Headsets?

[eskimo]

Used the search and found generoud amounts of material. But as it goes i'm not sure on spending £60+ on a King headset.

King are light, come in great colours, steel and have a great warranty. What am i moaning about, get one! But they have quite a large stack height.

Anyhow what else is out there?

The Pig, an awesome lower setup but the top cup isn't. Simple really, what upper bit to use?

So what else? (no deng), they don't cut it for a few reasons. Don't even bother arguing as it's isn't exactly slim.

What about them Crank Brother's headsets?

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

Really just depends on how much you want to spend. To me a headset will always be a 'disposable' part- They are just cups and bearings and for that I don't like paying loads when something costing £20 will do the job perfectly for a few years by which time I'll change the frame and just get a new one.

First thing, King's aren't steel. They're available in steel (and titanium for the ultra bling) but the standard NoThreadSet in the pretty colours are all alloy. King's are brilliantly made bits of kit, but for to machined cups and a set of bearings at the end of the day you're primarily paying for the name. I got one for 'free' (insurance claim), but sold it with my python frame as it was green and bought a C2 instead. Couldnt tell the difference in function.

For me pigs are also just too overbuilt. I used to run one in my BMX and it's a good, solid piece... but for trials that's just overkill.

I've used a Cane Creek C2 in the past and found it perfectly usable- very light and functional and am currently using an FSA Orbit Equipe on my Inspired which at £22 is bargainous for what seems to be a really well put together, solid headset.

Your call at the end of the day... if you're after 'quality', don't forget the Tensile and Hope units, although both seem to have quite a big stack height also.

[eskimo]

Yeah i'm not fully sold on the King as there are still some issues lurking about but i think it's user error.

I'm not sold on the Hope either. However the Tensile looks promising.

Needle bearings anyone?

[Gandalf the Yellow]

tensile has ceramic bearings.

clearly better than any other out there at the moment for the price? personally im a king user, and yes there's absolutely no differences, its just bling and name.

i don't know the technical side of things on ceramic bearings, all i know is DTswiss use them on their 190 hubs, its bound to be better right?

steve

[forteh]

Ive got an old fsa orbit extreme (at least 8 years old now I think) and its absolutely spot on, pretty low stack height and still smooth

Ive used it for all sorts from xc/downhill/trials/jump and its still going strong.

I dont think theyre made anymore but this is the closest Ive found.

This might also be worth looking at, pretty cheap aswell

[AdamR28]

The advantages to ceramic bearings are lower rolling resistance, less need for grease and lighter (by about the same as a small housefly).... disadvantages are lower static load capacity (more brittle than steel).

Out of Hope, Tensile and King I chose the Hope - easy to get spares, split wedges top and bottom, adjustable seal preload, lots of colours

For less money the FSA Orbit Equipe is awesome.

[Joe Papasnap Maher]

I got myself one of these..

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/111104.html

Ive had all headsets..pigs, kings, c2's.

But this ritchey..although cheap..is of a really good build quality. Super Impressed with it.

[andyb]

Chris King is spot on.

Andy B

[esfrost]

I have an FSA Orbit for more than 3 years now, it works very well, never had any problem with it, there is only one negative point about it, a bit heavy.

[Alex Dark]

fsa orbit, or fsa pig ....end of they are both amazing budget headsets...that really dont feel budget in the slightest

[Caleb]

ive always liked hope and have used a lot in my time.

[sstein]

I have had an FSA Pig on my 4X rig for a while now and it is an absoloutely, unbelievably good headset, especially for the price. They are so good in fact that I have decied to invest on putting one on each of my bikes (I have 5). The upper bearings may not be as good as the lowers, but they don't need to be as the lowers take all the srtain and forces of allowing the forks to move, whereas the uppers have no real strain as they only need to allow the spacers and top seals to move. Go for one of them, it won't let you down.

[Tomm]

FSA Orbit XLII or skypilot. All the headset you'll ever need.

[eskimo]

I found a headset in the end. The Cane Creek budget as hell one of Tarty. £10 posted it was.

Not sure on the weight, about 150 grams?

Steel cups and super super low profile! The bearings are standard cage bearings, the same size as the FSA Pig upper cup. The cups aren't all that shallow either which is what i wanted. Runs smooth and has some cheap plastic seals which fit nice and snug.

I'm really not going to bother with any of the flash headsets any more. To be fair the alloy ones just deform so easy, and i've noticed the bearings going in my C2 as well. So yeah, this is the best headset i've used so far. The bearings might go fairly quickly but i think they should be fine as it's on the bmx.

[AdamR28]

The bearings might go fairly quickly but i think they should be fine as it's on the bmx.

Should be ok with regular greasing... Janson's had one for a looonngg time. It's the same headset that comes in the Koxx bikes, they haven't had a problem in 7 years!!

[basher]

I found a headset in the end. The Cane Creek budget as hell one of Tarty. £10 posted it was.

Not sure on the weight, about 150 grams?

Steel cups and super super low profile! The bearings are standard cage bearings, the same size as the FSA Pig upper cup. The cups aren't all that shallow either which is what i wanted. Runs smooth and has some cheap plastic seals which fit nice and snug.

I'm really not going to bother with any of the flash headsets any more. To be fair the alloy ones just deform so easy, and i've noticed the bearings going in my C2 as well. So yeah, this is the best headset i've used so far. The bearings might go fairly quickly but i think they should be fine as it's on the bmx.

Ive had to of these headsets my first went with my frame when i sold it and there mint. Im a keen front wheel gapper and used them for a couple of months and is still fairly smooth and are strong. DOnt see the point splashing out when you can spend a tenner and it does the job.