Quality Headset that helps prevent ovalization?
 

Ive got a Surley and unfortunatly, it doesnt have a reinforced headtube. I feel like all bikes should. Until then, i need a solid headset that is going to help prevent ovalization...

Chris King Steelset
FSA Pig

These are the ones i know of. Does anybody have any thoughts on this subject or know of any other headsets that are bomb proof and will last forever?

Sorry I don't know of any headset that will last forever. As people we have a great capicity to control how long our stuff does last, independent of the initial grade of the stuff. The two models you list certainly have a good rep. But "bomb proof', no. Andy.

Nothing lasts forever. The longest headset warranties I know of are CK at 10 years and Cane Creek's 110-series for 110 years. The FSA Pig is a very heavy headset intended for downhill bikes and isn't needed on a road or standard MTB.

As to ovalizing your headtube, no headset can prevent that if you run into something hard enough and no headset will, in and of itself, ovalize any headtube unless installation is grossly mishandled.

Surlys are not made of particularly thin wall tubing and are rugged enough that nothing short of severe abuse will damage them.

CK is close , at least it can be rebuilt.. What kind of heavy Abuse do you have in Mind?

I'm not sure why the Surly would get an ovalized head tube in the first place. Are you doing stunts on this bike or carrying extremely heavy front loads?

I've only encountered ovalized head tubes several times in the last 30 years, and all from massive front end collisions. Nothing special about the headsets. I'm close to 300 lbs. I've been riding a cheap Tange $15 headset (threaded 1 inch) and it's held just fine for years. I also ride a commuter with single speed and have thousands of miles on it. Tig welded steel frame - no reinforced head tube. No lugs. Cheapest steel threadless headset you can probably stick on a bike. A few thousand miles later and still great. No ovalization of the head tube. I'm not using anything extraordinary for headsets on any of my bikes. Is there a reason why your Surly would get an ovalized head tube?

If you can find a shimano headset, it will hold up as well as the King.

A little knowledge can be dangerous, as they say. Someone has agitated you needlessly.

I have the same question. I've heard various people claim to have an ovalized head tube but I have yet to run across one. And this is coming from a big heavy guy who jumps his mountain bikes with wild abandon. I've broken frames but never at the head tube.

I have seen a numer of ovalized head tubes over the years, not a lot but more then a handful. There are two primary causes that i know of. First is the single impact. Think riding into the back of a car, at pace. of course so much else is distorted that who can blame the frame or headset. The second is the mulitple impact mode. A verl loose headset adjustment and very harsh riding can combine to auger the lower HT open. Thankfully both are not common and both within the ability of the rider to avoid (as i alluded to in my 1st post).

Now if you're talking about a headset cup that does not fit an undamaged frame, that's another discussion. Andy.

I dealt with a couple ovalized headsets way back when. Usually they happened when:
1: the bike was very, very cheap- department store grade.
and
2: the headset had gotten loose and the bike had been ridden like that for some time.

I can't recall an instance of a well-maintained, good quality frame being ovalized in normal use. If you absolutely must have a headset that will take you around the world several times, then the Chris King Steelset will probably do:

http://chrisking.com/headsets/hds_steelset

http://chrisking.com/files/upload/headsets/steelset.jpg

The lower HT? My 30-year-old beater has an ovalized upper HT. There's no sign of collision damage, so I assume the HT ovalized from years of riding with a loose HS. ISTM that the upper HT is more likely to be damaged than the lower HT if the HS is too loose -- gravity will keep the lower race, bearings, and cups together, but the upper cup would "ride high" and tend to hammer the upper HT when the bike hits rough stuff.

In my case, I picked up some Loctite 680 and had a good LBS install a decent MTB cartridge HS with the Loctite holding the upper race in place. It has held up fine. So even if your HT did ovalize -- and I think we've collectively seen enough rough miles put on normal, rigid steel frames (especially cross and MTB) to suggest you don't need to worry about this if you keep your HS adjusted properly -- it's not the end of the world if it happens. So relax.

True but there is one disqualifier. Shimano never made any threadless headsets and most modern frames and forks, including all Surlys, require threadless headsets.

One advantage of the Surly is the headtube is made of straight tubing. Meaning you can install a deep cup headset with zero frame prep. I put a FSA deep cup headset on my old Surly 1x1, not a pig, perhaps an orbit DH or something?

Whatever you get make sure it has serviceable or replaceable bearings as deep cup headsets are all but permanent when installed, usually they will have to be destroyed to remove them. If you don't plan on doing stupid human tricks with the bike it's probably overkill.