Chris King quietly unveils matte black, silver headsets & hubs

I’ll second this. King doesn’t make bad stuff, but some of it seems to hold reference purely because their price makes it seems special. I’ll give them kudos for making the stuff in my country (US) but they are not unique in this – Cane Creek does as well (at least for their premium products)

I’ve installed between 800-1100 King headsets since 2003. I warranteed less than 5 bearing cup sets (two of them were 1″ on tandems), replaced less than 30 bearing caps (mainly 1″ and none of them being the newer compression ring type). Shimano headsets (the cartridge type) were cheaper but certainly not better, Campagnolo headsets never really beat Kings on price or durability. Cane Creek 110 is a close second but just as expensive and less colours; I’m kinda meh on the lower priced Cane Creeks. King hubs are very nice, but White Industries are more serviceable, cost less, more drilling options, and don’t lack for colour choices (except turquoise). Plus the R45 Centerlock Disc hubs are maddening (disassemble the axle to install the rotor? No thank you).

There’s movement in the industry to integrated bearing seats on the crowns of tapered carbon steerer forks. The King headset design doesn’t lend itself to that, so we’re spec’ing Cane Creek 110 headset more often. If Cane Creek offered just a few more colours in ZeroStack-style, we’d probably sell more.

I thought White Industries were gonna make headsets….I’d be willing to give them a try, especially since we buy so many WhiteInd hubs. Yet King headsets have been our go-to for decades and that’s not likely to change in the foreseeable future.

But matte silver and matte black is news? I’m over their limited edition colours. Maybe they should just concentrate on keeping the established colours in stock….I don’t want to hear “3 weeks” when I order standard black headsets.