six), to hubs ridden around the world, are common. And let's not forget about Color! Cyclists sure do love to talk about the color of their custom bicycles and components. King components are a source of pride, not just for the company manufacturing them, but for the customers who purchase, use, and cherish them.
I worked at CK for many years and heard many fantastic tales. Here’s mine. Chris King was invited to present to the White House Business Council in September 2012, along with a select few domestic manufacturers and business leaders. I tagged along on that trip. The meeting was held in the Roosevelt Room adjacent to the Oval Office and included a number of very powerful and influential business leaders along with Obama’s administrative staff.
As is customary at meetings such as these, introductions were made at the start of the day. Chris was among the first few to address the room and shared a cutaway rear hub to demonstrate his work. Nothing engages a room more than a beautifully made product with color, style, and those satisfying clicks. Each attendee held on to that hub just a little longer than one would expect and spun the driveshell over and over, staring intently at the Ring Drive mechanism.
But what stopped the room was a woman from Atlanta who owned a number of massive businesses in the region. She began her own introduction thusly, “Mr. King, my husband bikes and I want you to know that he was more excited for me to meet you today than the President of the United States.”
2010-2011 HEADTUBE REAMING & FACING SET
2010 THE INSET® FAMILY
The CK InSet Headset family was developed to accommodate headtube sizes, tapered steerer tubes, and the lowering of headset stack height.
2010 R45® ROAD SPECIFIC HUB-SET
CKs first road specific road hubset. For a long time the classic doubled as both mountain and road hubs. The market demanded a lighter, faster hubset so the R45 was developed and quickly became the company’s best seller. R45 translates to 45 teeth of continuous engagement compared to the more robust classic and now MTB specific system with 72 teeth.
2011 INSET 7
44/44 mm for 1.5 tapered steerer tube. Developed with Dario Pegoretti, this headtube has a 1 1/8” no threadset for a 38 mm ID headtube with a deeper insertion depth which blends nicely with Pegoretti’s oversized frame tubes.
2011 R45 CAMPAGNOLO DRIVESHELL
After 13 years of public demand for a Campagnolo compatible hubset CK introduced it built on the R45 road specific hubset. This hubset features a stainless steel driveshell and a unique bearings and axle.
2012 INSET 8 44/44 mm for 1.25 tapered steerer tube.
Co-developed with Argonaut Cycles.
2012 R45D - DISC BRAKES
2012-2013 UCI DH WORLD CHAMP
Greg Minnaar wins ‘12 & ‘13 using Inset 4
2013 GRIPLOCK™
Collet type threadless system. Patented in 2015, GripLock is a load-isolation system isolating the headset thrust load away from the steerer load. Intended for use with all types of steerer materials, especially carbon fiber.
2013 PF24 & PF30 BOTTOM BRACKETS
Due to Carbon Frame construction, a press-fit bottom bracket standard was needed to replace threaded bottom bracket shells.
2014 SRAM XD DRIVESHELL
The XD Driveshell accommodates SRAM’s ten-tooth cog for the 1x11 drivetrain.
2014 BUZZWORKS HEADSET
Designed and built to meet the demands of World Champion Downhill Racers. Inspired and tested by Syndicate riders Steve Peat (Peaty), Greg Minnaar, and Josh “Ratboy” Bryceland. A key feature of the design is the ability to adjust a rider’s reach.
2015 R45 DISC 12MM
12mm thru axle was introduced once the industry adopted this axle platform for both CX and road. CK drove the development of the 12 mm thru axle standard.
2016 THREADFIT T47 BB STANDARD
A co-developed threaded solution as an open standard to address mounting issues experienced with press fit 24&30mm bottom brackets.
2016 COMMEMORATIVE PROTOTYPE 2-NUT HEADSET
In commemoration of the first prototype headset CK has released a 40th Anniversary headset. As it was in the old days, produced unanodized in a high luster polish with stamped original markings.
2016 BOOST 148 X 12 REAR MTB HUBS
2016 110 X 15 FRONT MTB HUBS
NEW LOGO AND BRAND REFRESH
Conceived around the legendary "Angry Bee" sound of our hubs, a new logo and refreshed word mark were introduced at our 2016 Open House. In the following year the new mark made its way into our laser department and onto our products. The "Classic" mark remains on our pressed in cup headsets.
2016 R45D CENTERLOCK FRONT & REAR HUBS
(Shown w 12mm thru axle) Shimano’s Centerlock Disc Brake Rotor Mounting Standard