|
|
|
| |
Submitted by
rabidchicken
a Weekend Warrior
from Florida
Date Reviewed: October 5, 2009 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Purchased At: | online retailer | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, Cane Creek name, sealed bearings, easy to install. | | Weaknesses: | No problems as of yet. I haven't had to adjust anything. | | Bike Setup: | Haro Sonix Werx | | Bottom Line: | Good bang for the buck. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
brian
a Downhiller
from san rafael, ca
Date Reviewed: September 15, 2009 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | smooooooth, solid, clean looking | | Weaknesses: | none
| | Bike Setup: | trek fuel ex8 set up slopestyle | | Bottom Line: | I love this headset. its cheap, reliable, and super smooth. i have never had any problems with it and i am not nice to my bikes. to those who have had trouble with it, there seems to be a recurring theme: getting it free with a fork? maybe they throw it in because they couldnt sell it. just a thought | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
D1PHAM
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Clara, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 17, 2009 | | Favorite Trail: | Skeggs | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance | | Strengths: | -Light
-Nice finish
-Sealed Cartridge bearings
-Interloc Spacers
-Smooth functionality
-Does a great job of keeping contaminants away from the bearings.
-Low MSRP $60.00 | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | FSA Orb | | Bottom Line: | Great bang for the buck headset. Looks great, cartridge bearings are replaceable and is very smooth. A can't lose purchase. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
krazychowmein
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2009 | | Favorite Trail: | Everywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Sturdy and installed easily | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | Other headsets | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz SL | | Bottom Line: | The product fitment is great and seems to be a quality product regardless of what others may have said this headset seems to be doing great so far.... again it's only been a month but it's working well! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
OctoCog
a Cross Country Rider
from Royersford PA
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | stays properly adjusted, smooth, inexpensive | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | other cane creek headsets | | Bottom Line: | works great - does what it needs to do and stays adjusted; no problems or issues with it | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ja-red
a Cross Country Rider
from Greenville
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | pricepoint | | Strengths: | cheap, ease of install | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | many including other cane creek and king | | Bike Setup: | kona kula custom build xt shifters & der , avid disc and manitou black | | Bottom Line: | This is the best bang for buck headset I have ever ridden or installed period. I worked at a bike shop and installed many different headsets and had this on my personal bike that my dad is now riding and has been running great for 2+ years. I have also installed this on several friends bikes, one using only the star nut tightening the top cap on the stem/fork to press in the cups. If you can't install this correctly with the proper tools you should probably shouldn't be working on your own bike! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Julius
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Noble Canyon, CA | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Price Point | | Strengths: | Cheap, robust, nice looking and no frills | | Weaknesses: | Not Chris King quality & performance | | Similar Products Used: | Aheadset, FSA ZS | | Bike Setup: | Soma Juice 1x9 w/ Reba SL 29er | | Bottom Line: | I have beaten the snot out of this headset and it's very solid for the price. I can't complain. For $30 it has done it's job and more. It's definitely useful for your "beater" bike. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Stephen
a Weekend Warrior
from Morehead City, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Anything singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Pricepoint | | Strengths: | Quiet, solid construction, smooth as butter. | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | Crappy Aheadset that came stock on my bike. | | Bike Setup: | Trek 4300 with Panaracer Fire XC pro tires and Shimano SPD pedals. | | Bottom Line: | I bought this headset to replace the lousy one that came with the bike after the lower bearings gave up the ghost. Old headset creaked and groaned despite adjustment from day one. Installed it myself with no difficulty. Fit the headtube like a glove and works flawlessly. The day I put it on I put 11 miles on it through a very rooty, somewhat technical trail. No adjustments required afterward and the bike tracks much better. I'd recommend it for X-ctry and all mountain use. Probably not beefy enough for freeride or DH use. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Harriieee
a Weekend Warrior
from United Kingdon
Date Reviewed: December 2, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | FF Trails | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Came on my bike | | Strengths: | + It has given me no trouble whatsoever throughout the past year that I have ridden it. No sticky steering, no noise, no internals failing, nothing. Pretty cheap too. | | Weaknesses: | Lots of people have slated this headset, but I have had no negative experiences whatsoever from it. | | Bike Setup: | '06 SX Trail, Marzo 66, SRAM groupset, Fox DHX 4. | | Bottom Line: | The biggest compliment that I can give this headset is that I didn't even know what type I was running until I was planning on building up a new hardtail and thought about what headset to put on that. I checked my SX Trail and found it to be running an S-3. I hadn't thought about the headset once in that time, and why should I have? it ran so smoothly and silently that it might just as well not have existed.
