Text by Shinya Tanaka Photo by Rie Sawada
People often mistake my trips to America for vacations. Wrong. I’m plagued by jet lag, threatened by the sheer volume of food, stuffed with beer, forced to speak broken English, and even required to monitor the latest news back in Japan. Yet, being able to place myself in such an environment, even if just for a short time, is both the best and the worst part of this job. No doubt about it.
The American situation as I know it has been changing little by little... perhaps. A fairly large number of people—not in a stereotypical sense, but people I actually know—have come to prefer a lifestyle that is far from the traditional, slapdash way of thinking or living; they prefer a highly refined (and self-refined) way of life. (Personally, I often find it easier to relate to people who might be considered a bit eccentric.) For me, the America I know is, in many cases, the West Coast. I think one can easily understand the current state of America and the differences and shifts between the East and West by looking at the success of Apple versus the sluggishness of the New York stock market. I’ve written at length, but since you probably don’t want to read a long-winded piece, I’ll conclude by saying that, personally, I really love the West Coast.
CHRIS KING
And so, I am in Oregon again. Which means I’m paying another visit to Chris King Components.
That’s the King Company, famous for having Merckx and Pantani around,
and for having mysterious Cielos just lying around in a mess.
Every bearing is carefully press-fitted, one by one. So they can understand what they are making.
People here carry their convictions in their hearts, carefully carry out their assigned duties, search for new ideas, and file and sand, file and sand. That is Chris King Components.
Ignoring those people, we came to disrupt their work under the guise of a "field check" to confirm the progress of Cielo—our main objective—discuss future prospects, and introduce ourselves now that our team has been launched. But first, let’s go on the customary tour.
Chris King is famous for manufacturing all parts—centered around their high-performance bearings—within their own factory. Every employee understands that the most important thing is to use and maintain their high-performance products for as long as possible, and they spare no effort to achieve that. They are particular about the cutting oil used in manufacturing, the oil circulation system, keeping the factory clean, the energy procurement methods, and constantly seeking ways to recycle steel scraps. Even the layout of the systems and machines is designed to be flexibly rearranged at any time; the factory itself is set up to change like a living organism. Well, if you know the Toyota System, this is standard practice, but I also know that it is not easy for a factory of this scale to maintain and utilize such a system. However, it is indispensable for consistently providing high-quality, high-performance products correctly.
Cielo
And now, another meeting with the Cielo Crew.
Nick, on the left, is one of the well-known Surly Original Three. Following his marriage the year before last, he moved from Minnesota to Portland, the mecca of cycling. After helping launch Beloved, he is now a full-time worker for Cielo and was brought into the King Group this year. The guy on the right is Buck. Born in Santa Rosa. He’s from the same hometown as Jay Sycip. While he was manufacturing many bikes at CoMotion Cycles, he was invited by Jay and King to help with manufacturing at Cielo. I should also add that he is a former SF messenger.
This is the biggest takeaway from this trip.
Yes, starting this fall, they will be able to bring the paint department—their only outsourced process—in-house. The balance of supply and demand for paint shops in America today is terrible. Because there are very few shops to send work to and a shortage of skilled labor, a lot of time is lost there. And mistakes happen more often. (Is it the same in Japan...? Sorry for being slow with my own work.) Unfortunately, Cielo has been suffering from some shipping delays, just like other manufacturers, due to these same issues. (Very few manufacturers actually have their own in-house paint shops: Vanilla, IF, SEVEN... they are truly rare.) At the beginning of this year, Cielo installed a booth so huge they could even paint a truck, brought in a dedicated Paint Worker from SEVEN, and they are scheduled to start painting here properly by October. In other words, I'll just say that new developments—including various future options—might be in the works.
By the way, the photo below is one that I imagine only a certain few people around me will be happy to see.
ChrisKing 45Road Hub for Campy. This will be released in very begging of next year for sure. Also Carbon bearing for 45Hub will be available in Sep or Oct.
The day when we can finally do a ChrisKing Hub / Campy build is coming.
And finally, I’ll post some detail shots of the Lugged Sportif Racer that Chris King himself built, so feel free to drool over them.
They’ve done it again. Enthusiasts are bad news. If you can spot the various “?”s, you’re already a bad-news enthusiast yourself.