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Vapourware Alive! King comes through...

zahgurim

Underwater monkey
Mar 9, 2005
1,100
12
lolAsia
Did a search, couldn't find info on this yet:


King is finally getting ready to release 10mm and 12mm throughaxle rear hubs, 15mm front, as well as the ... (wait for it...) ... bottombracket!

"The Axles are in the “testing” phase which means that they will be made in the future.

And a prototype 15mmQR front hub! Also in the Testing Phase.

The BB is in the “investigation” phase meaning they are still considering it’s validity in the market."








 

sayndesyn

Turbo Monkey
cool I guess... There are so many more companies out there making quality products then back in the day when King was "the sh1t". A day late and a dollar short...

I do however expect to see them on every "30 something year old doctor/real estate agent/makes alot of money and doesn't have a scratch on their dh bike or Lexus SUV" rider...
 
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binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,091
1,127
NC
Wow, King is just on the bleeding edge here.

It's great to see a company that is so dedicated to pushing the envelope and developing the sport's technology.
 

EANitrox

Chimp
Feb 29, 2008
9
0
I do however expect to see them on every "30 something year old doctor/real estate agent/makes alot of money and doesn't have a scratch on their bike or Lexus/Rover/BMW/Mercedes" rider...
LOL! That would describe a lot of South OC riders and Turner Homers :biggrin:
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
The BB has been in the "testing phase" For 15+ years. It must be hard to develop products when your R&D team moves so slow your products are obsolete before they ever get tested.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,004
1,134
El Lay
<Insert bitter comment about King here>

I still haven't had to do any maintenance on my 2005 King rear hub (w/Fun Bolts).
 

Metal Dude

Turbo Monkey
Apr 7, 2006
1,139
0
Smackdonough, GA
Hmmph - thought the hubs had already been released... My buddy has the 12x150 rear and 20mm on his new Turner build.
I don't see how anyone can dog King components whatsoever and I post more negative crap on RM than anyone!
I think this company is great, and the best manufacturing "Green friendly" company out there.
So they're not on the forefront of new tech. - they're smart, waiting til' some of these practices become industry standards before piling $$ into development.
 

DirtyDog

Gang probed by the Golden Banana
Aug 2, 2005
6,598
0
Green: Check
Made right here at home: check
Takes care of their employees: check

I'll be first in line to buy quality components from a good company like King. What's really more important - having the latest trendy thing from China, or bringing the bike industry back home with well-crafted components made by our friends and neighbors?
 

BlackAthlete

Monkey
Apr 8, 2008
184
0
The good news here is that it is highly likely that the 12 mm TA will be retrofittable to current rear hubs. That would be a plus for me as I run a set of funbolts on my 135 mm Socom. That'd work for me as I could lose the silly adapters.





IMO King shouldn't waste their time on a BB. All it would be these days is a set of cups and others already do the cups plenty nice:



Not the best pic but I'm showing these:

 
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SpasticJack

Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
344
0
IMO the only "new" items on the list are the 15mm and the 10x135. Reaming a HD axle to 12mm produces a 12x135 pretty easliy. I am glad to see some new stuff out of them though. I wonder if the 15mm setup will retrofit to 20mm hubs or if it will be a mod to the regular q/r hubs.
 

BlackAthlete

Monkey
Apr 8, 2008
184
0
If you insist:





Intense Socom Red Large with DHX 5.0/Obtainium Ti Spring
Manipoo Travis Single Intrinsic 180 (Ti Spring, thing is still a hefty focker)
Saint Crank with custom Ti washers, Straitline pedals, ceramic bearings in stock cups, LG1 with Ti bolts
King/823's/DT Revolution spokes and brass nips, built by Paradigm in Gravy's absence (now Gravy is back to the next set will be all him).
KMC 10SL chain, 9 speed Dura-Ace 12-27 cassette, Thomson stem and masterpiece post (cut) Flite TT saddle
Easton Monkeylite DH bar (I know but I like the feel of this bar best, tried many others and came back to this one)
Code front caliper with 8" rotor, Castrol SRF fluid and Juicy Ult lever with Straitline blades (Thanks Mike, you mynigga)
Ult rear caliper, 185 rotor, Ult lever, Matchmaker, X.0 shifter, Ruffians
Lots of Ti bits

36.3 lbs.

She's fun as fock. And much dirtier than shown here, these pics were before I rode her.

I want to move up to a 203 mm fork, and code caliper and 8" rotor on the rear. Otherwise, I'm happy.
 
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ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
23
SF, CA
King is an awesome company run by good people, and I'm really glad to see the hubs evolve to meet new standards.

I agree the BB is a wasted effort at this stage. I think the time would be better spent branching out (and revisiting) their headset design in the same way they have their hubs - internal, reducing, low-stack options.

I know their signature is beauty, longevity, and highest-quality, but if they lose sight of highest performance I worry that they're going to be relegated to same artisinal niche as high-price steel hardtails and brooks saddles.