Hey guys,

I have a few cheapies that have old, heavy steel 1" threaded headsets that are worn, brinneled, possibly missing bearings and need replacement. I figure while replacing, might as well upgrade to something lighter. Cartrige bearings are a plus.

Anyone have any 'go to' recommendations for a basic, no frills alloy headset?


Thanks in advance!

Is this for you as a keeper or to move onto others?

That actually might be steel.^^^^

Stronglight alloy, Shimano 600ex, 600Ultegra (6400) are all good ones.

Tange and Dia Compe are solid, look good and a little cheaper than the primo ones but still on the pricy side. Might want to double check a stack height before spending money though as steel headsets can be made a little shorter. I needed a short stack height threaded headset, didn’t want to spend high double digits on an aluminum one and got a steel Tange Passage. It was cheap and looks good.

I recall many years ago upgrading to a Chris King 1" threaded. It needed different tools to install and otherwise worked no better than the Ultegra models I had been using. Waste of money. I always found the Ultegra to be best bang for the buck, IF you can still find one.

Passage is nice. I like the new Falcon too.

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...y=Tange&order=

tange levin




tange passage

There are some cheap chinese cartridge bearing models which are rebranded as Origin8 and surely others. Buy them direct or through the middleman if that bearing style is that important to you. I've had a couple and they are more than adaquate quality.

Velo Orange sells a nice cartridge bearing alloy unit. Aren’t those Tange models above made out of steel?

The Passage is steel. Not sure about the other one.

Modern Levin is still as well. Not sure if they have an alternate alloy version.

The second gen Stronglight A9 headset might be what you are looking for, if you want all aluminum, lightweight construction and cartridge bearings.
But I prefer the first gen A9s with needle bearings. One of the lightest aluminum headset made and the bearings and races last pretty much the life of the bike if serviced properly, but they are getting harder and harder to find NOS and costs more.

Yes, both the Tange Passage and Levin are steel. One thing I love about those headests (and their el-cheaspo OEM replacemnt one) is that the parts are interchangeable. The el-cheapo is super short stack and as I recall, the Passage is shorter than the Levin. So you can do all sorts of mix and matches to get virtually any stack and any combo of diameters. And virtually all of those options are readily available at quite reasonable cost through channels any bike shop can access.

If someone knows of an aluminum Tange, let is know!

Their website shows two alloy models, LEVIN Alloy 1500 and Vantage. Another is chromoly, LEVIN CDS.

FSA duron X1 headset. Alloy, silver, cartridge bearings, lightweight (93 grams). I've seen it as cheap as below $40 new on ebay sometimes. It's also Grant Peterson approved, which I think does say something about its longevity/quality.

I've bought quite a few alloy cartridge units via aliexpress.
They were cheaper than anything I found on that auction site.
All were good enough that I put them on bikes I ride.
There were a few different varieties, lots of which I did not like the look.
I found some nice rounded ones listed as being for a scooter, they're on the Claud Butler (2nd pic).
More common is the type on the Dynamax Concorde/Moto GR.

You have to check the listings and make sure you have the right diameters and stack, and wait a while for them to arrive.

Velomine used to sell Levin alloy headsets..they still might carry them...Retrogression,also. I have one installed on my Ross Signature frame...John

​​​​​​https://www.retro-gression.com/produ...readed-headset

Tange Levin are available in either steel or aluminum:

Oooo. That’s good to have information. I haven’t seen all of the choices.

I wonder what the CDS model is intended for with the lower stack.

The Falcons are very nice headsets.

I like the Tange Falcon FL250, in aluminum with cartridge bearings; have a few of them. Doesn't seem to be carried (currently) by any USA vendors I could find easily, but available from UK or NL sources, I think, in either black or silver.
JohnDThompson I wasn't aware that the Levin (Campagnolo Record look-alike) was available in alloy. Thanks for that!

The Tange Passage DX is aluminum. Happy with mine.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this topic!

I suppose the old adage applies - cheap, quality, light - choose two. I was hoping there may have been a good quality alloy hs that was also a good no-frills, low cost replacement to the old damaged, steel headset. Some great suggestions offered.

Someone had asked if this was for a 'keeper' or a 'flip'. I don't really flip bikes, even though I should, Lord knows with how my garage looks right now

I'm definitely a fan of the A9 and I do think that is probably the absolute best option although I'd have to go used to be anywhere near the price point, though I hear that the roller bearings 'wear well' so perhaps wear may not be as big of a concern as a standard ball bearing headset, though more experienced minds may want to chime in on that.

Really appreciate the suggestions, especially for the Alibaba reference, because through perusing around there, I was actually able to find a seat post that I had been looking for, for months! Thought it wasn't being made anymore.

I have several versions[1] of the roller-bearing Stronglight on various bikes and my experience matches that of pretty much everyone else I've read; yes it's not as big a concern.
It's just about zero concern, in fact.

[1] there's a "composite" (=plastic) version, I think it feels different, don't like it as much.