Chris King Coffee Tampers: Love it or Hate it?

Usually the argument for buying something as high end as a Chris King component goes something like ‘it’ll last much longer than anything else’ – but …

By stwhannah

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Chris King Coffee Tampers: Love it or Hate it?

I both hate and lust after Chris King stuff at the same time. I very nearly bought a headset for my last build and it sat on the build spreadsheet (that’s not weird, right? We all have one of those don’t we?) like a £200.00 malevolent toad taking up waaay too much of my time and effort. Eventually in a fit of pique at myself I just went ahead and ordered it, and it was out of stock. I’ve never been so relived.

Weird, I know but there you go.

I think they are well over priced and whilst I’m sure it’s a nice tamper it’s not the size most people go for when buying them!

I am a coffee snob though, slightly disappointed their chief caffeine officer do not know all the cool kids have 58.5mm diameter tampers for better edges/reducing channeling.

Admittedly this did make me giggle and thing of the varying bike headset/bb/hub standard wars… 🤔

I can sympathies with that @nickc I’ve been relieved a few times when something has been out of stock!

They really let the marketing w@nketeer go freestyle with this one!

Buy one if you can afford it. Life is too short.

the build spreadsheet (that’s not weird, right?

No, I had one 🙂

Or wait, maybe it is and I’m just weird too…

Anodized Red looking 👌

If I could insert a Venn diagram with Bike **** in one set, Coffee **** in the other, and Chris King Coffee Tampers at the intersect, I would

I tried one but it didn’t work with my Nespresso pods, so had to return it.

perfect thing to go with the CK salt and pepper shakers.

Nah, but I’d buy a purple anodised Hope teaspoon for my Nescafé …

People who buy this shit* are utter fools. What possible reason could you have for wanting such a thing?!?!

*by which I mean anything involved with the production or consumption of coffee. Vile stuff. 😉

I’d buy a purple anodised Hope teaspoon for my Nescafé …

I was just gonna say, no interest whatsoever in this wankery. But maybe if Hope made a teapot…

But maybe if Hope made a teapot…

Something something Orange something something biscuit tin.

Had one and it never stayed right, was constantly working loose. Several shops couldn’t work out the issue and it got replaced with a Hope headset which was truly fit and forget for 3 years (although it was checked every 9 months to see if the bearings needed replacing and they didn’t).

Chris King stuff seems to be massively overpriced in my opinion, based on my own experience of a single headset. Their rear hubs sounds very nice if you like that high pitched buzz, but I’m not sure the price is justified.

JAY SYCIP

is that Jay Sycip of sycip bikes?

if Hope made a teapot

I WANT A HOPE TEAPOT NOW! (a proper one for loose leaves obvs)

I lusted after a Chris King tamper for a while. Couldn’t justify the price, so had a go at making my own.

Campagnolo rear hub, a lump of stainless steel, headset top cap, and some sketchy lathe work =

The base is way over sized, but the lathe was walking across the workshop, so I called it a day before I buggered it up.

Confirms why they’re known as Chris-wan-King

I would but I aeropress at home… so please can I have either…

A. An aeropress stirrer made from leftover bits of aluminium at $200

B. A titanium aeropress with a ti mesh filter, and you may as well package it in a carbon fibre box, padded out with the finest virgin golden goose feathers  and charge me $1,899

I have no idea about coffee but I do know about beer and the Wolf Tooth bottle opener the best one I’ve used.

 

I may also have  a campag corkscrew but we won’t talk about that

Singletrack should do one and charge a sensible price. They’d fly off the shelves! Charge too much though and they will be Thread of The Week prizes until the box is empty.

This is showcased in passion projects like the highly sought-after King espresso drinkware sets and the revered King espresso tamper. The tamper, known for its comfort, balance, and weight, has gained a reputation among professional baristas

I have read these words and now I feel….

X – someone needs a damn good slapping for writing that

Charge too much though and they will be Thread of The Week prizes until the box is empty.

… and you’ll have half a dozen in your kitchen cupboard. 😁

August cycles will turn Hub’s into tampers, recycling at its best!

https://www.augustbicycles.cc/product-page/commission-a-custom-coffe-tamper

A few years ago Chris King the man himself attended Bespoked in Bristol. That weekend he wandered into my friend’s coffee shop (Full Court Press), knocked back a coffee and bestowed him with one of these tampers as a gift. It’s still there proudly displayed on a shelf, possibly unused for the reasons above!

The build your own forum response polls are genius, made me laugh 🙂 well done.

Oh, and I have broken a coffee tamper. The plastic one that came with my Gaggia, after a decade or so of daily use.

@petefromearth how did he know it was Chris King? Did he introduce himself?

Probably came in with a breifcase full of coffee tampers to sell!

See, I don’t mind bike parts being turned into “Objets” I think @bigblackshed tamper is really cool. I’m just not sure that turning them out commercially isn’t just, well, a wee bit cynical.

“We know our fans will just buy one of these “because”. So lets make ’em”

@molgrips

Yes I think he introduced himself. I remember him being at the bike show, I wouldn’t have known it was him if it wasn’t for the crowd of bearded groupies whispering his name and fawning over him!

I think a few tampers might have been given away as prizes maybe

Probably came in with a breifcase full of coffee tampers to sell!

You know the scene at the end of Pulp Fiction?

As my many builds over the years will attest to, I’m a big Chris King fan. This extends to kitchen equipment:

Peak STW:

All of mine were bought from eBay.  I’m still a Northerner. 🙂

You have TWO tampers Daffy?

Peak STW indeed

I couldn’t resist the purple one when it came up on ebay.  £45!

Love it? Nope. Hate it? Nope. There’s like a shield in my brain where I try to have an opinion about stuff like this and it just gets deflected.

I don’t even drink coffee but I want one. Goddamit!

There’s always the Park pizza cutter.