No other company has made something as seemingly innocent and innocuous as the humble headset into an object of desire than those precision machined by Chris King.

And now Chris King will extend its reputation for durability and silky smoothness to the bottom bracket. As with the fabled headsets, they'll likely be bombproof and smoother than butter, and serviceable bearings and grease injection ports (with a tool supplied too) should make maintaining them a doddle.

The King bottom bracket will be Shimano-compatible, and the grease ports offers the opportunity for racers to tailor the BB for different requirements. King says: "With the injection tool, you can train day-to-day with a durable high-viscosity grease and race with a light, fast-rolling low-viscosity grease or oil." Good news for the racers, the impossibly anal or those afflicted with OCD, then.

The news will be greeted openly by those who like to customise their bikes, as with 10 colours available there should be one to match every setup. There's also a new colour, Brown. Brown? Yes really. Makes sense, they'll all end up that colour soon enough...

More at www.chrisking.com