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Home | Product Reviews | Headset | Cane Creek S-3 Headset | ||||
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Submitted by
Stephen
a Weekend Warrior
from Morehead City, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: 2/16/2008 4:01:43 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Anything singletrack |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $30 |
| Purchased At: | Pricepoint |
| Strengths: | Quiet, solid construction, smooth as butter. |
| Weaknesses: | None so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | 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. |
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Submitted by
Harriieee
a Weekend Warrior
from United Kingdon
Date Reviewed: 12/2/2007 8:46:09 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | 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). |
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Submitted by
Bmateo
from Sanford
Date Reviewed: 11/25/2007 7:55:42 AM |
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| 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 Tried: | 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. |
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Submitted by
bruce
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver, Canada
Date Reviewed: 11/5/2007 7:30:48 PM |
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| 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 Tried: | 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. |
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Submitted by
Joel
a Downhiller
from Reno
Date Reviewed: 8/5/2007 4:04:48 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | 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. |
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Submitted by
Cosmo Catalano
a Cross Country Rider
from Medford MA USA
Date Reviewed: 4/25/2007 11:17:13 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | any |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $30 |
| 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 Tried: | 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. |
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Submitted by
Anthony
from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Date Reviewed: 3/27/2007 12:54:04 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Strengths: | Inexpensive |
| Weaknesses: | Too many parts, poor instructions, doesn't seal well, hard to adjust |
| Similar Products Tried: | 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. |
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