Originally Posted by
GamblerGORD53
Good luck with that POS. I used one briefly. Not even the LBS veteran could figure the stupid things out. Near impossible to get the too small tab to stay in the notch.
I then found a nice old Shimano one that came with 15 caged 1/4" balls. I buggered one, so it now has 18 loose balls. I liked it so much I got another NOS on fleabay.
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Edit .... Never mind I guess it was my installation error.
+1
Originally Posted by
jadmt
you are the first person I have heard say a CK is a POS. Most consider them very good headsets.
Apparently you haven't seen my comments on them. The TiCycles custom fix gear of my avatar came with one. Inside of 400 miles I was tightening it to get rid of the rattle. For the next 8000 miles, 200 miles before rattle was the usual, by 400 it was driving me nuts. This was true whether adjusted by myself, some of Portland's best mechanics or the Chris King factory. I now am at 20,000 miles on the bike and just starting on my second $30 Tange. One tweak after install and a few rides, ~1/8th of a turn a year if I ride a lot and at 7-8000 miles I swap the lower cage for loose ball or vice versa and get a couple thousand more miles.
I have owned very few headsets that were worse experiences than that Gripnut. And I am pretty certain my issues have nothing to do with the bike. (Headtube and crown facing and alignment. Nothing changed there when I went to the Tange. It pressed in like it belonged and functioned perfectly outside that one tweak to dial in the adjustment (despite having a random assortment of Tange parts to get a stack that matches the Gripnut). Now the headtube has been shaved down and the Tange drops right in. Pure joy.