I need a couple of headsets. Wiggle has FSA Pigs at 16 quid but are they any good or does anyone have a reasonably priced alternative?

They’re as good as any other headset if that’s the price you’re looking at.

I’m okay with spending a little more but I’m wondering if cheap is cheap and I’m not getting good stuff so just live with it.

the Cane Creek S8 is a good budget buy. Not sure what the price is at the moment though

£20ish by the looks of it.

the Cane Creek S8 is a good budget buy. Not sure what the price is at the moment though

I just got one from here;

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/100918.html

for £26. Seems OK?

ebay linky

that advert is a bit weird though, as he goes on and on about steel and stainless steel, so take it with a pinch of salt by all means.

I’ve an S8 and its grand. You need to be careful what bearings it comes with because as far as I’m aware its exactly the same as the S3 except it has stainless bearings.

The stainless bearings have a grey seal, the non stainless have a blue seal. I’ve seen loads of sellers on ebay selling ‘S-8s’ but with the blue seal pictured. I bought a spare stainless set of bearings from ebay and confirmed that they were stainless, the seller admitted they were ‘because he swaps them over’… sounded a bit dodgy to me! I bought mine from Merlin for £25, its been fine.

FSA Orbit XL II. Not super cheap but bearings are easily replaceable and last ages…

Dare I say superstar components, I’ve been impressed with mine!

[runs out to check the colour of his S8 bearings….]

OEM S8’s are less well sealed than proper ones, as well as having non-stainless bearings. I bought a couple of S8’s off merlin that turned out to be OEM ones, that was a while ago though, maybe they are selling proper ones now…

I’ve used pigs for ages – you just need to show them some love every so often.

I’ve got an S3 on one of my bikes and it’s great, a full winter of grime and no complaints.

Need another for the pitch as the OE one is a bit dodgy to say the least