Im looking for a black threaded headset. 1" cups with 26.4 crown. I'm having a difficult time finding one in stock anywhere. People are telling me they're out of stock until next march. Does anyone know of a spot with a Ritchey or Tange Levin in stock? Or possibly an alternate option. Must be black.

I do not want to drop $120 on a Chris King.

Nashbar.

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...ded%20Headsets

rei had mine in stock.
12$

120 on a chris king? where are you buying from? that's such a good deal

I found gripnuts for 114 with free shipping. I think that actually the direction I'm going. Buying components and not having to question the quality is always nice. That nashbar piece looks like its made out of soda cans. (Although I appreciate your posting it huerro)

Cane Creek S-2 1" threadless comes in black and silver.

I just got a silver one from Bens. Was about 50-55 bucks if I remember.

I bet you couldn't tell an unlabeled, well-adjusted Chris King headset from an unlabeled, well-adjusted Nashbar headset based on ride quality. I can't, and I suspect that there are very few people who can.

I would'nt doubt that you're right. I do worry about the archival quality of a nashbar. I know you're paying for the name on a CK, but they got that rep through proven performance. If anyone has a 2 year old nashbar, please chime in. I really have no preference or biased, I have no reason to. I started out looking for a cheap 1" thats going to last. I'm starting to think that it may be worth it to go CK.

Shimano 105 headset is also black.

I would definitely scoop one up, but I'm pretty sure they only make it in 1 1/8."

I've heard very good things about the Tange-Seiki headsets but have never used one myself. Here is one with a BIN of $40 on eBay:

https://cgi.ebay.com/New-Tange-Seiki-...3286.m20.l1116

We stock a lot of Tange headsets at the Bike Co-op here in Santa Cruz, of both loose-ball and sealed bearing varieties. They all seem to be of reasonably high quality and can be adjusted to feel as good as any headset, IMO. The loose-ball headset is cheap (we sell it for ~$9), sealed is a little more (can't remember what it costs). I used loose ball headsets because they're cheaper, letting me skimp where I can to pick up the parts that I forgot to budget for (by using an inexpensive 1" threadless loose ball Ritchey Logic instead of a Cane Creek S-2, I could afford my Gatorskins) and beause I'm not worried about the extra work of keeping them adjusted and clean. I figure I **** with my bike often enough that it's not really much trouble to go in and adjust and clean. I always use sealed bottom brackets, though, since I don't **** with my cranks much.

If you're willing to deal with some maintenance, the cheap-as-hell Tange loose ball bearing headset is fine. If you rock a front fender, it'll almost never bother you.

you can cut a old tube and stretch it over the headset for the ghettofab / im so creative / im on a budget / semi-sealed / black look

Nope, the threaded headset is 1"

Ritchey Logic is also black.

Yeah, im not too worried about maintenance. The way I do things is typically a balance between quality and aesthetic. Color is crucial. All the HS's suggested in this thread are good options, and I would likely rok them, accept that there are no 1" in black in stock. No ETA's, except the nashbar, and CK.

jet sanchEz: thanks for the link G. I scooped it. I was hesitant because I know they were selling them on bens for 24, but I found out that they are nos. Thats why no one has tham and there are no ETA's

the shimano 105 that comes in black is fresh, but its $20 more than silver for some reason and no one has them in stock. I dont mind spending the money to get what I want, I dont know, I guess I just like to ***** about it for some reason.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to my search.

real solution:

1) buy the headset you want
2) tape off the cups/threads and have it sprayed or powdercoated black (w clearcoat for bling)

doesnt alien have one too?