Rattley cheap headset on one of my bikes needs to go.

I’m a bit off fan of Chris King headsets having had one for over 7 years without any complaints but they are rather expensive and Hope are excellent at customer service for lots on here as we’ll as myself.

At good (or bad) experiences with Hope headsets would be welcome.

for me the hopes have been fit and forget items
but then I do put CV joint grease in them when installing .

So long I’ve lost count. 8 years or so for mine.

7 years+ of abuse here and still running as smooth as the day it was fitted.

I’ve had hope headsets for around 10 years. Kept meaning to ‘upgrade’ to CK when the hope ones died. Still waiting…

do they ever wear out? I am running one that’s been on about 3 different bikes, still perfect as if it was a fresh purchase.

Great, Hope it is.. Nice to buy British too.

Thanks all.

My Hope Enduro on my cove stiffee is still perfect after 11-12 years and approx 20,000 miles. Still on the original bearings too.
Andy

I think they’re rubbish!
(Just providing some balance to the debate…)
😉

I had to replace the bearings in mine after about 3 years, new bearings still smooth after about 4 now though.

Just replaced the lower bearing after 5 years of abuse and no maintenance

10 years of abuse here. Still going strong.

I’ve either sold the bike/frame before the headset died.

Currently got hope on 2 bikes and both running perfectly after 2 years of abuse (infancy compared to some of you above!)

Do they wear out, possibly if fitted cack-handedly?

I’m sticking with Hope on all my builds from now on after trying one. Just being able to get any part easily is a huge plus and the split crown race means they are not a ball-ache to remove.

The original bearings are expensive and tbh I look after them so not sure I will use hope ones if/when they die but I can’t see that happening for a very long time as I protect them with grease behind the lower seal and a neoprene protector on 1.125″ ones (need to get one made for my tapered headset as it’s not a hope so doesnt have the seal)

ive had one on my road bike for nearly 3 weeks now and its fine.
seriously.
my wife offered to buy me a CK one for my birthday, but i actually felt that the hope one was equally good for about half the price.
ive had cheap headsets last 7+ years with regular grease and proper adjustment, so i fully expect this to last a lifetime.

I’m normally very critical of Hope, but the Hope headset which I bought in 2003 is on it’s second frame now and original bearings and is smooth as the day I bought it!

I’ve had one since June 2008, original bearings still. I noticed a slight bit of play on the last ride though. How many miles? who knows, thousands.

Mines been on three bikes and the last two I installed the headset using a chock of wood and a mallet. Not a problem.

Do any decent headsets wear out in the life of the bike if fitted properly and greased occasionally? I’ve never spent more than £20 on a headset and never had one wear out. Got 10 year old FSAs still going strong.

Only headset I’ve had wear out was old cage bearing style and was wrecked by my ignorance at the time of hosing down the bike, washing out the bearing grease.

Since had a a few other headsets, FSA, On One and Hope, and no issues with any. The FSA was replaced with the On One but only because I cannibalised the old bike to build a C456 and needed a different headset for the new frame.

So long as you have sealed bearings, keep the crud and more importantly water & degreasers out and fit everything correctly, they’ll last for yonks.

Bearings in the Hope seem absolutely identical to those in the £25 Cane Creek S8, and both have a similiar extra seal at the bottom. Can’t recall if my Hope had an extra seal on top or not. But all in all, the 2 seem functionally absolutely identical, just one costs about 2/3ths as much as the other.

You don’t have to spend a lot to get a fantastic headset.

About 5 years for mine now. It was feeling a bit rough last year, so I stripped it down, cleaned and re-greased hoping to eek it out anouth few months ~ been fine ever since 🙂

Oh, typo 🙂 Wrote 2/3ths, meant 2/5ths.

I’m normally very critical of Hope, but the Hope headset which I bought in 2003 is on it’s second frame now and original bearings and is smooth as the day I bought it!

Ditto, exactly my experience too. I’d go for CK every time though, or an FSA XL2 if in a budget