Chris King to stop making Cielo frames

[choke]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

you should really see one in the flesh, they are really really nice. The polished chrome accents, the pewter head badge, the paint work, nice welds as well. They are really pretty frame.

Now don't get me wrong, they are expensive for a stock frame but they are VERY nice.

I'm hesitant to write this as I don't want to be dissing on anyone's bike....

At NAHBS in Denver, as I walked through the CK booth my path took me by a Cielo frame on display, going past from back to front. Glancing at it, I had to make a sudden stop, back up and do a double take. My fleeting impression was correct...the welds where the seatstays connected to the seat tube were easily some of the most unattractive that I had ever seen on a high end frame. I wish that I had taken a pic but I didn't.

A couple of years later I was at NAHBS Sacramento and I made it a point to check out that same area on the Cielos present there. While they didn't look as bad as the one I saw in Denver I can't say they looked all that great to me.

Maybe those were the exception rather than the rule, but given that they were display bikes I was very unimpressed.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by choke

I'm hesitant to write this as I don't want to be dissing on anyone's bike....

At NAHBS in Denver, as I walked through the CK booth my path took me by a Cielo frame on display, going past from back to front. Glancing at it, I had to make a sudden stop, back up and do a double take. My fleeting impression was correct...the welds where the seatstays connected to the seat tube were easily some of the most unattractive that I had ever seen on a high end frame. I wish that I had taken a pic but I didn't.

A couple of years later I was at NAHBS Sacramento and I made it a point to check out that same area on the Cielos present there. While they didn't look as bad as the one I saw in Denver I can't say they looked all that great to me.

Maybe those were the exception rather than the rule, but given that they were display bikes I was very unimpressed.

I can only comment on the one my friend has, he bought it from someone here in the forum. Black and pink and looks great, I did not pay close attention the welds but a quick look over they looked fine to me (I will see the bike again this weekend, I will take a closer look)

[AngryScientist]

not surprising that they would halt production. their core business is small stuff, headsets, hubs, BB's. the expense ratio to produce very high quality steel frames relative to how many they are probably selling likely does not justify keeping them in the lineup.

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I thought their stock geometries were a bit odd and aggressive, but very nice bikes by all accounts.

same. I've literally never seen one without at least 2cm of spacers on it. including from their sponsored riders (who should be using aggressive positions on the bike and also have access to custom geo tweaks, if they want them). the bikes are beautiful and, I thought, a good value for what you're getting. the geo just always seemed off to me.

still, it was cool to have a steel manufacturer with stock geos and reasonable wait times.

[Pegoready]

Not surprising. Even at $2500+ for a steel frameset, I doubt they were able to do it profitably. Cielo always seemed like a passion project and loss leader for someone in-house at CK.

Why sell one $2500 frame when you can sell 17 $159 headsets for the same money?

[Doug Fattic]

Originally Posted by cadence90

Wasn't one of the publicized aspects of these frames that they were made almost 100% in-house? I wonder how much of King's machinery, tooling, employees, etc. were devoted exclusively to Cielo, and what happens to all of that now.

I trained their painter in one of my painting classes. They paint their frames in house. He started as their prep guy doing the sanding and applying decals and eventually became their main guy.

[rwsaunders]

Originally Posted by Pegoready

Why sell one $2500 frame when you can sell 17 $159 headsets for the same money?

And only compete against 4-6 headset manufacturers as opposed to competing against 100 frame builders.

[nicrump]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

<snip> as opposed to competing against 100 frame builders.

who were also their biggest advocates and customers... go figure.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by chiasticon

same. I've literally never seen one without at least 2cm of spacers on it.

Smart business move. CK sells headset spacers too!

[tylercheung]

Originally Posted by nicrump

who were also their biggest advocates and customers... go figure.

Yeah, I think there was a line in their PR about how this was one reason they were stopping this...don't antagonize your core market

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by mistermo

Smart business move. CK sells headset spacers too!

and I bet they aren't cheap

[donevwil]

Is Jay Sycip still with CK? If so I wonder what this means for him?

[DavidC]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Is Jay Sycip still with CK? If so I wonder what this means for him?

This implies he's staying on with the company.

https://bikeportland.org/2017/08/16/...-frames-239074