Chris King’s Cielo Cross Classic frame was designed to do one thing well, and that’s be good at lots of things. You could ride a cyclocross race on it, but that would only be half the fun. As everyone’s beginning to realize, ‘cross bikes make excellent vehicles for local exploration, both off road and on.

Not many cyclists are aware that Chris King, the man whose name adorns the world’s most respected headset and hubs, is also an accomplished frame builder. He started creating steel road and touring frames in 1978, both for his Cielo brand and un-badged versions for numerous racing teams.

Cielo was shelved from the early 80s until 2008 when he realized his component business was stable and was inspired to again pick up the torch. Today, Cielo offer a complete series of bikes, ranging from Sportif road bikes to mountain and ‘cross bikes—including the versatile Cross Classic.

There’s a lot of Cielo frames riding around Japan, imported by SimWorks and assembled by Shibuya’s Blue Lug bike shop. As you’d expect, this one’s built up with a selection of top-shelf parts, like a SRAM Force group, Paul brakes, Brooks leather and SimWorks’ own Nitto-made Wild Honey handlebars.

It goes without saying that the headset and hubs are supplied by Chris King. See more of Blue Lug’s colorful and classy builds on their flickr page.

















