Portland’s burgeoning bicycling relationship with Japan will now include a few great meals.
Chris King Precision Components, a manufacturer of headsets, hubs, bicycles, and other parts based in the northwest industrial district, has announced that their annual Gourmet Century event will venture to Japan for the first time ever.
The event, which started in 1999 in Santa Ynez, California, has expanded to five cities in 2015. The company announced yesterday that Aichi, Japan (June 6th) and Asheville, North Carolina (August 22nd) are the two new locations.
As we shared after taking part in the 2013 edition, the Gourmet Century is part bike ride, part traveling feast. Participants pedal a “pleasantly challenging” route that works up an appetite. Then they’re treated to fine snacks and meals of fresh, gourmet food dreamed up by professional chefs specifically to satisfy a bicycling appetite.[Read more…]
Chris King Precision Components has hired well-known Portland chef Chris DiMinno. DiMinno has spent the past five years as head chef at Clyde Common, a popular restaurant on SW Stark adjacent to the Ace Hotel. The move by King has made headlines in the local food scene and it cements the company’s already strong connection between bikes and food.
As we shared earlier this month, Chris King (the man and the company) is well known in the bicycle industry for a commitment to quality and craftsmanship. Those principals have been pillars of the company for over thirty years and have established it as one of the strongest brands in the cycling world. What is lesser known is King’s love of gourmet food (as chronicled by The Oregonian). From the company’s long-running annual event, the “Gourmet Century” and their “Cielo Salon,” to their on-site cafe which serves two, made-from-scratch meals a day for its 120 employees; King has now taken his love of food to a new level.[Read more…]
It’s sort of strange that Portland’s largest bicycle manufacturer isn’t known for making bicycles. But that’s the case with Chris King Precision Components, a company with 120+ employees that operates a 70,000 square foot factory in Portland’s northwest industrial district. [Read more…]
Big staffing move from Portland largest bicycle company:
Chris King Precision Components is pleased to announce that effective October 7th, 2013 Kris “Kirby” Bedsaul will be starting as General Manager for Chris King Precision Components and Cielo Bicycles.
Kirby has a long relationship with Chris King Precision Components having managed sales in the early 2000s and more recently acting as a regional sales rep. on the east coast. In 2003 family commitments took him across the country to Asheville, NC were he built and co-owned 5 finance business’ while continuing his work in bicycle advocacy. Kirby was a founding member of the Asheville cyclocross series.
[Read more…]
With the big bicycle industry trade show (Interbike) just wrapping up, and with lots of local bike industry news piling up on my desk in the past few weeks, I figured it was time for another roundup…
Chris King Precision Components now offers complete wheelsets
Northwest Portland-based component manufacturer Chris King made a big announcement before Interbike: They now have a full-fledged wheel building program. The new line of wheels is built in-house and they offer models for road, cyclocross, and mountain bikes (ranging from $1,000 to $3,300 a set). They come with Chris King hubs (obviously) and are built up with an “intentionally selected” and “pedigreed list” of parts from respected industry brands. King’s wheel program is being overseen by Greg Hudson, formerly of Corsa Concepts. Get pricing info and learn more at ChrisKing.com.[Read more…]
In the latest nod to Portland’s reputation as an epicenter of the bicycle industry, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will visit United Bicycle Institute (UBI) in North Portland on Friday.
The Department of Commerce announced the event as part of Sec. Pritzker’s nationwide “listening tour.” “In these discussions,” reads a media statement, “Secretary Pritzker will hear about their priorities, concerns and ideas on how the public and private sectors can work together to strengthen the economy and create American jobs.”
UBI has been chosen as a tour stop because, the Dept. of Commerce says, it’s, “the bicycle industry’s leading technical school.” The North Portland campus (they also have a campus in Ashland) offers courses in bicycle repair, frame building and professional mechanic certification. While at UBI, Pritzker will meet with staff and hold a roundtable discussion with representatives from the local bicycle industry.[Read more…]
Following our reporting last month, Cielo has now officially announced a new line of bikes that will come with accessories made by Tanner Goods. Both companies are based in Portland and make their products just a few miles from each other.
Cielo, the bike brand created by Chris King and made in the Chris King Precision Components factory in Portland’s northwest industrial area, will offer a Cielo Tanner Goods Edition package on two of their frames: the Sportif Classic and the Cross Classic.
Here’s more from the official statement: [Read more…]
Similar to the “coffee bike arms race” and the well-known links between beer and bikes here in Portland, now there’s a growing bike connection to our vaunted food scene as well. And Chris King, the man behind Chris King Precision Components and Cielo Cycles, is the hub that connects many of its spokes.
Back in February, we showcased the Ned Ludd Market Bike, a collaboration between local bike builder Ira Ryan (Ira Ryan Cycles) and chef/restauranteur Jeremy French. The bike and its trailer are a fitting and functional complement to what French refers to as his “American craft kitchen.” And Ryan refers to French as the, “foodie equivalent of handmade bike builders.”
The Ned Ludd Market Bike got a lot of attention and it made French a natural fit for a starring role in Portland’s overlap of fine food and bikes — an overlap that also comes naturally for Chris King. [Read more…]
Chris King, the founder of Portland-based Chris King Precision Components, has been invited the White House next week for a discussion about how American manufacturing can spur job creation.
According to company staff, the invite comes from the White House Business Council, which operates within the Department of Commerce. Back in August 2011, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, visited Chris King’s manufacturing facility and apparently the visit left a big impression.
In a blog post after the visit, Asst. Sec. Lamb-Hale wrote that, “I learned how this small business is able to use forward-thinking, innovative and sustainable methods to become a leader in the production of high-end precision aluminum, steel and titanium bicycle components.” She also learned that King’s success is due in large part because exports to Europe and Asia make up 40 percent of their sales.[Read more…]
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