I see that this evidently isn't everyone's opinion, but I'm not meant to give an overview of the general opinion, I'm meant to give my own personal experience of this component - and my experience has been completely flawless. All the same, I won't be buying this headset again. I'm going NoThreadSet on my newest build, for safety's sake. But on my SX - I'll run it until it becomes a problem, and the way things are going, that may well still be a while. 5/5 (6/5 when it comes to value, if you ask me). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bmateo
a
from Sanford
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Weaknesses: | I have the same issue as Bruce. Installation was easy and intuitive, but the whole thing moves like it's loose. I double-checked the online manual to make sure I had it installed right, and no love | | Similar Products Used: | Can't go wrong with a King headset | | Bike Setup: | This is on my old Spec Enduro S-works. Moved the King headset on to my new bike | | Bottom Line: | New out of the box, cups installed by LBS, and this thing won't tighten properly. I've had it on there for a year but have never ridden it, because it's on a bike I no longer use. I'm trying to re-vive the bike, but this will probably be an issue.
Was expecting better results. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bruce
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 5, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Jenson | | Strengths: | has instructions in seven languages | | Weaknesses: |
-comes loose
-difficult to adjust tension properly
-binds when turning, causing auto-pilot effect despite being loose and knocking on bumps
-noisy as sin, squeaking all the time when the fork turns
| | Similar Products Used: | original AheadSet, RaceFace somethingy, Ritchey Logic, various Shimano, Campy SuperRecord (road) | | Bike Setup: | RM Element | | Bottom Line: | I thought I was getting deal when this headset came for free with a fork purchase. However, the thing has been nothing but a pain in the groin. It has been impossible to get adjusted properly, the thing binds on the bottom race before reaching proper tension - this causes sticky auto-piloting and squeaking, as well as rattling because the whole thing is still loose.
Despite what the reviewer below indicates, he must have had good luck with his batch, because I have had this thing off and re-installed a number of times and always ended up with the same problem. Gads, I even double-checked the manual twice to ensure I had all the parts and it was installed correctly - after all, how could this thing be so wrong?
Free isn't free when it has cost me so much time, so in the parts bin it goes and it is time to invest in a non-Cane Creek headset instead (hello, Chris King)
Too bad, I find other Cane Creek products to be really good, but this S3 headset is a total dog. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joel
a Downhiller
from Reno
Date Reviewed: August 5, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Northstar | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | 35 | | Strengths: | - easy installation
- smooth
- durable
- won't ovalize your headtube
- looks pretty nice
- fairly lightweight | | Weaknesses: | - none so far | | Bike Setup: | SWD Racing 6Gun | | Bottom Line: | I don't know what the guys below me are talking about, but this thing is not difficult to install if you have half a brain and can read instructions.
Anyways. It was super simple to install, and has given me no problems in the time that I have used / raced it. It's really smooth and seems durable. Go get one. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cosmo Catalano
a Cross Country Rider
from Medford MA USA
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | any | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | PricePoint? | | Strengths: | Shiny. lightish. Durable so far. Easy cup install. | | Weaknesses: | Feels kinda like its binding, complicated internals. Needs frequent adjustment, looks kinda flimsy. | | Similar Products Used: | King, Orbit X, Orbit XL II, Orbit UF, Cane Creek S-2 | | Bike Setup: | Singlespeed Scott boulder from way back.
| | Bottom Line: | I don't get why Cane Creek makes this. The S-2 is the same prace, 4 grams lighter and worlds better. The S-3's shortcomings (other than its tendency to loosen) aren't anything you'd notice on the trail, but the slow, gummy rotation, inexplicable seal design and difficult set up really mar it. I've had no issues with the S-2, and would recommend that or an FSA Orbit X instead. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Anthony
a
from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Inexpensive | | Weaknesses: | Too many parts, poor instructions, doesn't seal well, hard to adjust | | Similar Products Used: | FSA Orbit Xtreme Pro, Aheadset, various threaded headsets | | Bike Setup: | Orange Gringo hardtail, Rock Shox Dart 2 fork | | Bottom Line: | I thought I was getting a great deal when Jenson threw this headset in free with a $100 fork on a budget build for my wife's bike. I should have spent the bucks on a better product. It is functional, but certainly not a good headset. I'm riding FSA on both my bikes. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
| |
|
Photo Caption Contest
(sponsored by Maxxis)
|
Enter here
|
|
|
$
