This is for those who have first hand experience of Chris King headsets, so please no hearsay or conjecture.
Have you had the headset scoring the fork steerer tube?
Did you have the headtube faced before installation?
Did this occur on a steel or aluminium steerer?
Bike Forum
[closed]
King Headset scoring: fact or myth?
-
Posted 4 years ago #
-
I've got 4 bikes with Chris King Headsets and never seen an issue with scoring. One of the steerers is a carbon one too. None are what you'd call long travel either.
Posted 4 years ago # -
yes
yes
aluminium steerer, 160mm forksPosted 4 years ago # -
never happened with 100mm or 130mm forks though and those 160mm forks are fairly heavily ridden
Posted 4 years ago # -
Never had it happen to me. Same CK headset on a Reba (ali steerer) and a Thor (again ali steerer). Headsets been used on 3 bikes, and never faced any of the headtubes.
Don't doubt it happens, don't know whether I'm convinced that it's a failure of King's design though.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes
Yes
Aluminium Pikes 140mmPosted 4 years ago # -
Yes, yes , aluminium steerer on several forks , mainly 100mm travel Rockshox. Saw this happen regularly back when i was a shop mechanic.
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's never happened to me on 130mm forks on XC bike or 200mm triples on freeride bike (same headset). I don't know if it's happened to my jump bike but my handlebars haven't snapped off yet, so that's OK.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes. Yes. Alu.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes on both my bikes, Turner 5 spot with Pikes & Chromag Samurai with Pikes.
Yes they were both faced.
Aluminium steerers on both (Pike 454 u-turn) Don't really run them above 130mm, only very occasionally are they wound out to the full 140mm.Now ditched the Kings on both bikes and running Cane Creek S8s with no problems whatsoever.
Posted 4 years ago # -
happened to me too - quite badly on a set of RC40 Fighters and starting on a set of Marz AMSLs before I got rid of it
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes, Yes, Alu 150mm
Yes, Yes, Alu 130mm
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes
No
Alu 150mmPosted 4 years ago # -
I have 3 CK headsets and none of them have scored the steerer, 2 of the bikes have had the headtube faced the other not. All steerers alu.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes, Yes, Alu 140mm
Yes, Yes, Alu 130mm
Won't run a king on more than 100mm travel now.
Posted 4 years ago # -
No
NoOne is a cotic with 130mm revelations
The other is a whyte with 150 mm Mavericks, which I guess is a safe bet, seeing as they don't have a steerer as such to start with....
Posted 4 years ago # -
Used CK with:
Reba's 115mm
Pace RC-31's
Marzocchi Bombers 115mmon 3 differeent frames, never face, no scoring
Posted 4 years ago # -
Seen a few in the workshop. All with longer travel forks. Not seen any really deep scoring, but once it happens it means the top race of the headset stays 'loose'. Wouldn't use one myself, the original Ahead design is much better.
Posted 4 years ago # -
yes
yes
on my magura durin and sids 100mm
seen it on longer travel forks alsoPosted 4 years ago # -
Faced frame
160mm forks
3 years, no scoring, but then I've always been careful to make sure that there is grease between the top race and steerer.Posted 4 years ago # -
Have you had the headset scoring the fork steerer tube?
Yes
Did you have the headtube faced before installation?
Yes
Did this occur on a steel or aluminium steerer?
Steel170mm travel
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes
Yes
Alu100mm
Is it really a problem? Mine have only ever been lightly scored....
Posted 4 years ago # -
yes
yesrs pikes alu steerer
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes and yes.
On both carbon and alu steerer tubes.It's never been an issue, the scoring isn't bad and it's not affected the headset or fork in any way.
Posted 4 years ago # -
No scoring, used on 3 frames, with travel up to 160mm.
However, I have found yesterday that the inside of the lower cup is heavily scored on the inside on one side. It appears my steerer has scored my King headset!
My LBS, also say they've never seen it (are a CK stockist)
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yep i have it, doesn't bother me in the slightest..Was faced, 150mm alu steerer
And for those unlike tj who can't see stress colours
Posted 4 years ago # -
If I was really worried about this I'd go out to the garage and strip one of my five (well one belongs to the wife really) CK equipped bikes to check for damage, but its cold out there and I can't be arsed.
Anyway is that really scoring or just cosmetic marking?Posted 4 years ago # -
you can barely feel it with your nail
Posted 4 years ago # -
Does the mark line up with the o-ring in the top cap?
Posted 4 years ago # -
yep
Posted 4 years ago # -
Took my Pikes off my hardtail on Sunday and can't say I notices and scoring.
Can't see it being an issue if it did. It's not likely to eventually cut through is it!
Posted 4 years ago # -
I wonder if its due to dirt getting trapped between the o-ring and the steerer and marking the steerer if there's a small amount of play present, the o-ring itself shouldn't be hard enough to mark the steerer on its own.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Got a CK, had it in two frames both faced, both fitted with either Reba's 100mm or Revs 130mm. Both had badly scored tubes.
Posted 4 years ago # -
when my fox forks got scored by the headset it was probably about half a mil deep. I was happy riding them up to a point, but once I realised it was continuing to grow, I binned the headset.
Posted 4 years ago # -
no issues on a carbon road steerer, regular use over 4 years. same fork, same headset, inspected a couple of times and all well and good.
"due to dirt getting trapped between the o-ring and the steerer and marking the steerer if there's a small amount of play present"
it probably is...
Posted 4 years ago #
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.
