Factory Visit: Chris King Precision Cycling Components

Chris King. In cycle circles the name emits gasps of awe and envy. Its precision-made bike components exist in the most rarefied of bike porn—small, perfectly hand-crafted headsets, hubs, and bottom brackets that elevate the standard bike into the cycling stratosphere. And, after a highly sought-after tour of the Portland, OR-based Chris King Factory last month, it’s clear that the high quality associated with each product extends to all elements of the company.

Chris King started the eponymous company 36 years ago, after honing his metal-crafting talents working in the medical tool industry. As with the first hand-constructed piece, everything that leaves the Chris King factory is made in the United States.  All the metals are purchased from North American mills, and most of the machines on the floor have been custom-tweaked to suit a particular purpose. And when something on the machine breaks, they craft a new part—some machines on the floor date back 15 years.

As a metal shop, they’re also acutely aware of their environmental impact. Rather than the standard toxic materials, Chris King uses soy oil as a lubricant when cutting metal; not to mention an in-house tool they created to compress the scraps so that 98 percent of the oil is re-used.  Every hub is hand-buffed for 20 minutes, and all the other parts are finished by an industrial shaker that tosses the metal with crushed walnut shells—polishing everything to a brilliant shine. Each machine also has its own air filter to remove any potentially toxic fumes. The factory is likely the best-smelling metal shop on the planet.

Life for the 96 employees at Chris King is equally bright. A gourmet cafeteria employs two full-time chefs and serves three squares daily, each meal sold without mark-up; the price is dictated by the cost of the ingredients. They’ve developed a great no-car commuting incentive that lets participants who walk, run, bike, or use public transportation rack up meal credits and extra days off. Even the free coffee has been painstakingly chosen by Chris to be of the highest possible quality.

No wonder Chris King was one of the small business owners invited to the White House this year to take part in a discussion about the current state of domestic manufacturing.

Cielo Bikes—some of the nicest, hand-crafted bike frames on the market—also come out of this unassuming Portland warehouse.  As with the components, each rig is crafted not as part of some aggressive schedule to dominate the cycle world, but to aspire to the high-quality expectations that all cycling purists truly desire.  We’re already dreaming up our perfect rig. Hopefully it’ll be one of the 330 bikes they make each year. Thank god they only make five models—or we’d never decide.