Chris King has long been, quite literally, at the center of some of the best mountain bike wheels on the market. The American brand has a loyal following and is best known for manufacturing some of the best mountain bike hubs, which are sought after by many brands and customers looking to build a really great set of wheels.
Chris King has now launched its own wheelsets combining its existing hubs with some brand new carbon rims. The range consists of two wheels: the MTN30 mountain bike wheels and GRD23 all-road, both of which use what Chris King calls FusionFiber technology, and are backed with a lifetime warranty.
Chris King's newly developed FusionFiber is a carbon fiber that uses a nylon fiber bonding process rather than traditional epoxy resin. By cutting the resin out, Chris King says that it isn't just less toxic to manufacture but is also relatively clean and easy to recycle. Chris King doesn't provide any more details regarding the process of recycling other than that they are 100 percent recyclable, and the brand has a path to avoid old wheels ending up in landfill, with its lifetime warranty. Chris King is expecting any damaged wheels to be returned for inspection and disposal in exchange for new ones.
It doesn't stop there either, if the claims of zero waste or scrap, zero carbon dust, zero emissions, and a reduction of 60 percent less energy per part is to be believed, then these wheels should have a significantly smaller environmental impact.
Chris King claims that the other benefit of the FusionFiber is its use of cutting-edge thermoplastic that incorporates long-chain polymers which give it more control over the levels of compliance and stiffness that could be tuned into the rim. It's well known that having high levels of compliance can enhance grip and comfort on the trails, but too much and they will lack precision in corners and rocky sections.
The MTN30 mountain bike wheels are built using a hookless 29mm internal rim and paired with Chris King's Boost 28 hole hubs which have 72 points of engagement. The brand doesn't pigeonhole the wheels into a discipline, although with a claimed weight of 1,746g it looks like they are aimed at trail riding. The wheels come in 29er, 27.5, or mullet (29 front, 27.5 rear) sets with the option of Shimano Microspline, HG, or SRAM XD freehub standards.
The other wheelset is a 700c road and gravel wheelset built using 24-hole Chris King R45D Centerlock hubs, which feature a redesigned RingDrive system with 45 teeth for lower drag and faster engagement. The hookless rim is recommended to be used with 32-45mm tires, although Chris King says the 23mm internal rim diameter can accept between 28-50mm tires. The rim is fairly shallow at 24mm and the wheelset weighs in at a claimed 1,468g.
Customers can choose from a variety of hub colors if you want to match them to other Chris King components. There is also a ceramic bearing upgrade option should you want the smoothest spin, a luxury that will cost an additional $100. All the wheels come with tubeless tape and valve kit included.
The mountain bike wheels have a retail price of $2,550 while the gravel wheels will cost $2,650. International pricing hasn't been provided yet.
