What is reasonable expectancy? The headset/bearings were new in June but already they are grumbling/rough feeling. I never had this on (admittably) sealed bearings on my 8yr+ King headset.

Can I buy a replacement (bottom tapered) from a bearing shop or is the price too close to hopes?

Based on three I’ve got that have been on multiple bikes (and multiple fork changes), forever – or at least for 6 years as that is how long I’ve had the longest one.

a couple of years at least

Seven years so far for mine – though the lower one is not so smooth anymore. Are you sure they are correctly assembled? Might be worth checking the Hope site for a diagram as mine has many parts, not all of which had been placed in the right order by the LBS. if you don’t get anywhere from your post on here then give Hope a call – doubt they would see 6 months as acceptable either.

The lower ones on my Rune don’t last very well at all. They don’t seem that well sealed…whenever I take mine apart there is loads of grit etc between the race and the bearing. The seal on the race seems pretty lightweight to me. The bearings lasts even less time when I was using the step down adapter for 1 1/8th forks.

My first one lasts about eight months. The current one is a year old but feels a bit nailed.

To be honest, I don’t think much of their headsets if I’m honest.

Seven years so far for mine – though the lower one is not so smooth anymore. Are you sure they are correctly assembled? Might be worth checking the Hope site for a diagram as mine has many parts, not all of which had been placed in the right order by the LBS. if you don’t get anywhere from your post on here then give Hope a call – doubt they would see 6 months as acceptable either.

They will warranty it but when I spoke to them they wanted the bearing back with the headset cup which I thoght was too much of a faff given how much a replacement bearing was.

Around 6 years without any fresh grease, then moved to new bike, still going strong another 2 years.

On my new tapered fork theres a lovely little rubber seal all round to further weather proof which is a nice touch.

Years here. Was it Santa Cruz did the extended bearing test and found that it depended on washing/riding frequency:

1. Bikes ridden frequently and washed frequently – excellent bearing life
2. Bikes ridden frequently and washed infrequently – very good bearing life
3. Bikes ridden infrequently and cleaned after every ride – kills bearings

Even a small amount of water left to sit is bad news. just saying like.
Was it fitted professionally?

I have a hope headset ( 1 1/8″) I installed on my Litespeed in July 2008. it is still as smooth as the day put it in.

It comes under category 2 in boxelder’s list

4 years up to now in my 2010 5. The only issue I’ve had was a ‘click’ when turning the bars which I thought was a cable/frame noise. Took the bearings out & cleaned the cups & all’s been well since.

Frames headtube is faced, headset fitted by me. The bikes ridden twice a week with only the drivetrain washed due to the areas gritstone. Pull the forks every 3 months when I change forks 8)

Mechanically I have a very good record with parts; only ride one MTB. Rear mech lasted 12yrs. The previous chainset (1st gen Saint) 6yrs, prev shimano brakes (before replacing with slx) the same.

They’re stainless, so won’t rust. That leaves lack of lubrication or incorrectly adjusted as the primary wear factors. Both are user driven.

Pop both seals off, flush with degreaser, rinse, dry, regrease and reseal.

They last for years with the occasional bit of maintenance.

Mine only lasted a few months before it started to feel notchy, installed and adjusted correctly. Spoke to Hope and they were a bit meh.

There is nothing special about the Hope bearings regarding sealing, they’re just a stainless 2RS bearing. I removed the shields, flushed the bearings out and repacked them with grease and they have been fine for the past few months.

The one I had on my old frame killed it’s lower bearing pretty quickly. 1 bearing/year. when I came to pull the first one, it came apart. I bought another bearing and stuffed it in there, thinking maybe the tolerances of the original bearing and the cup were just adding up against me, but this one was the same. I think the cup was undersized. I killed the frame after that so it all became a bit irrelevant.
I like Hope stuff but I’m not convinced their QC is all that TBH.

Old 1-1/8th one went in 3 different frames all on same bearings and was sold still in frame with bearings still sweet, that was about 4 years of life in them.

Have the tapered version at the moment about 18 months old and still sweet (admittedly not rode as much as usual this year but no reason to suspect they’d be any the worse if I had).

Mechanically I have a very good record with parts; only ride one MTB. Rear mech lasted 12yrs. The previous chainset (1st gen Saint) 6yrs, prev shimano brakes (before replacing with slx) the same.

No one’s going to believe that you kept parts that long.

Doesn’t it depend on whether you shim them properly?

I tend not to shim Hope headsets, but if you do you are probably reducing the sealing of the cups.

Had one on a bike for 3 years. Went rough, so put it in the box of crap box. Built a commuter 2 years later, cleaned the bearings and fitted. 2 years later, still smooth and wont touch it until it goes iffy. For once with a Hope product, I cant ‘really’ complain…..

Pretty much the same as any other decent headset, year or so unless you service them, longer if you do, varying depending on usage

If you need to replace them and it’s a straight steerer one, the bearings are the same as Cane Creek’s IS etc for less than Hope, and seem functionally identical. Which also means that super cheap ones can be bought from Superstar etc. There’s probably a cheap alternative for tapered/1.5 ones as well but never had to find that out

The greatape look at my bike fs’s- stems frames and forks. Everything else gets worn out. Wheels battered.

I simply don’t believe you 🙂

Mad isn’t it. The majority of stw’ers run N+1. I run one workhorse

Seem to have forgotten about your road bike there old chap.

^ as mentioned I’m talking about mtb’s.

Have a spare set not needed yet bike was built up at the end of 2008.Bearings sound.

About 15 months so far with no issues.

I’ve got a set on my One9 SS and I’ve yet to touch it with any kind of grease.. 3 years in and a helluva lot of muddy rides under it’s wheels..

How would one go about shimming a headset. genuinely interested as never heard of this before

I agree with Boxelder, if it’s part of a fleet and ridden infrequently, it’ll die quickly. Mine lasted 4months.

How would one go about shimming a headset. genuinely interested as never heard of this before

Hope headsets come with 3 very thin metal shims. Supposed to be used to reduce drag iirc, never felt the need for them so never fitted and never had an issue.

I have two. The oldest is near ten year old,the other 3 1/2.
Never changed the bearings .still smooth.

Had to clean and repack the SS Hope Headset bearings after a year of it being hung up and they were full of muddy coloured dried out grease….rebuilt the bike and they’re fine……5 hard muddy years use prior to seizure.

Hora, what frame is it on? My last road bike had a funky curve between head and downtime that used to funnel flicked rain water straight into the lower race bearings, they used to last half a year with luck, regardless of what i did to them.

The fix was a small neoprene band, like a Marsh guard but wrapped around bottom of head tube with the middle tongue part obstructing the flow of shit into the bearings.

Reckon mine’s on about year 9, admittedly it’s had a fairly easy life but can’t fault it…

Hora, what frame is it on?

Currently, or last week? 🙂

Bought newin June to go on my Butcher (which was powder coated recently ).

Tbh the Hope wheel bearings give up quite quickly too. I think its partly down to wet gloopy gritstone.