Headset for Serotta..

[bostondrunk]

I am rebuilding my legend, and I was wondering about headsets.

Is everyone here and their dog using Chris King? Is there any reason why I need to spend twice as much as say a Chorus headset? I've never worn a headset out before, and am wondering what I am paying the extra money for?

[jpw]

King kudos k'ching. Krazy.

[Too Tall]

Beats me. I've never worn a Campag. out either. Infact I just re-used a 30 yr. old Campag HS in a fixie.

King is my defacto standard and expect to re-use them in a similar fashion in 30 yrs.

I use them because I like how they look, specs are dead on and service intervals are about 1/2 of others I've used.

[Jeff N.]

Chris King really has the market cornered on this one. They are the only real choice because they are simply the best! Cane Creek, Campy, FSA, whatever...are not. It doesn't cost that much more to go first class. And one seldom regrets it. Jeff N.

[Needs Help]

I believe Chris King HS's have a higher stack height too, so if you need the bars up, you can get them a little higher.

[bostondrunk]

How would they compare, say, to Shimano Sante???

[Serotta PETE]

Any headset that is working and not pitted is a "good" headset. Over the years I have used Campy, Shimano, Mavic, etc.....My favorite is King though. (No real reason why, except that I like the looks and the fact I have never had problems in 5 years.) Additionally the friends that I consider experts (aka Spokes) swear by them.

If you have a Ti bike you might want to pop the cups every few years to make sure the alloy and Ti do not marry each other.....It then becomes very hard to split them apart. (Same thing with BB)


PETE

[Kevan]

My Ritchey HS is so far bombproof.

[saab2000]

... because I am doing just such a comparison right now. I have a King installed on my Pinarello Dogma Ego and a Shimano Santé installed on my Ottrott ST rain/beater bike.

Both are just fine so far.

Here's to the Bostondrunk!! :beer: :beer: :beer:

[Andreu]

Don't have time for such comparisons as I am too busy preening myself in the reflection from the top tube of my Pinarello.
What's a headset?
Wotcha
:bike:

[BigMac]

I've often thought one of the more appropriate editorial cartoons would be a long line of cyclists, all dressed in full team gear, helmets, the works. There they are walking into the slaughterhouse on a sheep farm from which hangs the placard "Chris King, Inc.". The cyclists all have thick money clips protruding from rear jersey pockets as they enter the building. The next frame shows the cyclists exitting the building, jersey pockets torn loose, sans any money but the cyclists are now covered in Chris King tatoos.

Ok, maybe that's a cheap shot but good lord, >$100 for a headset? With huge logos no-less? Come on folks, don't be a sheep. My Legend has eclipsed the 80k mile mark on its original Chorus hs. 2nd set of bearings at around 40k just because a mechanic had a fresh set for free and and he would install them. I observed the races at said time, they lacked any pitting, scoring, nothing. I have serviced the bearings with fresh grease every 6k or there abouts, the races still look fresh as new. Redline GL2 grease may be of some help but the $50 Chorus hs is one of the great values in today's WAAAAAY over inflated pricing structure. No one will ever convince me or any other rational human being with just a smidge of fiscal responsibility that a CK is worth a dime over $50. In fact if the CK were $50, I'd still buy the Chorus on looks alone. BTW: I have a Campy NR threaded hs with over 100k miles and I don't recall ever changing its loose bearings, its still every bit as smooth as a fresh Chorus, CK or any other hs ever produced. Any hs is fine, the cheaper the better although the Stronglight roller bearing units feel less smooth, ime.

Ride on!

[mavic1010]

How the heck do you have shimano sante on an ottrott st? Unless you ordered an ottrott with 1 inch headtube and using a threaded fork...

Or am I missing some part of the joke?

[Roy E. Munson]

BigMac,

I couldn't agree with you more? It's a headset, for God's sake. I've had numerous different headsets on different bikes with no problems with any.

[eddief]

Chucks bikes hadem for about $20 a while back. The Rex has one of these installed and when I asked it what kind of headset it wanted, it said it would feel the best if it could just be an understated bitchen bike and not too gaudy of a blown-money trend setter. So I bought him an FSA. We're both happy and don't go to sleep at night pining for a Chris King.

My Bacchetta Corsa came with an FSA too and it just gets on down the road with the best of them. Believe me, the headset will be the least of your worries when you are learning how to ride your first bent.

