I can use my CK headset for 5 years and then sell it for about £45, which at current Aspire Velotech prices means it would have cost me less than £38. And that's assuming I bought it new in the first place. To my mind, cost isn't a reason not to buy CK.

Consider the FSA Orbit Xtreme Pro (1+1/8 only) at £16 with coupon EM33OUTLAW at Planet-X On-One clearance section.
It has stainless bearings and a solid stainless crown race.
FSA website claims a 10-year warranty.

They just last for a VERY VERY long time, which makes them good value

I've got a cheapo Tange headset that's about 16 years old and still fine. I give it a clean and a bit of grease about once a year. Think it cost about £12-15 new. Possibly less.

The reason Chris King headsets have the reputation that they have is because they have been performing brilliantly for years.

Doing what? A recital of Mendelssohn's 'Fingal's Cave'? A long run in 'The Mousetrap?

Cheeze, it's a headset. Not some finely-tuned instrument.

Elfinsafety,

You keep your cheapo Tange headset.

And while I'm listening to "Fingal's Cave", you can carry on listening to "The Birdy Song"

I, too, have heard stories of chris kings scoring through steerer tubes slowly and can in the end lead to failure.

As many others have said ive got a cane creek S3 and am perfectly happy with it. I reckon ive done around 1000 miles on it so far come rain or shine (or snow) and the bottom bearing is a little grittier than the top one. Only paid £25 from CRC which was nice aswell.

You keep your cheapo Tange headset.

And while I'm listening to "Fingal's Cave", you can carry on listening to "The Birdy Song"

No, no, I'll be listening to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, while you listen to Phil Collins.

So there.

How about that one, eh? Ha!

Chris King have the benefit of American hyper-marketing sales pitch.

Hope are understated British and just as good, if not better.

Didn't stop me getting a Ti CK headset though. THe USP is that you can't see it's a CK until you are gasping up a hill and your breath brings out the subtle etching of the name. 🙂

I, too, have heard stories of chris kings scoring through steerer tubes slowly and can in the end lead to failure.

I heard of plenty of people saying their steerer has scored with them but I've never heard of a steerer failure – any links?

elfin, the point being how many old insert-cheap-brand-here headsets are going strong as a proportion of how many were sold (or even just in absolute terms) and compare that with CK?

Most CK headsets I know of are kept by their owners longer than frames. I've got 5yr old CK's on both my bikes and they are absolutely perfect and could be sold as new. I appreciate an annual clean and a regrease isnt a hassle (I am a compulsive fettler) but having once taken a CK apart to to re-grease it, I'll probably never bother again. I appreciate the quality of materials and manufacture from both an aesthetic and a mechanical perspective, and when you spread the cost over its life I think it offers better value than many other bike parts.

None of my (aluminium) steerers has ever been marked, either.

I have a Chris King Headset on my S-Works 7 years old, and still going strong. Great bit of Kit IMO!

If my Cannondale flash didn't have a lefty fork, then that would have had one fitted ASAP too.

The bearings in CK headsets are without doubt the best I've seen, as per most of the comments above they cope well with neglect and seem to last forever.

…but the lack of a wedge in the topcap means that you are hoping that whoever made your forks works to the same levels of precision with the steerer tube that CK do with the cap, which they probably don't. One guy I know had a creaking front end that only went quiet after he greased his top cap and steerer.

It always makes me chuckle that they talk about how precise the whole thing is but rely on an soft, bendy, deform-with-age o-ring to take up the gap between the cap and the fork.

I'm quite happy with my (non OEM) FSA orbit extreme pro, 5 years old and been in 3 frames, not felt the need to regrease it yet and no play creaking or rust . 😛 Just don't get me started on Cane Creek.