Suggest a headset for RB-1?
 

The Hatta Vesta that came with it is a mess, pitted races, rust pitting on the exterior, just a mess. I need to replace it...suggestions?

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/roa...gs/STROHSTR455

Says out of stock but hopefully they'll get more, best deal out there ATM, those are pretty comparable to the older dura ace cartridge headsets IMO.

Tange Levin, Ritchey Logic, Velo Orange, Campagnolo Record, Chris King....

+1 Tange Levin. It's a super-high-quality Japanese piece that's better than its price, just like the RB-1.

Treat yourself to a good, sealed bearing headset like some of those listed above. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks for the suggestions...I was struggling beyond Chris King and wanted some options.

Chris King!

It seems foolish to me to spend the kind of money that they get for Chris King headsets for a road bike.

I've tried a number of those, I would probably go with a Tange Levin for this application. The Campy one is pretty nice but I wouldn't want to defile a nice Japanese road bike with one :thumb:

If I were in the same position I think I'd go for the alloy Tange Levin - http://www.rivbike.com/mobile/default.aspx#P40320 - Kings are nice but man, they're not cheap! Also, I'd steer you away from the Ritchey (the inexpensive one, anyway) - it's cheap and feels it.

I've been buying Tange on ebay for about $20. or less lately. Nice chrome, no-name, goes together as nicely as Campagnolo. Probably won't last as long though...

The tange levin is meh, it's heavy and has normal bearings. I have one in service and it works but frankly it's just worse than a good cartridge bearing headset such as that stronglight (which I have on my rb-1) or the dura ace 7410 I have on my colnago. If you get a cartridge bearing headset you will never have to worry about pitted races, indexing, handling oddities due to wonky headsets... I believe VO sells a reasonably priced one that looks good but personally I'd hunt around for an older shimano unit. The King headsets are expensive because you're buying something that's made to last a lifetime, most c&v people aren't riding on frames expensive enough to warrant these though.

The only threaded Chris King headset I can find on their site is the Gripnut which is intended for "heavy touring or rough riding conditions". Those applications make sense. Putting one on a road bike to impress people makes no sense because it will probably have the opposite effect.

Hmm, interesting. In 40 years of working on bikes I don't think I've ever had a headset problem. The Campagnolo headset on my main bike has been there for 28 years with them old fashioned ball bearings that cause so much trouble.

You've never had a headset problem? I find that hard to believe if you've worked on a significant number of bikes. I've had to work on bikes that have passed through my hands and I've seen plenty trashed headsets due to pitting.

A properly installed, high-quality ball bearing headset will work just as well as any cartridge headset, but they're definitely not as fool proof. You'll never get a pitted race or cup from a cartridge set.

I've never had a headset problem either. The Stronglight V4 on my '74 PX10 is the only part I haven't replaced. I've never bought a bike that had a brinneled headset. I've replaced them only because they had wrench marks and exterior rust and because I stocked up on Stronglight A-9s when they were cheap.

I did try a VO cartridge bearing headset on my Raleigh and I like it very much. I wouldn't order one to replace a Hatta Vesta, though. A headset with a very short stack height is going to be required. I've been there and done that. The only thing I could find that would work is a Tange Levin. At least I think that's what it is. It has no markings.

I'm clueless, why a short stack height? What determines that?

The design of any given headset means that at a minimum you'll need a certain length of steerer for all the parts to be able to screw on properly.

The sum of (the distance from the crown race to the bottom headtube race) and (the distance from the top headtube race to the top of the lock nut) is called the stack height. It varies depending on how the headset looks and is designed.

If you have a fork that was trimmed to properly fit a very tall stack-height headset, and you want to switch to a low stack-height headset, then you need to use spacers to take up the extra space (or trim your fork). If your fork was trimmed for a low stack-height headset and you want to use a tall one, you are out of luck -- there just isn't enough space.

Here's a picture of a tall one:
http://www.bikepro.com/products/head...mpy_contax.jpg
Here's a short one:
http://www.bikeman.com/store/graphic...HD/HD1001B.jpg