[saab2000]

Mavic 1010 - sorry, but yes, you are missing part of the joke. I am afraid I have neither a Pinarello nor an Ottrott. In fact, I do not even own a Santé headset. Just a little bit of exageration there for the peanut gallery. Santé has not been made for years.

But, folks, I will confess that I do own 2 Chris King headsets. Why? Because I feel as though I have been burned in the past with Campagnolo headsets. And I am an avid Campagnolo user and have been for 20 years. I have owned several which became pitted after only a few hundred miles. They were properly installed and the surfaces into which the cups were placed were faced correctly.

Maybe they did not used to be as good as they are now. Anyway, the headsets on those bikes were replaced with Shimano 600 cartridge bearing headsets and have survived for years with NEVER needing a single adjustment.

In 2002 I purchased an Anvil from Don Ferris. It was my first experience with threadless headsets. I had Don deliver the bike with the Chris King headset and have never looked back. Last year he built a new fork for me for another bike I own. I decided to go threadless and went with CK again. Why? Because I know that it will work forever and I do not know if Campagnolo will work forever.

I wish I knew that, because I like to keep my bikes "whole" is it were. Meaning that I like to have as much of a complete groupset as possible. I am tempted to go with a Record headset on my Strong which will be arriving shortly. But why? I like to simply have a bike which works and I know that my CK headset will work. Period.

[jerk]

once again the jerk and big mac agree!!!! the chris king is about the trashiest ugliest headset the jerk has ever seen.. big american looking bubble letters...dumb bulbous round shape looks horrible on everyhting except maybe a full suspension mountain bike. the jerk is sure it works great but..if you want to spend WAY too much on a hset the tiso joe magnesium is really the only way to go...euro cool...heres the spec:

Headset 1" - 1"1/8 - integrated 45°, for road in magnesium covered in diamond powder, cnc made with nr. 2 bidirectional angular contact sealed bearings, with expander in ergal (cod.126).

Weigth: 67 g

price: a cool $299.99

other wise just get a chorus.....

[Kevin]

Chris King Ti. Put it in and forget about it. It will last forever. I had a Campy Record that lasted only about a year.

Kevin

[SBash]

I disagree with the Jerk & Bigmac, personally i think Chris King has the best headset out there and if you have a $2000 to $5000 bike whats a $100 for a headset. You spend more than that on tires. Now that being said there are many good headsets ( FSA, Chorus, Cane Creek, Dura-Ace, Ritchey, Stronglight ) but Kings are the best. I had a auto repair and bike shop for years and look at a headset as being your steering gear box or rack & pinion. After working on thousands of bikes Chris King are the only headsets i have not had to replace in repair. Also most important you should re-face your headtube when replacing or upgrading your headset. Even when the frame is new.

SB

[hooverone]

When someone makes a great product and stands behind it people take notice.

From what I have read Chris King makes their headset to last a lifetime.


Jim

[Jeff N.]

Exactly. The CK headset are for riders who except nothing less than the very finest components on their machines. Where headsets are concerned, Chris King is the "gold standard". Their hubs are fabulous too, albeit a bit on the noisey side. Jeff N.

[Too Tall]

I remember the Sante headsets are being pretty light, yes? Anyway the answer is no comparision yet either will work fine. CK will probably require ZERO maintenance for a few yrs. vs repack twice a season...if you ride alot and you can order CK in Red/Silver/Blue or Rasta and rest easy at night knowing the CK factory recycles all their industrial wastes and answer the phone and contribute to industry collaboration. What a bunch of bloody tree huggers! WONK.

Saab. Babe. YOU LIVE IN SWITZERLAND!!! (I'm still not over it).

[Ozz]

I believe you can order CK's without the logos (if they offend your sense of subtlety).

[Kevan]

Headsets either work or they don't. There's not a lick of performance enhancement to be offered between a $40 model or a $120 high-zoot version. I ain't never heard tell of one blowing, causing an accident, yet. Wear is gradual. You'll know when it's time to visit the lbs. Umm.. that's a good thing.

[djg]

it's not as if the (considerably cheaper) chorus is going to diminish the performance of your bike. Properly installed, it will work just fine (let's just say: the same).

I've got a Chris King hs on one bike and a record on another and, while I appreciate the way the king is made, I cannot tell a darn bit of difference in what they do and I have not had any problems with the record in more than two years of use. In fact, I haven't tended to have problems with headsets over the years--campag, stronglight, cane creek, whatever--some of which got quite a few more than just a couple years worth of use.