Submitted by
Jools
a Cross Country Rider
from London
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2009
Strengths: Had mine for 10 years at least. Used on two frames and still going strong
Weaknesses: Yeah, right
Bottom Line:
Grease is your friend if you don't like spending money!! My C2 looks as good as new inside after several thousand miles of hard riding. A headset is just a bearing after all, it's not rocket science no matter what the marketers would have you believe.
At about a fraction of the price of a Chris King, this product beats Chris King hands down if installed correctly. I used to buy Chris King products, until I realized I was just subsidizing their next move with the high prices. I'm sure next time they will move to Toronto, citing lack of quality coffee in Portland or some other silly excuse.
Submitted by
Billy Patterson
a Downhiller
from Centennial, Co - USA
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2004
Strengths: Cheap and Durable
Weaknesses: None that I can tell yet. Not King or Race Face???
Bottom Line:
Great headset for the price. I like it. It has been every bit as good as any King headset I have purchased before. But I guess time will tell. I have read what the guys above said but I haven't experienced anything of the sort. It been perfect. It's on it's second Colorado Winter and a Hard soggy Sping and Summer of Riding in Colorado and Texas. The Headset has been perfect so far!!
Similar Products Used: Race Face, FSA, King and WTB
Bike Setup: Azonic Ds-1 DJ/4x
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Submitted by
Akos Kun
a Weekend Warrior
from Sf. Gheorghe, Romania
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2004
Strengths: cheap, cartridge system, works smoothly(so far...)
Weaknesses: not sealed enough
Bottom Line:
Actually, it´s an aheadset c2, but it´s the same, isn´t it? I had to urgently change my headset on the way way home, so I had no other choice (I´m a little low on cash these days...). I didn´t know what I was buying, but I think it has worth what I´ve paid for it. Still better then the good old neco, which literally fell apart(after 6 months of usage, a broken fork, some nasty landings, and a few botttom brackets :)... if you can get it at the same price I did, it´s the best buy out there, but it´s not worth $60...
Similar Products Used: steel NECO headsets (piece of crap, but cheaper than any other and works fine if cleaned regularly)
Bike Setup: 16½magellan draco (2003), Manitou Six(2004), deore, continental tires...
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Submitted by
Craig
a Cross Country Rider
from Falls Church
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2004
Strengths: Cheap
Weaknesses: Not the ligthest. Steel parts require grease (duh!)
Bottom Line:
After reading all the negative reviews I was a little nervous on what I would find in my HS when I went to service it. To my surprise the bearings and cups looked brand new. Must have been that nickles worth of grease I packed the bearings with during installation! For God's sake people, use a little common sense.
The only truly perpetual renewable resource is human stupidity.
Similar Products Used: Chris King, Ringle, Ritchey
Bike Setup: commuter/beater bike.
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Submitted by
nash
a Weekend Warrior
from newport news
Date Reviewed: April 7, 2004
Strengths: solid, clean looking, smooth turning
Weaknesses: a little play with rigid forks on the front (saves wieght over suspension forks), seals don't seal so you need to use a cover of some sort, ex. bike tube, lizard skin
Bottom Line:
excellent, smooth running headset, you just need to seal it and you'll be fine. it leaves a little play with my rigid forks up front, but oh well, it turns smooth with precision.
Similar Products Used: Dia-Compe, Syncros, WTB grease guard
Bike Setup: XC w/ discs
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Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Kitchener, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2003
Strengths: Worked for 6 months
Weaknesses: it's a piece of crap
Bottom Line:
DO NOT buy this headset! If you have it stock on your bike buy a King. After 6 months of riding started to get play. Figured it just needed adjustment. After adjusting it it was fine for 3 months. I overhauled it and saw all the wear marks and gouges so I sold it for $.50.
Strengths: easy maintainance, but arent they all really?
Weaknesses: poor seals
Bottom Line:
This head set is OK. I havent had too many problems with the bearings. It isn't the smoothest in the world especially after wet conditions but its not something that I could really feel at the bars while riding. The seals dont keep out much crap so this is something that you will have to make sure you maintain and pack with good water proof grease. I wouldnt suggest getting this headset for your mountain bike if you ride in the muck/wet, but in dry conditions it should be fine. BOttom line, there are better choices for the cash....
Submitted by
Jonas
a Racer
from Basel, Switzerland
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2003
Strengths: ??? It looks good...
Weaknesses: Bad bearings and my lower cup has broken!
