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New DH headset for dual crown forks recommendations

J

jungle

Monkey
Jan 11, 2006
357
0
I am looking for a good headset for my DH bike
I was looking at getting a King but a few people have said they are no good for dual crown forks seeing they don't have a compression
ring for the top cap only a rubber o-ring.
any opinions on the king headsets even though alot of people
still use them on dual crown forks ?

I was also looking at a FSA orbit xtreme pro headset
anyone using one of these ?

Any recommendations on any good DH headset to run on dual crown forks ?

cheers
 
ZHendo

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
sunline headsets are supposed to be great, and they have a feature that virtually eliminates loosening. raceface diabolus headsets are supposed to be good too, nice deep cups and a good warranty. i currently use an orbit extreme pro on my yeti asx, and i run a travis intrinsic dual crown. i've had nothing but awesome experience with the fsa, i love it. i'm going to buy one again when i get my next bike unless i decide to go with a sunline.
 
V

vpfree05

Chimp
May 21, 2006
90
0
i have ran Kings on all my bikes, Bullit, vpfree, Heckler and Nomad. Both will dual crown and long travel single crown. I think they are the best in my opinion. I have been to bike shops that give you a choice in headsets. Its King or a King nothing else. I've never had any problems what so ever with them. Oh my new DHR has a king also.
 
?

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
I've got that FSA headset on my new bike and have always had CK on previous bikes. Having said that, as soon as CK releases their 1.5 headset the pos FSA headset will be coming off my bike. That compression ring is the biggest load of crap ever in a headset. If it was a good idea then King would have something similar. Instead, that compression cone/ring is just damn near impossible to get to stay tight. The CK headset on my Uzzi SLX circa 2001/2 is still tight and the FSA is about 2 months old and junk.
 
D

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
????? said:
...That compression ring is the biggest load of crap ever in a headset. If it was a good idea then King would have something similar. ...
Click to expand...
Nice specualation with out any knowledge!!!!!

The compression ring is patented by cane creek, that is why king does not and cannot use it or any thing similar....nice try though.

There is a definate shortcomming to the king design when it sees large radial loads, as the top cap is NOT firmly attached to the steer tube, nor does it contact the inner bearing race in an appropriate way to handle high radial loads. Because of this, the top cap can and does rock back and forth on the top bearing bevel when these type of forces are applied. This movement causes noise, wear (look at the annodizing on the underside of the top cap), and can loosen the headset over time.


I think with a dual crown set up, you will be fine due to the extra clamping from the top crown. Most of the people with king problems seem to be on long travel single crown forks. There have been several threads here, as well as numerous ones at mtbr....generally involving longer travel single crown set-ups.
 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
I've had issues with King's loosening on single and dual crown forks.
The DC's were Marzoochi's (super t and Shiver) where the direct bar clamp doesn't wrap around like on the 888 direct connect, which provides extra clamping force to preload the bearings.

I find them overrated and expensive with no advantage over cheaper Cane Creek headsets with the more reliable compression ring design.
 
OrthoPT

OrthoPT

Monkey
Nov 17, 2004
721
0
Denver
I've been running the same King headset on my TMX for 7 years now without any problems using a Monster T and now an 888. You shouldn't have any problems running a King with your fork.
 
?

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
davep said:
The compression ring is patented by cane creek, that is why king does not and cannot use it or any thing similar...
Click to expand...
That's nice. I've heard about Cane Creek having the patent. That's good for CK, because it's not something that works well in practice.. Maybe it could and does in theory, but FSA doesn't produce a satisfactory product with the compression ring. The only reason I've ever swapped out a CK headset is to change colors, and even then I'm usually just taking it off of another bike. CK produces a good product with excellent craftsmanship. They just plain work, for a looong time.
 
Udi

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
davep said:
The compression ring is patented by cane creek, that is why king does not and cannot use it or any thing similar....nice try though.

There is a definate shortcomming to the king design when it sees large radial loads, as the top cap is NOT firmly attached to the steer tube, nor does it contact the inner bearing race in an appropriate way to handle high radial loads. Because of this, the top cap can and does rock back and forth on the top bearing bevel when these type of forces are applied. This movement causes noise, wear (look at the annodizing on the underside of the top cap), and can loosen the headset over time.
Click to expand...
Spot on. Of course it's going to be very difficult to admit there's a shortcoming after you've spent $xxx on a product that's inferior to something that costs less than half as much.

At least 3 guys I know here (2 of whom were long term fanboy king users, and all very capable mechanics) have had issues with the headsets loosening, even with DC forks... and having ditched them, won't be going back!
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,654
1,129
NORCAL is the hizzle
Just about any decent headset will sit there and do the job just fine. Don't sweat the decision too much.

Having said that, I've ridden Kings for years on all kinds of bikes and the only problem I've ever had was one on a dual crown bike that I had to tear down for travel a bunch of times. After installing and removing it a bunch of times - sometimes less patiently than others - the o-ring was shot and I got some play. The o-ring is a standard size and was less than a dollar at the local hardware store. After I replaced it, no problem. If you go King just be sure your fork is cut properly and that you don't mangle the o-ring during installation and you should be fine.
 
?

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
Udi said:
Spot on. Of course it's going to be very difficult to admit there's a shortcoming after you've spent $xxx on a product that's inferior to something that costs less than half as much.

At least 3 guys I know here (2 of whom were long term fanboy king users, and all very capable mechanics) have had issues with the headsets loosening, even with DC forks... and having ditched them, won't be going back!
Click to expand...
People will do that with any product no matter the cost. They want to be proud of what they bought.

I'm no different than anyone else, but every once in a while you've got to admit when something sucks. So far with my new bike, it's the FSA orbit extreme pro 1.5r headset and DT fr6.1 rims.
 
DirtyMike

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Personally, dont waste your money for the CK or CC or any sealed type. I dont like sealed bearings for headsets, sealed bearing tend to use a smaller bearing inside of the sealed unit. Currently, and has been for sometime, my favorite Headset for DJ, FR, DH, Singlecrown or Dual crown, Is teh FSA Pig. Retails about 40 bucks. Uses a rediculous 1/4 inch lower bearing and a standard 5/32 upper. Never have i seen someone break one of these, reminder, i am not talking about the Pig pro, but the normal caged Ball bearing pig Headset. You normally will find them in the BMX section.


And if you like good price, get one here

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/HS703A00-Fsa+Pig+Headset.aspx
 
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