cachehiker

Way back when I was getting anxious to have my Soma Double Cross on the road/trail. After a number of delays, a sudden need for chasing and facing the bottom bracket shell forced me to take it into the LBS. I wasn't going to take it in, take it home, take it back in, take it back home, etc. so I just told them to finish the build.

They only had a few headsets in stock: FSA Pig, Chris King, Aheadset SAS. I was already over budget, I figured the Pig was overkill, and I'd never had a problem with the two Aheadsets I already had on bikes so I told them to throw it on there. Wrong! This cheap POS just won't stay tight and the brake squeal is acceptable after I've tightened it (three times now) but all too annoying when it works itself a little loose again a few months later.

Now I'm changing the fork to a stiffer IRD straight blade, putting a stiffer cable hanger on, and hopefully changing the headset to something unlikely to work itself loose. With any luck the brake squeal will be gone forever or at least substantially reduced.

OK, on to the point. I'm hesitant to order a $100+ Chris King for a $110 fork. Has anybody out there used an FSA Orbit X on their cross bike? How well did it work? Do you think it would offer much of an improvement over my cheap POS Aheadset SAS? What else would you recommend in a similar price range?

dirtyphotons

yeah, that's the headset i used all last season. no complaints.

isotopesope

i had one on my rigid 29er for two seasons. it worked great. no problems.

i also replaced a crappy aheadset pile with a fsa orbit XL II on my old cross bike. it also worked well. i got it from chucksbikes, and it looks like they still have some: https://www.chucksbikes.com/store/hs003.htm great headset for 25 dollars!!

shapelike

I've used an Orbit X in the past w/ no problems. This year I'm going to try out the Orbit CX on my SSCX build:

bsyptak

Nashbar has the Cane Creek S6 for about $30, a killer headset.

cachehiker

Wow! Thanks for the link!

Although I really like the classic look of the Orbit X, I'm gonna have to to sleep on that deal a bit. The fork won't be on its way until after I've given the bank a few days to process my credit card payment anyway.

If I order the headset through the LBS, having the crown race set and cups pressed will be all but free. If I order everything online and walk in with it I figure it'll be $20 and the shipping will add up to $6-7 more than sales tax so it may not save me much.

In any case, it looks like I'm headed in the right direction.

tig rider

For what its worth...I have an FSA headset on my roadie and it has been great. imho you will be pleased with the equipment and the cash left over.