Best headset under £50

Stu 74

It seems that my headset has packed in

I would appreciate any recommendations anyone has on a good maintenance free (sealed bearings?) headset that I can get for less than £50.

Cheers

Stu

Andy B

Can stretch to a Hope headset (~£55-£60)?

Very,very good bit of kit.

z000m

semi intergrated fsa orbit z £20 - crc

The Big Cheese

z000m wrote:

semi intergrated fsa orbit z £20 - crc

...assuming that is what his frame requires...

supersonic

FSA orbit in general - XLII being a sturdy number. To be honest I find them all to be much of a muchness, just look after them and they last.

Stu 74

Thanks for the advice guys.

What about installation? I would rather do it myself than have the LBS keep my beloved bike for a few days but I don't really want to have to splash out more money on specialist tools.

Is this something I will be able to do myself with regular tools?

Also have been reading reviews of the Chris King headset which is said to be 'maintenance free'. Is it really worth paying the extra for this?

Cheers

Stu

supersonic

You need specialist tools to fit one, unless you bodge it (ie hammer, plank of wood). CK insists you face the frame and have it professionally installed. And they are not infallible.

nicklouse

have read of parktools about fitting headsets.

if you go CK then for the warrenty to be valid it must be fitted to their standards.

and i have seen bust CK the same as any other headset.

Iain W

supersonic wrote:

You need specialist tools to fit one, unless you bodge it (ie hammer, plank of wood). CK insists you face the frame and have it professionally installed. And they are not infallible.

That's an interesting point as I'm about to get a new headset for my rennovation project bike. How risky is bodging it? Is there a serious risk of damaging the new headset and/or frame if you don't do it properly?

Also, anyone any idea how much the LBS might charge for fitting a new headset?

Sir HC

You need to have the frame faced. The bearings will last longer and run smoother if they are paralllel to each other. Its also worth having the headtube reamed, to make sure its the correct size for the headset cups.

I paid £20 to have the headtube faced and reamed by a good bike shop.


If you use the hammer and block of wood method, there is the possibility of damaging both the frame and headset. Its much safer and more accurate to use the correct tools.

stevieboy

I paid a fiver for Sherwood Pines Cycles to fit my Hope one (which I bought from them), they also checked the headtube over for trueness etc. Saved a whole load of hassle getting them to do it.

Only took em 20 mins.

ride_whenever

If you buy a reasonably expensive headset from a LBS then if they know you they'll probably fit it for free.

Stu 74

Don't need a new headset after all! Took it to bits and greased the bearings and its OK now! (well after initially putting one of the bearings in upside down which made things even worse).

Thanks for the advice guys.

Stu