Is there an ultra-durable, well-sealed headset out there? My stock headset is garbage and I'm replacing it and I'm wondering what to replace it with. I've sort of defaulted to a Cane Creek 40 but if there's something better sealed I'd love to go for it!

Chris King ..


+ Mudguards ..

Chris King. There is no other.

Best, I'd probably agree with the others. I just installed a Crane Creek 40 and I have faith it will last a very long time. If this will be a dedicated winter bike might as well keep things reasonably priced.

On the cheap ... Pull the fork out , cut a Band from an old inner tube , put it over the lower race , put the fork back in .

the Rubber band will stretch over the lower headset race and cover the places crud may get sprayed into the bearings.

I use Cane Creek and FSA, they have 9 Canadian winters on them with lots of exposure to salt and wet, never had any problems with them.

One of the best things you can do is install a front fender -- the headset has a much nicer life when you're not spraying crap directly at it.

Short of that, I've been impressed what a little "skirt" made of packing tape has done on one of my bikes:



It used to be that the headset would get gritchy after the first ride in the rain or dirt, necessitating a repack of at least the lower bearing. It's been smooth ever since applying this little piece of tape. If I'd known it would last this long, I would've spent more time making it look nice.

I like fietsbob's inner tube band and thermionicscott's tape. (Inner tube is better, but once the fork is in, the tape is far easier.) Fenders - yes. If your bearings are not cartridge, pack at least the lower race with lots of marine (trailer hub) grease, so much that it squeezes out. Wipe it clean while it is still clean and don't touch it again until you are ready to repack the bearings.

Ben

Ahead Set or Cane Creek will work well. Never had any head set issues in winter.

My King headset has been through 3 frames and 7 years of riding without issue. I think I might have greased it once in that time. If you don't want to drop that much money the Cane Creek 40 is really nice too. Fenders will do the most to help headsets last a long time even though I rarely use them.

That is exactly what I do. I ride all winter long, through salty slush, possibly the worst treatment a bike can get. I have a no name headset that came with the bike, my winter bike is 10yrs old, still same headset and good as new. I just had a look, a Chris King headset is ~$130. I think I did Ok for myself.

I use a lizard skin headset protector, both on top and the bottom. Works good.

Chris King would be a lot of $$ for a winter bike.

FSA orbit, both internal and traditional, has never let me down through many winters. Then again, neither did the vintage open ball bearing headset on my old Panasonic.