worth it or not

Yep

yes – definitely.

yup! Took mine apart Saturday (8 months old) and still silky smooth and dry and clean etc. I had to cut the steerer (got round to it eventually). Lovely piece of kit IMHO 🙂

Cheers all

It'll stay on the new bike's build list then

Yep, only opened it after 18 months and grease was clean, and bike gets ridden 2-3 times a week in all sorts.

Split crown race was handy when I changed forks too and contrary to popular belief, doesn't seem to let any crap in.

yup just swapped mine into the 3rd frame bought it in 04… only gripe is the anodizing isnt too hard wearing if you have a cable touching it, it wears the anodizing in one ride..

That said if your on a budget you can save quite a few quid and still get great service from a £20 headset.

#Hope make decent kit shocker#

😉

nope – pass and go straight to King

nope – pass and go straight to King

Why? Do you work for CK? 😆

Hope anything worth the money?

Nope.

Nope sofaT, had two Hope's.

King is more bling I guess and you used to be able to buy them at a similar price to a Hope.. its no better though, but I did find my gripe about anodizing on the Hope wasnt the case on the King.

edit but not now +£15 for a King….

Buy Superstar if you got an anodizing fetish, or an FSA if you haven't and spend the £35-40 extra on upgrading a part you notice more difference on, like a carbon seatpost or bars.

Or you still cant go wrong with the Hope.

King good stuff but twice the money.
Also good if u have low self esteme and feel the need to have the right label showing.
To match your underpants

Do Chris King make underpants?

2 x hope headsets. Both lasted less than 18mths before the top bearing packed up. Both let in crap very quickly. If you are buying hope then consider any other cheap headset for £15-£20 range (Ie replaceable).

Otherwise buy a new or second hand King headset. Really are good

King HS? Pah!

If you have an XTR cassette, I'll be far more impressed.

My Hope headset is 5 years old 3 bikes later and only just had the bearing seals off for a regrease.

Oh and I bought it second hand off here 😀

If chris king took horses s**t and put
there name on it, you would have the lemmings on her buying it! Lol.

My old hope one was sihte, dont know what the new ones are like.

My FSA orbit MX has lasted 2 years and one bearing is starting to feel quite rough. I've just bought another off CRC for £25. Bargain. The double seals seem to keep the dirt out pretty well

My hope has lasted 3 frames and 4 years so far, everything from winter commuting to filthy off-road, and I've not touched it. I'd only pay more for the chris king if I was bothered about the anodising quality, as the hope colours (not black or silver) seem to fade, whereas I've not seen a faded King.

My hope semi integrated headset (same internals as the others) has been about two years with not a single hiccup. Grease was still white when I opened it up last year. This is on a bike that's done motorway speeds in the rain.

Man, people really hate Chris King don't they! I don't really get the distinction between them and other expensive brands, but hey everyone's allowed their opinion.

I don't have a Hope headset, so can't comment – but I am a big fan of their hubs and brakes.

I do have a CK headset though, it was £80 at my lbs and the manager there, Rob Lee (Manager of Team Iron Horse extreme and Hope sponsored rider) talked me into it. He said, that at 24 hours races, they just jet wash all the bikes as its the only way to get the ready quick enough and afterwards have to rebuild everything (hubs, etc) apart from the headsets, which don't need touching… he said that in his experience the 10 year is not needed as they last longer – even with bad treatment.

I still wasn't 100% I needed one, but he gave me a personal guarentee that it'd last 15 years (he's a mate so I trust him!). Anyway, I worked out the cost against the FSA (which I've got on my other bike and does a good job!) and figured if he was half way right, it'd save me money…

Anyway, just thought I'd share that as it changed my mind – previously I wouldn't have contemplated spending more than £25 on a headset (FSA).

Admittedly it is pretty too, but I also got it fitted upside down… don't know why really, just didn't want to look like I was taking it all too seriously!

(P.S. Please don't insult me too much – I'm only a girl!)

