Chris King Launches Range of Recyclable Carbon Wheels
Chris King has launched a new range of wheels that use a new FusionFiber technology. Unlike some carbon wheels that rely on epoxies, these rims use a nylon fiber bonding process. Available in both 27.5 or 29" sizes, the MTN30 is a new mountain bike wheel from Chris King that is made in the US, claimed to be 100% recyclable and comes with a lifetime warranty.
Chris King says FusionFiber provides a more compliant wheel and is far less toxic to manufacture and easy to recycle. It is also claimed that in the manufacturing of its new rims there is zero waste, carbon dust or emissions. It is also interesting that only one-third of electricity is used per part when compared to traditional composite parts.
The MTN30 rims feature a 29mm internal width with an individual rim weight of 491 grams. For a complete 29" wheelset you can expect a weight of around 1746 grams, going for a 27.5" setup drops the weight to 1665 grams and the mixed wheel options sits almost in the middle at 1706.
 | It’s good to make stuff you want to ride, and wheelsets are the most exciting thing we’ve worked on in a long time. It’s good that we found a US-based, rim partner who understands our vision for products that perform well and last forever with minimal impact on the planet. It’s also good they cost less than most of the other high-end wheels on the market. It's better we tested multiple layup options to get the exact ride-feel we wanted. It’s better that we were able to find a sweet spot in the high-end wheel game that adds some comfort back into the mix, without sacrificing handling or durability. And it's really better that, based on all the good stuff above, we can warranty them for life so you can focus on riding. These wheels will last forever, and in the event they do break, we have a recycling path for them that will keep them out of the landfill. You should take for granted that a Chris King wheel is going to ride great and look great, but that it also dramatically reduces the environmental impact that most carbon fiber wheels have is even better than that. It’s maybe even the best. |
The MTN30 range is available in three sizes with a 29", 27.5" and a mixed wheel option. All three start at $2550 and there is a choice for ceramic bearings for an additional $100. Currently, Chris King has a lead time of 60 days on the new wheels and you can find out more here.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
You really think people just chuck whole wheel sets in the dump for no reason? C’mon
I doubt the 60 day lead time is for made to order, but likely just a production delay until they catch up with the initial $2,500 USD (really?) orders.
Feel free to replace wheels with any item, car, microwave, laptop, desk...
*perfectly good is of course a matter of opinion.
youtu.be/MTkKJAaGeyg
Dunno, seems to be a lot on the internets about this sort of activity
You're actually mistaken about an new car being worse. Often times even just a more fuel efficient car is better after a surprisingly short amount of time.
youtu.be/L2IKCdnzl5k
Batteries are easily recycled.
I am sure there are folks working on it. But eCars are not the holy grail of saving the planet. But ePlanes, yes that will save the planet.
Better than saving the planet, I prefer what Chris King does for my savings account. I have a pair of hubs that have been on 4 very different bikes. That is good, Chris King is in the making things last business and if some folks like it because they feel good about saving the planet then that is Ok with me.
not these ones...
You argument is nonsensical
By no means do I think these are worth the price tho.
While this cool and all, I wish someone could partner with CSS to make something like those Zipp single wall rims, or the Cranbros nearly-single wall rims. Rim shape and geometry could use some innovation more than building material, since 471s have been aluminum for a decade or more and still perform as well as the latest stuff.
@SleepingAwake & @DGWW: I almost added in my earlier comment about how I would love to see some legislation regarding cradle-to-grave responsibility for companies. Make it a requirement that they are responsible for how a product is dealt with at the end of its life. Which is why the FusionFiber tech and its implications seems exciting to me. When we incentivize reuse/recycling for producers, they are going to change their business model to a long term use. This should in theory also reduce/eliminate planned obsolescence as the producer will be responsible for their crappy product when it stops working. They'll be motivated to produce a product that is easy to repair or easy to recycle.
My .02 is that this is more green washing...
