good, set some of these threads straight! (like the brake ones)

I am avoiding those. Once I gave up my admin stripes I avoid dealing with tonnes of crap, I get enough dumbasses at work. I feel bad for beginners coming here sometimes, the misinformation spewed is very misleading.

As someone earlier wrote, these days the premium for Chris King is more for the fashion aspect of it. The quality of headsets is high amongst many manufacturers at half the price if not less. You are getting a nice piece of hardware although there have been people who have complained of creaking CK headsets.

FWIW, I did buy a CK headset but pretty much treated myself to it because it came in pink for Breast Cancer awareness. I didn't need one but got it and the matching hubs later on in pink.

Thanks for the comments guys. I think I will just go with a CK and cough up the bucks. Can't go wrong with it's reliability and "Bling Bling" factor even though it is a bit overkill. Now the hard part... What color?

when does one know when a headset needs replacement? (seriously, i have no idea. is there a noticeable difference in something that i should be aware of?)

you'll know when the time comes, grasshopper.

Did you just dishonor Slick Rick with photoshop facial hair? Did you just dishonor Slick Rick?!

If I ever meet you in person, I think you and I will need to fight.

One King set that's going on seven years, and in it's third frame. One King on my crosser going on four years, and it's third frame. No problems with either one.

A Cane Creek Solos on one bike, and a Cane Creek something or other/IRD Technoglide on another. Not as old as the Kings, but they are working just as well.

I'll probably stick with Cane Creek for any other future headset needs. Does the job for me, at less cost. Easy install, nice bearings.

King headsets owned: 3

King headsets remaining: 1 (the 11 year old one, oddly enough)

King headsets killed: 2 (both on bikes with 150+mm of fork travel)

King headsets I will buy in the future: 0 (even if they do donate 1 whole dollar to breast cancer research)

Mmmkay...so the moral of the story is: you need a downhill headset if you're doing downhill riding...

I submit that the above post should be stricken from the record and be barred from the OP's consideration of headsets.

There's such a thing as a dh headset?

Since

I don't own a downhill bike

and

Neither of those headsets were installed on a downhill bike

therefore

I must declare that you don't know what you're talking about.

Chris King is advertised as one of the most durable headsets ever made. It just isn't. Its just a headset that comes in pretty colours.

I really wish my ass could talk too.

:roflmao::roflmao:

What Mountain Bike? have just given King's nothreadset best performance headset award. That said, I've never had any experience with them and I would go with the other's advice to buy something way cheaper which is probably nearly just as good.

I just had a moment. I thought to myself, "Have I gone too far?" "Have I actually said something too rash to pass on BF? Even Maelstrom's giving me a hard time. Will I be forced to eat my words?"

Actually, no. I noticed on another one of your posts that you ride at Wisp. That ain't your weekend singletrack. What I can't get around is the fact that not only did you ride a $110 headset on a long-travel mountain (downhill, if you rode it at Wisp,) bike, despite the availability of vastly better options, but you also saw that one of those headsets failed for the purpose, then bought another, only to watch it fail yet again. That's crazy stuff. You couldn't give up the colors, could you? Me neither.

There is such thing as a downhill headset (sarcasm, Smashy?) and though Chris King doesn't explicitly state it anywhere on their site, phrases like "longer travel mountain bikes apply substantial loads to the front ends of mountain bikes," or "this warranty does not cover damage or failure resulting from misuse, abuse, alteration, neglect, normal and reasonable wear and tear, crash or impact...etc., etc.," should be the tip off that something a little more purpose-specific might be in order. Their SteelSet is just the same headset, but with longer headtube skirts; the problem as I see it is in the bearings, or as some people suggest, in the fixing system. They came out with a new design for Interbike, which eliminates the star-fangled nut and apparently makes the system more rigid.

Come on, fellas. The headsets have had the same design for something like 30 years now. They're wonderful headsets, but leave them to the shorter-travel stuff. Chris King won't tell you you can't use them with long-travel forks, but it doesn't take a mechanic to know that you'll be asking for trouble if you do.

I hope you're hungry.

I have never ridden at Wisp, nor have I claimed to.

It seems crazy because you don't know what you're talking about. The Kings that failed on me were purchased within a week of each other and installed on two different bikes (one of which has never seen a lift or a shuttle).


All three Kings I've owned were silver - hardly a rarity in the headset world.

If the manufacturer doesn't bother to state there may be problems with their headsets when paired with long travel forks (I might add that 150mm is far from long travel), how the hell is anyone supposed to know this, especially when confused fanboys request such implications to be "stricken from the record?"

Your reading comprehension sucks nearly as much as your logic.

At 140 mm, my king is creaking, I just choose to ignore it.

Where the heck is Wisp?

Wisp is an area ski resort that lets mountain bikers have fun in the summer.

http://www.skiwisp.com/

Ahhhhhhhhh, thank you very much.

The heart of the issue.

Quite. Gastro, you've long since blown your load on this one. Your experience absolutely proves to us that King headsets aren't good for bikes with 150mm+ of travel, and we thank you for that. But those among us who choose parts according to purpose, and realize that some purposes demand differently built parts, know that King's (albeit wide) range of appropriate use does have a beginning and end.

Use a properly-installed King headset for road riding, cyclocoss, XC, or even all-mountain riding, and you will, in all likelihood, become one of many people who use them as such on this forum and like them very much.

I hope you didn't misinterpret my post.

It really is all about the bling and that's it. Some people will pay a premium for it. Clearly, if it can't handle a 150mm fork - it's not living up to its reputation as the toughest, most advanced headset available.

That's like saying Ferrari's are the best, as long as you don't push them over 150mph; while simultaneously diminishing a Skyline R32 that's a fraction of the the cost but can handle the abuse. What a stupid position to take.

While I don't disagree with your assesment of ck headsets.. this is a terrible analogy.

10 or 15 years ago, ck offered a much better headset than pretty much anyone, which may have inspired other companies to step up. Today, they probably aren't any better than many headsets half the price.