Opinions Requested - Cane Creek or Chris King Headset

cd_davis · #1 10-23-2014, 04:19 PM

Planning to upgrade the original Serotta F1 fork on my Legend Ti to a threadless full carbon fork. This also requires a new 1 inch headset. In your humble opinions, which performs better: Cane Creek Classic 110 or Chris King NoThreadset ? 110 year warranty versus 10 year warranty?
Full disclosure- I have Chris King on my C40.

Wakatel_Luum · #2 10-23-2014, 04:21 PM

King looks nicer but the Cane Creek functions equally if not better...

ultratoad · #3 10-23-2014, 04:37 PM

Both are high quality items.... The fit and finish with Chris King is jewel like.... I only buy Chris King now....

FlashUNC · #4 10-23-2014, 04:42 PM

Have both a King on one bike and a Cane Creek 110 on a quill stem.

Both are outstanding, but I prefer the Cane Creek. Looks a bit more classic imo.

And I'll wager that warranty is no joke either.

vqdriver · #5 10-23-2014, 04:42 PM

i've had both and you won't regret either. just get the one that looks better on your bike. if you want colors, that pretty much means king.

alternatively, cost / benefit wise, it's hard to beat a cane creek 40.

tumbler · #6 10-23-2014, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wakatel_Luum

King looks nicer but the Cane Creek functions equally if not better...

+1. I used a Chris King on my latest build and haven't been overly impressed. It looks terrific (which counts for something, right?) and does what it's supposed to do, but if I'm honest, my Cane Creek was a little smoother and less finicky to setup. I was thinking of trading for a CC, but don't have the tools to do the swap myself and don't feel like paying for another install.

Cicli · #7 10-23-2014, 04:58 PM

I have had both. The King looks better, the CC operates just as well or better. I like the one I dont have to screw with.

jmoore · #8 10-23-2014, 05:06 PM

IRD Technoglide is the answer

Jeffie · #9 10-23-2014, 05:18 PM

I'd be interested in hearing what fork you are going with and why.

What is the rake and steer tube length on your old fork, I may be interested.

My vote would be for cane creek on the headset.

Jeff

Cornfed · #10 10-23-2014, 05:31 PM

I have each on various bikes. I probably use CC more just because I tend to shy away from large logos.

elong8 · #11 10-23-2014, 05:59 PM

King. No brainer.

jds108 · #12 10-23-2014, 06:28 PM

CC. Why rely on an o-ring to center the compression race? Yes, King has fixed this with their newest design but last time I checked (over a year ago) they weren't going to bother doing this for the 1" size.

11.4 · #13 10-23-2014, 09:04 PM

The knock on the King used to be that it counted on the o-ring in the top race to keep the steer centered. It worked, but it wasn't the most elegant engineering. Cane Creek used their wedge ring design (they have a cooler name for it) that centered the steer perfectly, didn't deteriorate, and so on. Now King never had a reliability problem, but they went ahead and changed their headsets to work the same way. If you get a newer CK headset it deletes the o-ring and has a split v-ring that wedges into the race and centers the steer perfectly.

The Cane Creek 110 has a nice set of stepped spacers, but if you misplace them and then need one, you can then use a regular spacer but it doesn't match as smoothly. Cosmetic issue only.

So really, it comes down to which gives you the better color match to your bike.

jds108 · #14 10-23-2014, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 11.4

The knock on the King used to be that it counted on the o-ring in the top race to keep the steer centered. It worked, but it wasn't the most elegant engineering. Cane Creek used their wedge ring design (they have a cooler name for it) that centered the steer perfectly, didn't deteriorate, and so on. Now King never had a reliability problem, but they went ahead and changed their headsets to work the same way. If you get a newer CK headset it deletes the o-ring and has a split v-ring that wedges into the race and centers the steer perfectly.

The Cane Creek 110 has a nice set of stepped spacers, but if you misplace them and then need one, you can then use a regular spacer but it doesn't match as smoothly. Cosmetic issue only.

So really, it comes down to which gives you the better color match to your bike.

Did King update the design on the 1" variety?

abalone · #15 10-23-2014, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jds108

CC. Why rely on an o-ring to center the compression race? Yes, King has fixed this with their newest design but last time I checked (over a year ago) they weren't going to bother doing this for the 1" size.

I'll always go with Cane Creek over Chris King for this very reason. That King design should have been subject to a recall because of the fork steerer indentation/scoring issue. Good thing King changed the design, but the fact that the defended that poor design for so long tells me all I need to know. I Don't care about all the internet forums worshiping Chris King. I'll go with Cane Creek if I want a high-end headset.