Headset recommendation
- Thread starter jgjones095
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jgjones095
Old School Hero
mdvineng":12he6qrz said:
Are you sure?
The description says:
FSA headsets are carefully engineered and updated to deliver the highest performance and value. Upper cup uses 5/32 x 22 caged ball bearings and the lower cup uses sealed cartridge bearing.
I was hoping for a models with sealed cartridge bearings in the top and bottom cups.
johndeverill
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
Those eBay ones are spot on....would never buy a branded aheadset again!
Those eBay ones are spot on....would never buy a branded aheadset again!
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Yes, does seem odd to state 'I've been away from cycling too long' then go and pooh pooh advice given
There are lots of good headsets but as its essentially two cups of aluminium (or steel) and some bearings/ surfaces it is hard to screw that up.
And given the price of many, you could buy a handful of the ebay ones and not have to worry for a few years. They appear to be well sealed and have so far survived my attempts to break one whilst out and about
The biggest issue seems to be water ingress, anything that can successfully keep that out is a winner especially if you do a lot of mud and snot.
Servicing other bikes seems to show roller bearing headsets fail quite quickly with bearing plates pitting badly if left in damp sheds, garages, most often its just plain old neglect from their owners.
johndeverill":172qkvwl said:
Yes, does seem odd to state 'I've been away from cycling too long' then go and pooh pooh advice given
There are lots of good headsets but as its essentially two cups of aluminium (or steel) and some bearings/ surfaces it is hard to screw that up.
And given the price of many, you could buy a handful of the ebay ones and not have to worry for a few years. They appear to be well sealed and have so far survived my attempts to break one whilst out and about
The biggest issue seems to be water ingress, anything that can successfully keep that out is a winner especially if you do a lot of mud and snot.
Servicing other bikes seems to show roller bearing headsets fail quite quickly with bearing plates pitting badly if left in damp sheds, garages, most often its just plain old neglect from their owners.
jgjones095
Old School Hero
Re:
Ebay or 'unbranded' is what I want to avoid as speaking from my experience of other items I've bought... not worth the time or hassle.
Anyway cheers for the advice all!
Ebay or 'unbranded' is what I want to avoid as speaking from my experience of other items I've bought... not worth the time or hassle.
Anyway cheers for the advice all!
Re:
I'm a bit of a brand snob thanks to my tears on here, tend to go Chris king or hope. That said, cane creek are decent and when you consider the cost difference they are good bang for buck. Never had one fail on me and they have a classic look.
I have done budget builds and there are the cheap easy options which are great for the £ but if you dont want to go that route, there are plenty of options.
I'm a bit of a brand snob thanks to my tears on here, tend to go Chris king or hope. That said, cane creek are decent and when you consider the cost difference they are good bang for buck. Never had one fail on me and they have a classic look.
I have done budget builds and there are the cheap easy options which are great for the £ but if you dont want to go that route, there are plenty of options.
johndeverill
Senior Retro Guru
Re: Re:
Hmm I'm without a doubt that the King bearings are probably better but I doubt they are using grades of aluminium that are any better than these headsets. At the end of the day it would be pretty pointless from a business perspective, speaking as a materials engineer, but they do state the aluminium is US sourced. They don't state the grade but you would have to use really poor aluminium for the cups to shear off. 6xxx is the most prevalent grade out there so the chinese ones are probably using that along with King. Then it comes down to the fact that the King bearings are now costing about £150 a set in that case. Even if they last the full 10 years, King warranty, the bearings in the chinese ones are well made, have good tolerance fit etc. At the end of the day you are supporting manufacture in the US (but if you are from the UK surely you should be buying Hope then!!) and they are extremely well made.
I guess it's like buying a suit from Armani or M&S...both good quality but you pays your money, you make your choice etc.
John
jgjones095":1vdsf2k1 said:
Hmm I'm without a doubt that the King bearings are probably better but I doubt they are using grades of aluminium that are any better than these headsets. At the end of the day it would be pretty pointless from a business perspective, speaking as a materials engineer, but they do state the aluminium is US sourced. They don't state the grade but you would have to use really poor aluminium for the cups to shear off. 6xxx is the most prevalent grade out there so the chinese ones are probably using that along with King. Then it comes down to the fact that the King bearings are now costing about £150 a set in that case. Even if they last the full 10 years, King warranty, the bearings in the chinese ones are well made, have good tolerance fit etc. At the end of the day you are supporting manufacture in the US (but if you are from the UK surely you should be buying Hope then!!) and they are extremely well made.
I guess it's like buying a suit from Armani or M&S...both good quality but you pays your money, you make your choice etc.
John
Splatter Paint
Retrobike Rider
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Re:
FSA Orbit MX
Sealed bearings, light, cheap. I’ve changed lower bearings twice since the early 2000s and I use it on my winter bike.
SP
FSA Orbit MX
Sealed bearings, light, cheap. I’ve changed lower bearings twice since the early 2000s and I use it on my winter bike.
SP
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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I was referring to the Mongo First; the very first one they made, and not labelled Mongo One since at that stage they didn't know there would be a Mongo 2 and 3. BUT...
The Onza Mongo 3 is sold by a company (in the UK) which is totally unrelated to the original Onza company (which was in the US).
Onza UK:
https://www.tribalzine.com/?Profile-Onza-Bikes
Onza USA:
http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/BikeHi ... /Onza.html
The company today makes some extremely solid and reliable parts. The headset they sell is an OEM which is very similar to very many other entirely dependable headsets.
For us:
The best sealing on the market is on the latest generation of Hope headsets.
The nicest headset and the smoothest, and easiest to install was an FSA I installed recently - an FSA DH Pig into a Specialized P2 jump bike frame. Not the best sealing, but the nicest-feeling.
Of course facing the head tube can be essential - certainly remove any residual paint very carefully (needed to do this on the P2 and on a Ragley frame recently) - and then face if needed, either using a facing tool (expensive) or getting a frame builder to do it. A cheap job and can turn a good headset into a brilliant one.
I was referring to the Mongo First; the very first one they made, and not labelled Mongo One since at that stage they didn't know there would be a Mongo 2 and 3. BUT...
The Onza Mongo 3 is sold by a company (in the UK) which is totally unrelated to the original Onza company (which was in the US).
Onza UK:
https://www.tribalzine.com/?Profile-Onza-Bikes
Onza USA:
http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/BikeHi ... /Onza.html
The company today makes some extremely solid and reliable parts. The headset they sell is an OEM which is very similar to very many other entirely dependable headsets.
For us:
The best sealing on the market is on the latest generation of Hope headsets.
The nicest headset and the smoothest, and easiest to install was an FSA I installed recently - an FSA DH Pig into a Specialized P2 jump bike frame. Not the best sealing, but the nicest-feeling.
Of course facing the head tube can be essential - certainly remove any residual paint very carefully (needed to do this on the P2 and on a Ragley frame recently) - and then face if needed, either using a facing tool (expensive) or getting a frame builder to do it. A cheap job and can turn a good headset into a brilliant one.
