How does crank brothers hesdsets compare to CK? Actually just bought one. Good price too.
Anyone brooken one yet?
Bike Forum
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What's so good about Chris King Headsets?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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How does crank brothers hesdsets compare to CK?
Not used their headset, but if their other products are anything to go by, it'll look lovely and shiney, as well as being really light, and in 6 months time there'll be more peices than you started off with...
Posted 2 years ago # -
My Cane Creek S8 internal headset lasted 18 months before it was a pile of rusted parts.
CC110 has much better sealing, but the CKs on the remaining bike have all performed faultlessly for years.
If CK did an internal headset I'd have bought that.
They just work - faultlessly, flawlessly and endlessly. What more can you ask of a component?
They “may” score steerer tubes but, has anyone (other than that roadie picture) had a steerer fail? Anyone??
Posted 2 years ago # -
you can afford to stump up the lump sum in one go
For me this is the reason why i don't have one no matter how much better value it is over its life. i can't justify to my wife and kids spending that much on a head set (i had trouble wanting to spend nearly half of that on a chainset) just beacuse it will last me 10 years plus so settle for one that will last me if i regrease it every so often.
I do wonder on the internal head set thing if it just beacuse they can't put there name on it as they have only just done an bb now that you can see the cups.Posted 2 years ago # -
Im dragging this thread back up to the top
Im looking for info on regreasing the bearings on yet another seized hope headset,ive had a few and they always seem to pack up after about 4 years[from date of manufacture].So i buy another[All bought 2nd hand]
I have on my other bike[yeah only 2
]a chris king,its now 6 years old and still going strong.though i also bought that 2nd hand,before that i had a CK fitted,which ran for 9 yrs and was still going without any issues when i sold that bike on.
sorry ,back on track
This time ive decided to attempt to clean and regrease the bearings on my seized hope.
Ive removed the steel covers and the rubber gasket below.Put a whole tin of poundshop degreaser through both bearings and thats freed them up[thank god] but has left them feeling a bit lumps as i turn the inner section.Its the same after ive pumped fresh grease in[pace grease gun,absolutely invaluable over the years,whose got one ?]
Is this 'lumpiness' mean the bearings are completely shot to shit and new bearings really need to be fitted
Thank you all
Posted 1 year ago # -
New bearings needed, or:
FSA Orbit extreme - £15 from On-one. (probably sell the Hope for £15 as spares or repair?)
Posted 1 year ago # -
FSA Orbit extreme
Which, in my experience you'll need to replace in a year. I'd just go with getting new bearings for the hope one...
Posted 1 year ago # -
lol boxelder i was just about to post that
Posted 1 year ago # -
The reason Chris King headsets have the reputation that they have is because they have been performing brilliantly for years.
It may be that there are other headsets around now that are as good, or better value, but ten years ago there was nothing to compete with Chris King. Hence you won't find others that have lasted for 10 years.
I've had a Chris King headset on a bike for 10 years, have thoroughly thrashed it, never regreased it and it still works perfectly.
So why would anyone who has experienced that want to try something else? That is why Chris King has its reputation and still sells.
I also find it difficult to contemplate how a headset could be "better" than a Chris King, which to my mind seems about as flawlessly performing a bit of kit as ever I've come across.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Why do headsets need to be 'buttery smooth', I've got a six year old Hope with the original bearings and they're a bit grindy but you don't notice it when you're riding.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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"
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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!
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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?
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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.
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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