As we slowly return to our daily routines after the Gourmet Century Ride Asuke, I cannot help but notice how fast time flies, realizing it has already been nearly a month since the event. Truly, time waits for no man. Meanwhile, at the Circles pit, new bikes and those freshly overhauled or repaired are departing every day for their owners. Just the other day, two Cielo bikes came to life and began their journeys.
Cielo By ChrisKing…
Chris King is a manufacturer committed to American-made, high-quality components. Its founder, Chris King, has a background as a frame builder, and the bicycles produced by Cielo By Chris King are packed with the results of his perspective on the modern cycling society and industry.
Starting from a passion for riding, they create products to share the sense of adventure and worldviews of cyclists around the globe. They make what they can themselves, not only taking responsibility for every step of the process but also continuing their manufacturing activities day by day in a calm, steady manner, weighing economic impact against environmental considerations while envisioning their work spreading out into the wider world.
They are even thorough enough to recycle nearly 100% of the metal shavings produced during the manufacturing process and filter the machine oil to reuse it as cutting fluid, choosing oils that are not harmful to the environment or human body. Of course, they believe that caring for the natural environment isn't the only priority; their conviction that manufacturing must be directly linked to people's lives has remained unshaken from their founding over 30 years ago to this very day, and it shows in everything they do.
When the Chris King team visited Japan, hearing them talk about various things made me reflect on a few points.
I think it is a shame to look at the components and frames they make merely on a superficial level—just calling them beautiful, high-performance, high-precision, or expensive. Of course, they are by no means cheap. But they come with a price tag precisely because of the reasons I mentioned earlier.
At the same time, I realized that the value of an object is something perceived differently by each person. This is equally true when choosing a bike (or frame); for some, the value might lie in its beauty or how well it fits their body, while for others, price or lead time might be the primary factors.
It is not a fully custom handmade bike, yet it is far from mass-produced; perhaps Cielo By Chris King is the only one that organizes production at such a high level while keeping every single frame carefully handmade.
If you find value in the passion for riding and the passion behind the craftsmanship of Cielo and Chris King, I can confidently recommend a Cielo bike. The Sportif and MTB completed this time were finished with a focus on exactly what their owners value. I have a lot of personal attachment to both. And above all, they are truly valuable bikes for their owners.
| Frame | Cielo By ChrisKing | Sportif(size:50cm) |
| HeadSet | Chris King NTS | Black |
| Crankset | Shimano 105 | FC-5800 50/34T |
| Brake | Tektro | R359 |
| Brake Lever | Shimano 105 | ST-5800 |
| FD | Shimano 105 | FD-5800 |
| RD | Shimano 105 | RD-5800 SS |
| CS | Shimano 105 | CS-5800 11-28T |
| Rims | H PLUS SON | AT-25 32H |
| HUBS | Shimano 105 | HB/FH-5800 |
| Spokes | DT Swiss | Champion Black |
| Tires | Panaracer | Gravelking 700x26c |
| Handle | SimWorks | Wildhoney 430mm |
| Stem | SimWorks | Rhonda 90mm |
| Seatpost | SimWorks | Beatnik |
| Saddle | WTB | Pure-V |
| Frame | Cielo By ChrisKing | MTB(size:XS) |
| Folk | X-Fusion | Velvet |
| HeadSet | Chris King Inset7 | Red |
| BB | Chris King | ThreadFit |
| Crankset | Shimano XT | FC-M785 38/26T |
| Brake | Shimano XT | BR-M785 |
| Brake Lever | Shimano XT | BL-M785B-I |
| FD | Shimano XT | FD-M786 |
| RD | Shimano XT | RD-M786 SGS |
| CS | Shimano XT | CS-M771(11-36T) |
| Rims | Velocity | Blunt35 32H |
| HUBS | Chris King | ISO |
| Spokes | DT Swiss | Champion Silver |
| Tires | Panaracer | Neomoto 27.5X2.1″ |
| Handle | Huntercycles | Smoothmove lowrise |
| Stem | SimWorks | Rhonda |
| Seatpost | SimWorks | Beatnik |
| Saddle | SelleAnatomica | X-Series |