Chris King stopping Cielo production

Spotted this online today (apologies if it's in a thread elsewhere).

Always thought they're pretty nice frames (if not slightly overpriced?).

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-america/2017/08/15/chris-king-stop-making-cielo-frames#.WZPaK0GRWEc

Maybe vanilla speedvagen have conquered the market in portland . They do seem to have a plethora of high end builders up there .

It seems from the press release that they're happier just allying themselves to custom frame builders, rather than trying to compete...

They have been posting a lot of Speedvagens on their IG feed recently.

Possibly some form of partnership/investment with Vanilla/Speedvagen on the horizon? Speedvagen already work closely with enve to produce the Vanilla branded carbon ISP toppers used on Speedvagens, and are only available on Vanilla/Speedvagen bikes.

CK have a substantial frame production facility, and I would imagine a decent amount of staff dedicated to building Cielos, and I can't see them just stopping frame production all together. What happens with all the staff/production facility?

I think they will continue to produce frames in some form, just not Cielos.

As to a SV hookup or involvement, more than possible.

Also, with regards to the production facility, I had the same thought. I've attended a talk with the man himself and seen enough videos to know he's all about the 'family' element of working for CK, effusing that the company will always look out for the workers.

I find it hard to believe they'd drop production and lay off all (or most) individuals purely because Cielo 'doesn't fit into their plans'.

Speedvagen have got to the point where their lack of foreign distribution agents are holding them back. If you want to get a Speedvagen in the UK, you have to order direct from Portland and pay huge shipping/import duty costs. That's what put me off buying one a few years back, and I'm sure will have put a lot of other non US buyers off.

If Speedvagen push their stock size OTP 'O.G.' Frames that they now produce, and use CK facilities to boost production capability, and use their already established foreign distribution network, Speedvagen could become huge.

It's a matter of time nhabs/bespoked type bike market peaks. Even in Portland.

I also agree that SV could do more to increase the numbers of its products available to a wider market via distributors, whilst also controlling quality.

The CK facility would seem an obvious way to achieve that, if that's not what's already on the cards.

It's all well and good doing fitting tours around the world and having 'stock' frames, but if easier global access to the product isn't there they'll lose a lot of a very captive audience to the plethora of alternatives out there.

I agree.

We may now be reaching 'saturation point', but I certainly don't see signs of it peaking to the point of it dying in the immediate future.

It's a bit weird doing 'fitting tours' in countries that are hard to buy the frames from anyway.

Haha, definitely.

I think it's a massive excuse for Sacha White to fuck off abroad constantly, anyway.

I got a quote for a speedvagen for lolz.

Five figures easy....

I also didn't like their optional extras model. If I'm going to buy a bike from them, I don't want to pay $300 for a fitting.

But hey they gotta pay for the "fitting tours" somehow. This must really eat into their margins.

can you quantify instagram likes?

Also the paint jobs are not truly custom.

Saw this link to rather negative employee reviews of CK on BikeRumor: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Chris-King-Precision-Components-Reviews-E871182.htm
All does not seem well and costly vanity projects (perhaps Cielo?) a particular issue.

tbf being a framebuilder is a hard job. The ROI is quite low IMO. So if they want to 'uplift' the whole industry towards better margins, its all good. People spend money on stupid-er stuff like cars where you'd be laughed out of the door if you say your budget is 10k.

Sounds like any passion project kind of a place to work. You really have to be surrounded and consumed by it and should be ok to make your 'hobby' into profession, much easier said than done.

Guess you didn't read all the reviews as several allege sexual and one racial harassment.

jeez .. no .. thats obvs wrong

Some of those Glassdoor reviews are pretty harrowing. Most speak to a massive disconnect with management, even in a relatively small company.

I'm a little surprised, to be honest.

The fitting tour is a big part of their strategy, and they'll get more stops next year. And to be fair it's not a bad idea. I never considered getting one, but after spending an afternoon trying the bikes and speaking to Sacha White, I definitely would if finances allowed.

I went to the one in Tokyo and, whilst I'm not necessarily a SV man, Sacha was incredibly knowledgeable and personable.

Also they insist on selling complete bikes only.

The stock size OG is now available as F&F.

Not in Zed size :...(