Bottom Line:
This Headset sucks, I had to replace the bearings after two months and after 3 months the lower cup has broken where the frame ends. It wasn't an accident, the superlight Fork is like new! The Ritchey Fuzzy Logic is much better and cheaper, and Chris King is still unbeaten.
Similar Products Used: Ritchey Fuzzy Pro, Chris King, Ritchey Scuzzy Pro
Bike Setup: Intense Tazer FS, X-Vert Super, Race Face, MRP, SDG, Azonic Bar, XTR, XT Disc
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Submitted by
Stu Thomas
a Racer
from Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Date Reviewed: March 13, 2003
Strengths: Inexpensive & robust (provided it's looked after properly)
Weaknesses: Fiddly maintenance. Not really "sealed"
Bottom Line:
This set is now 4 years old & I ride b/w150-200 kms a week in all weathers. It's still smooth and easy turning - the secret to maintenance on these is to clean out stock grease and PACK it with a quality waterproof grease AND use a lizard skin or an old pice of inner tube over the bottom cups - my riding is almost all seaside and I have no rust in the top or bottom race. I just strip it down once a couple of times a year, repack it, slip on a new scrap of inner tube and no worries at all.
Bike Setup: Iron horse ARS 9.0, many non-stock bits
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Submitted by
Ed A.
a Cross Country Rider
from Washignton, D.C.
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2003
Strengths: Good looks. Price. Performance.
Weaknesses: Very careful installation required.
Bottom Line:
This headset gets very mixed reviews. In my experience, the quality of installation determines the outcome. After my first installation attempt, the steering was sticky and tight. I read through some MTBR reviews and Cane Creek's installation instructions again, then uninstalled and reinstalled the headset. The second time, I used a liberal amount of Shimano headset grease on the bearings, cups and steerer tube. An entire season of biking later, the headset is still perfect - smooth and easy to turn.
It looks good, works well and was very reasonably priced.
Bike Setup: Trek 8000 frame with many fine components.
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Submitted by
Bruce Dance
a Cross Country Rider
from Blighty
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2002
Strengths: Cheap, strong, easy to maintain, exceptionally smooth.
Weaknesses: sealing, easy to misunderstand/abuse. Occasional burr on bearing race edges needs removing for smooth running.
Bottom Line:
I posess three of these headsets. The cartridge bearings in this headset contain as many loose balls as possible, on smooth precision ground races. This means that this headset is STRONG. Probably amongst the strongest headsets with ball bearings in the bottom race. Roller bearing headsets may be stronger but WHEN (not if...) the water gets in the bearing will be completely wrecked very quickly. As others have noted a small amount of corrosion will not significantly impair the operation of this headset. If the bottom race does get too rough, you can swap it for the top one as they are the same. You can pop out the little plastic ring from the bearing, and rebuild with PROPER WATERPROOF GREASE. This is VITAL if you don't want to get a rust attack, as the factory grease is not waterproof, contains no corrosion inhibitors, and there is usually very little of it. All headsets let the water in eventually (even my King, yeah...), so its not a matter of IF its just WHEN you have to do some maintenance, and this is about as easy as it gets on this headset. I ride 52 weeks a year here in the UK, regardless of the weather (and I think you should know it rained in some parts of the UK 150days straight last year), and my typical daily ride is about 25 miles half tarmac, half mud. Whichever bike gets jetwashed right away, and as there is no seal on the top race you can only wash DOWN here, and as the seal is not resistant to 50000psi water on the bottom go only down or sideways here, and little if any water gets in. TIPS: 1. The bearings may not align/seat perfectly when first fitted; turn the steering as far as possible each way, go for a short ride, turn again and then adjust the preload correctly. 2. rebuild bearings with copious waterproof grease. 3. Check for water ingress every three months, use GT85 etc to shift moisture, but leave grease alone if it's still clean. 4. Rebuild with fresh grease once a year or as required. 5. Wash bike carefully, never upside down. 6. Marvel at the smoothness, enjoy... :-)
Similar Products Used: Campy, Stronglight, FSA, Chris King, Tange, etc etc etc
Bike Setup: various- I have several.eg- Marin Team Ti, XT, Ti seatpost, 517's X-lite bits etc
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Submitted by
Andrew Mahon
a Weekend Warrior
from Princeton, NJ
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2002
Strengths: Cheap..i guess.
Weaknesses: rusty...very rusty
Bottom Line:
This refers to the roadbike. I hadnt inspected the headet sinc3e i got the bike May 12th 02, but when i did this morning i found the whole bottom half was filled with rust, it seems to emanate from the crown race and the cartridge bearings. I dunno, i guess now im saving up for a king.
