hey all,
once again I'm lost. I want to build a fixie but when looking at headset options i have no idea what are good brands or good choices? any suggestions?
thanks
- legit

chris king
hatta
they are expensive... but i love chris king

you need threaded or threadless?
tange is pretty good and not that expensive for a threaded one....

Rae

If you need threadless just get a basic Cane Creek model. They are all the headset that you will need. Nashbar has the S-2 for $14 right now.

I am not a big believer in premium headsets.

I have yet to actually part out what I am wanting to build other than an IRO frameset (not sure which one) so I don't know threaded or threadless. Also, I'm not too rich (still a poor college student) so going premium is not ideal. I'm basically looking for something that is going to last, but isn't ridiculously expensive (ie. chris king seems to be about $50 higher than the average).

Any modern headset with cartridge bearings will work just fine. Do you have a link to the frame you are buying. We can probably give you more specific suggestions.

Seconded. I've been using an S-2 for a year and a half now without any problem. It performs as equally well as my Chris King, and cost a tiny fraction of the price. I think it's the best headset for the money.

Cane Creek S-2 or S-3 depending on the size you need.

barba, thanks for pointing out the S-2 on nashbar. Looks like they are selling a lot of headsets dirt cheap right now. I need a new one for my mountain bike so now is the time to buy for me.

https://www.irofixedgear.com/index.as...ATS&Category=3

Thats the product page for the frames that I'm looking at, right now I'm thinking either an Angus or a Mark V (i don't trust curved forks for some odd reason).

The more I look at prebuilt fixies though (since I'm on a tight budget) the more I'm thinking of just buying a complete bike. I want to build one to get the mechanical (mainly wheelbuilding) experience but it seems so much more expensive.

- legit

dura ace.

There's absolutely no reason not to trust a bent fork. It was a standard design on bikes for over 100 years, and was only replaced so that frame makers could save money by not troubling to bend the fork. Dave Moulton has a good article about it.

Buying complete will likely save you money.

The Angus uses a 1" threaded headset. The Mark V uses a 1 1/8" threadless headset (the s-2 would be a good choice here).

How about Bottom Bracket Brands?

Depends entirely on the crank you choose.

Hmm... alright, I guess that will be something to address later then, I was thinking White Industries Eno cranks. Are there some universally good brands though?

Campagnolo, Sugino, Shimano all make great cranks.

Cane Creek is a solid, reasonably priced headset.

agreed.
On a budget sugino messenger cranks are a pretty good deal for a solid crank/chainring. With a bottom bracket from sugino I think they run about 130.

i'd get the angus with tange headset haha ... but Angus cost little more money
if you want to spend less money then get mark v with cane creek headset

and even better? https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/kilott.htm
buy that mercier kilo tt, try to sell those wheels and build your own wheels.... and you do not need to spend your money on headset, crankset, etc etc..... in addition! u get to experience building a wheel!
what do you think?

Rae

I'm vain, so I like Chris King. They also happen to work well.

I'm not only vain but handsome. And I like Chris King headsets too.

tange passage fTG (gully)

NOS Shimano 600 is also very nice for threaded, and usually very cheap.

hmmm.... thats really tempting. does Mercier make good frames. They also have a cheap windsor and motobocane. Any better than the other? I think I've only heard of motobocane.

i'd choose mercier except if you want the bike to go with the brake.... then maybe i'd choose windsor...
but for some reason i love mercier better and fixie with no brake looks cooler (although it's not as safe).... they both are similar...

Rae,