CHRIS KING Wheel Dept.

Long-awaited wheel set using CHRIS KING's original rims

CHRIS KING has been offering custom wheels using high quality rims from ENVE and HED.

In order to achieve the same high quality as their existing products, CHRIS KING has teamed up with CSS, a carbon rim company.

Using the next generation of high-end carbon material, FusionFiber™️, Chris King is now offering wheelsets with the original rims that have been a long time coming.

FusionFiber™️ rim

FusionFiber™️ is a carbon material that is woven with a nylon adhesive instead of traditional resin bonding, making it stronger, more impact resistant, and more vibration dampening.

This bonding process also allows for significant time savings in the curing process of the rim, making it easier to make adjustments that affect the rim's performance, and most importantly, reducing the cost and energy required to produce the rim is simply more environmentally friendly. This new material can be recycled in a different form even if the rim is broken, and can be said to have both performance and sustainability.

Two models and three lines

The GRD23 (700c) for gravel and all-road use and the MTN30 for mountain biking are available in two sizes, 27.5" and 29", for a total lineup of three models.

The GRD23, which is the sweet spot in the current disc road and gravel market, is a wheel with an excellent balance of lightness and strength.
The FusionFiber™️ is a lightweight, strong wheel that offers stable propulsion and vibration absorption even on trails with rapidly changing road conditions.

Chris King's idea of what is truly good

Chris King is serious about making products that will last a lifetime.
Chris King knows that disposable products can create a vicious cycle for stakeholders.

As Doug Hatfield, a former mechanic on the Santa Cruz syndicate team, says, "Chris King parts are not disposable. This is both for the environment and for the creator and receiver of the product.

Since Chris King started the company in 1976, it has operated with two goals in mind

Toproduce high quality bicycle parts in an environmentally friendly manner

These are still the core principles around which we produce our products.
To achieve these high goals, we continue to supply a wide variety of small parts to make products that are not easily broken and can be repaired again and again if they do break.

Recyclable Rims

When Chris King created the wheels that bear his company's name, he turned to CSS Rim, an engineering and design specialist, as the perfect partner.

They provide users with high quality rims in an environmentally friendly flow.

Notably, the materials used for the rims are composed of 100% recyclable materials.
The flow also shows that all rims are shipped from their Gunnison, Utah, location, which means that they distribute their products without excessive energy use.
It is truly a cradle-to-grave environmentally conscious carbon rim.

The similarity between Chris King and CSS is that they are both seeking high quality products, while continuing to produce products with consideration for the planet in which they reside.

High performance and environmental consciousness.
Chris King is a 2020 B Corporation, a company that strives to achieve these two seemingly contradictory goals in a sustainable and high level of performance.

*B Corporation is a certification program operated by B Lab, a non-profit organization based in Pennsylvania, USA. B Corporation is a private certification given to companies that conduct business activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and meet B Lab's standards for accountability and transparency. The "B" stands for "Benefit," referring to the benefits to stakeholders such as the environment, communities, and employees.
https://sustainablejapan.jp/2015/02/09/b-corporation/13882

Toward our next goal

We don't throw away all the broken parts; we use the parts that are in good condition.
This is the philosophy of Chris King.

In the past, Chris King Wheel Dept. has assembled wheels with race-spec rims from other manufacturers and fully disassembled and repairable hubs.
We have provided a warranty period on wheelsets sold by Chris King and have repaired wheels that were warrantee compliant. However, rims that are no longer road-worthy meet the same end as unburnable trash.

The new CSS rims are made of recyclable material, which is closer to their ideal product than the conventional rims that would otherwise become unburnable.
Simply receiving a warranty and buying a new wheel is a benefit to the user, but not in the broad sense that Chris King aims for.

Do what you can for your users, for your stakeholders, and for the global environment.
B Corp, and by extension, Chris King's philosophy, to continue to make sustainable and robust products in an effort to bring long-term benefits to stakeholders and users, We continue to experiment every day in Portland, OR, USA.