Note that the manufacturer is not Chris King but CSS composites. They crush and remold the small pieces into car dashboards and other random things.
Recycling can keep going indefinitely (like glass).
Downcycling just takes a few more forms before it ends up in landfill. Making clothing out of plastic bottles that then can't be recycled, that's downcycling.
Downcountry is similar to downcycling, soon it won't be used (hopefully).
Without evidence to the contrary it still looks like greenwashing to me??
Tbf, that 61% is down somewhat from 75% in 2016. But still way too high.
Utah is a beautiful state, but they elect some seriously terrible people.
It’s not something I particularly agree is helpful but lots of companies offset their own use now.
Can't help feeling a move to mandatory transferrable warranties might make manufacturers reassess their acceptable failure rates a bit.
Reality is... everything on this Earth is a zero sum game. There are finite resources, and every method of converting those resources for our needs is impactful in some way or another. We are influenced to feel good about switching from one method to another... in this case "pay more for these wheels, they are environmentally friendly". We feel good about ourselves and boast to or shame others until the evil of the new method is revealed. Then we will be sold on the next product.
“ZeRo WaStE”
“....FaR LeSs ToXiC”
“MiNiMaL iMpAcT”
Where does one recycle this? Does Chris King have a return system in place where they take care of it? Because if not, where am I supposed to go? Does the technology actually exist yet to turn it back into usable material? Without that, it's greenwashing.
No six bolt, not supporting past products and poor customer support - all reasons why the four pairs of King hubs I own will be my last. My original set that has probably over 10K miles still work great, but the negatives are outweighing the positives with the "new" direction King is going.
So in this particular example, we've got someone (we'll call him Chris) with a perfectly good set of wheels who is tantalized by a new pair of Chris King plasti-hoops: If Chris were to keep his old wheels and not buy the new ones, there would be less demand for the new wheels, which would change the demand planning that the company would do, and it would affect the number of wheelsets they would create in the next order. Doesn't sound like much of a difference with just Chris, but it's not just Chris, there are many other people like chris noodling on this decision.
With regards to the demand created by the person looking to buy chris' old wheels he can move on to another seller and maybe he lands on someone who already has two sets of wheels (two used wheelsets , no new wheels being created by his demand)
You get what you pay for. Buy a cheap alloy wheel, its going to perform like a cheap alloy wheel. Buy a highly engineered composite wheel, you are probably going to notice immediately it's in another league of performance.
"They put too much salt on my fries."
"I could poop on them if you'd prefer that"
"...no, I just wanted less salt."
I kind of look upto King as a business / manufacturer , would be shit to hear this is the case if it can be backed up.
Someone will come along and spoil my view of Hope next….
First of all, machinists are not just ‘button pushers’ - that’s some bullshit unless you mean a pure operator, but that’s not what you said.
Secondly, there is an ‘industry standard’ of pay for every job, from doctor to bricklayer to cleaner to teacher, if King pays what machinists are usually paid in the area then that’s not ‘very low pay’ - of course they won’t be paid as well as the company owner though, though I’m not paid a huge amount more than my most well paid ‘machinist’.
As for the bullshit about vintage cars - I own a business and if I ever do well enough to buy something a bit silly (not really my bag but still) I’ll have done it off 20 years of risk, sacrifice and working more / harder than any other damn person that ever set foot in the building.
I don’t know if King did that but he ain’t some kind of billionaire, is he - so he can only be criticised for his spending if he is actually paying staff below usual sector wages, surely?
If he is only really employing machine operators, what would you expect to be paid for loading and unloading machines - I would expect fair market wages.
@barp true, maybe they named after the external?
The biggest tire the Ripmo can take is 29x2.6, which is definitely not a plus tire. The rims are the factory rims for the bike and they've worked very well so far. My Shred Dogg has 45 internal rims but only up to a 3.0 tire. I've always like the ride characteristics of wider rims.