Company and History: Cielo frames are made Chris King, a brand and man who is world-renowned for his headsets and hubs. However, Cielo frames were Chris King’s first foray in to bicycle manufacturing. They were first constructed in Santa Barbara, in reaction to the Camino Cielo (Sky Pathway), a rough trail that covers the La Cumbre Peak and runs parralel to the Pacific Coast, with King creating gravel racers and cyclocross bikes to run the length of the road. However, with the development of his headsets, Chris King downed tools and concentrated on that area of his business.
That’s how things stood until 2008, when Chris found his business was solid and sustainable without his daily input. Also, after relocating to Portland, he found himself among some of the most innovative modern framebuilders, as well as in the middle of the huge resurgence in popularity for steel frames. Now, Chris King himself is back on the workbench and pouring the same kind of ingenuity in to building frames that his hubs and headsets are famed for.
Built by a small and experienced team, each frame goes through a short production line where one person is responsible for each individual part of construction. While they’re not completely custom, the Sportif Classic comes in 17 different sizes, so fit won’t be a problem. Chris King make all the headtube rings, rear brake anchor insert, seatstay plugs, brake bridge logo bead, fork crown, fork dropouts, vertical rear dropouts, and semi-horizontal rear dropouts in house, and they are completely unique to Cielo frames.
Accolades: BikeRadar praised the handing in a 4-star review, likening the Cross bike they were testing to a fast touring bike, and described it as being plush but still handling quickly. Washingmachinepost described their Cielo as ‘comfortable, steady, predictable and surefooted’. Although these accolades are excellent, you only need to look at the quality of a Chris King headset to know that these are frames for life.
Ordering a Cielo: Due to having standard geometry, and having all the casts made in-house, the waiting time for a custom Cielo frame is only between 6-10 weeks, not including shipping time.