MountainMonkey – I dont think people hate CK – I don't, but I think when I can buy something thats good for a fraction of the cost then I will! I have no doubt that CK headsets are well sealed but I also think that some people are not fitting the right amount of spacer in their Hope headsets and water is getting in – wether that or they are jet washing it too much?

Yeah, my '08 Hope is so well sealed I actually have a hard job prizing it open such is the tightness of the rubber seals.

Mind you, all of my hope kit except the skewers have been the ultimate fit and forget. Skewers chew up the brass nuts a bit quick if you ride in crap weather and have to remove your wheels every ride to put bike in car.

I've a King.
Fantastically smooth.
Admittedly bought as finishing touch for my FS.
Call me a bike tart if you like but its my money.
I paid £45 s/h off here.
Bargain if I get 10yrs out of it.

Also have a Hope, ok but not worth the extra over the Cane Creek S3 thats done a good few years service now.
Washing bikes upside down kills headsets.
As does aiming water jets straight at them.

They are good, mine is clean as a whistle 2 years on and no play. However the Orbit XL11 that it replaced lasted 4 years without fault for a fraction of the money.

no, not worth it.

there seems to be a mindset on here that 'itshopeitsbritishitsbrilliant'

i'm a bit more cynical, it's less well sealed than a cane creek s3, i can SEE past the 'seals' on my hope headset.

no end of muck/grit ends up inside it.

A CK HS will almost certainly creak if you want to use it on a 29er no matter how well fitted, especially if used with a long travel fork.

Hope will not – their centering lock design works, so defo worth the money from that point of view

The shims on the Hope seal the rubber bearing seal

I just bought my 2nd Hope headset lest week – I think they are excellent and very good value for money. My other one is on another bike.

Race Face on the other hand are cr@p and very overpriced.

there seems to be a mindset on here that 'itshopeitsbritishitsbrilliant'

i'm a bit more cynical, it's less well sealed than a cane creek s3, i can SEE past the 'seals' on my hope headset.

I can only say what I've experienced! I ride more than "most" mountain bikers and the itshopeitsbritishitsbrilliant and itsorangeitsbritishitsbrilliant bits that form my bike just troops on always doing the job. There seems to be a mentality on here that's equally opposite that's itshopeitsbritisheveryonelovesitbutiknowsomeonewhohadonefailandbeingexpensiveitmustbearipoff or something to that effect.

Nicely put GaryLake!

Time will out the truth! 😉

I'm sure I read on Hope's site that the bearings are Cane Creek anyhow – think it was on their exploded diagrams that they inadvertantly published the bearing manufacturer – possibly for the MK1, I've had both and found them to be not so good – worn them out basically.

I so wish that Hope would make a headset to rival King – I'd buy it for the quality and not because it's British. Obviously I'd prefer to buy home grown. If we buy because it's British alone, then the product could become like British Leyland of the past, relying on loyal customers and not bringing their product up to the standards of the best of the competition – ultimately it will fail! Don't get me wrong, I've plenty of Hope products, brakes and hubs on my bikes which I am very pleased with but, the headsets just aren't worth the money. They are near King price and no where near the quality. I did have one Hope headset last three years until it crapped out, I've a 8-9 year King which is silky smooth still, and another second hand on my other bike.

How much of the Hope headset is British – the cups and spacers is my guess, maybe some rubber seals. Certainly the case on the mk1's. ?

I have a brand new, unused, take off 2009 Hope headset in Black I'll sell for £10 less than CRC if you are after one…

It came off a brand new Orange but I already had a headset for it and was replacing a lot of other parts off it anyway…

Old ones no, new ones yes.

Don't think so myself… Neither Hope not King. They're perfectly good but you can get 2 FSA Orbit MXs for the same price, and IMO they're every bit as good.

I treated myself to a hope h/s last year. Lower bearing lasted about 8 months before it was gravelly and needed replacing. I don't use my full suss all that much so I wasn't too impressed at needing to spend more on it within a year. I'll buy CK next.

Doubt you can go wrong with cane creek, hope, king or fsa. if you want bling its gotta be reset racing.