looking for a zs56 headset, preferrably not a split race, and featuring a nice auxilary seal.
any reccomendations?
any reccomendations?
who makes the best sealed zs56 headset? (only need lower cup)
- Thread starter englertracing
- Start date
WolfTooth! The best headset I've ever had. Bearings are well sealed, manufacturing tolerances were perfect, non-split crown race with a double-lip seal, no creaking. I preload my headset a bit more than most and my bearings are still perfect after 2 years. I just serviced my bike and there was no dirt at all in the headset cups. I can't say enough good things about this headset.
Today I learned that Wolftooth makes headsets that aren't too expensive. Those green bearings appear to be the same ones that CC puts in some of their stuff (https://www.endurobearings.com/products/bearings/stainless-steel/).
Cane Creek has a rubber seal on their crown races, but it could be a bit more substantial imo.
Cane Creek has a rubber seal on their crown races, but it could be a bit more substantial imo.
I suspect those seals are better at keeping the crud in rather than out of the headset.
Never owned a 110, so I can't comment on the quality of the 110 bearings vs the 40 but I do have a 110 crown race. It seems to be made of aluminum and is super light. The 40 crown race is made of steel and seems much beefier.
If the 110 bearing are worth it, I'd be tempted to say that the best CC combo is probably a 110 headset with a 40 crown race.
the wolftooth appears to have better seals on the crown race.
Where did I say that?
I've had headsets last for many years, but never one that was as well sealed, tolerant to more headset preload, well machined and didn't creak. Cane Creek 40s creaked and it annoyed me like hell. The FSA Orbit Xtreme Pro I had was the second best but it's not available in ZS56. And I've had great luck with the relatively cheap FSA Orbit Z too.
But for a little extra, I prefered to get the USA made Wolf Tooth. You can also select a flat, short or long top cap height, and a clean top cap/spacer when you buy it. Great customer service too. Hey I'm just sharing my thoughts on what I have experience on, and I am pickier than most.
I've had excellent results with Superstar ones, both anglesets and regular. We're basically riding in 70-95 % humidity through the whole winter down here, with lots of rain and mud splashes at the lower half of the headset, and after three years on the regular headset and two on the Slackerizer I'm happily impressed.
Shipping could be stupid expensive though, since Superstar uses some obscure local courier who seems to lease a whole Jumbo jet to send a headset to Argentina, but for locations at Europe it drops to more logical values.
Shipping could be stupid expensive though, since Superstar uses some obscure local courier who seems to lease a whole Jumbo jet to send a headset to Argentina, but for locations at Europe it drops to more logical values.
What?
if you need to increase bearing pre-load surely the bearing is already worn.
Personally for ZS44/ ZS56 tapered headsets I'll happily just go with a cheap sealed bearing headset that has readily available replacement bearings at a reasonable price.
eg. Brand X (dunno if you have those in the US)
If a headset bearing only last 2 years that's absolutely fine by me. just replace it for like £7
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I don't increase it, it's just that I am a bit ocd with loose headsets and I tighten my top cap bolt at 2.2-2.5Nm (what the Wolf Tooth manual states), which, by feel, is more preload than everyone I know uses. Most people go with the traditionnal feel, but I can't anymore ... 
I'm with Gary. Bearing quality is important, but I'm always skeptical that the bearings by any particular company are nothing special. Lower cup bearings take a beating for grime and grit thrown up by the wheels. I'll just take a cheap 40 bearing. Nearly every bike shop has those in stock and they are relatively cheap and decent quality.
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Well.
I'm replacing a Pivot lower, the upper is an intend stiffmaster.
Problem 1 is that there is no seal on the crown race. Lots of crud gets in there. Problem 2 is that the bearing looks like most 45 x 36, but is a 45x45.
And..... I can get them from pivot, but they come with an upper bearing I don't need, because of the stiffmaster.
I'm replacing a Pivot lower, the upper is an intend stiffmaster.
Problem 1 is that there is no seal on the crown race. Lots of crud gets in there. Problem 2 is that the bearing looks like most 45 x 36, but is a 45x45.
And..... I can get them from pivot, but they come with an upper bearing I don't need, because of the stiffmaster.
No personal experience but it has moar sealz
www.bike-components.de
Acros ZS56/40 Headset Bottom Assembly
The ZS56/40 headset bottom assembly from Acros, with a semi-integrated design for 1.5" head tubes and tapered steerer tubes, is an all-round worry-free product. It impresses with double sealed angular contact ball bearings made of stainless steel, o
www.bike-components.de
No dont buy the Acros, the crown race is made from very soft aluminium, buy something that has steel crown race.No personal experience but it has moar sealz
Acros ZS56/40 Headset Bottom Assembly
The ZS56/40 headset bottom assembly from Acros, with a semi-integrated design for 1.5" head tubes and tapered steerer tubes, is an all-round worry-free product. It impresses with double sealed angular contact ball bearings made of stainless steel, o
You're being unfair to aluminium there.
The Acros which came on my 2021 Commencal Supreme has a crown race made of soft cheese.
Yeah , mine too
)
You may consider me a biased source because I used to work at CC and still have good relations with them and like them and their products a lot, but here's my breakdown of their products:
40 is mediocre. It's about the same as every other OEM level headset out there - think similar to FSA headsets. Bearings are cheap, wear out pretty regularly every year or two if you're riding hard. Not the end of the world to buy new bearings, but tracking down creaks is annoying and I get not wanting to deal with it.
110 is the best they offer - lifetime warranty includes bearings and they'll cover you if you have issues (or we did during my time there, since the 4 I have have been trouble free I haven't had any reason to test).
Hellbender 70 is essentially the same headset as the 110, but without a lifetime warranty. I don't think it uses 7075 cups either, but don't quote me on that.
Slamset is uses 7075 cups, same bearings as the 110/HB70, super low stack (I think 2mm? 4mm?) and has terrible upper seals and I don't recommend using it if you ride anywhere with rain.
Aluminum crown races don't really wear out - I like them a lot more than the heavy steel crown races the 40 series uses.
The one part that I find wears out most quickly and causes some creaks (and this is pretty common in most high end headsets, not isolated to CC) down the line is the compression ring. Maybe somebody will make a steel one at some point, but pretty much everybody uses aluminum or plastic. Aluminum tends to last longer than plastic, but I don't really like either of them if we're being honest. I'd rather have a steel compression ring, but here we are. Pretty cheap and easy part to replace, and will be visibly marred/rubbed/deformed (depending on the material) when it's in need of replacement.
Edit to add: You can also throw nice bearings in a 40 headset. Dimensions are all identical, so if you already have a perfectly good cup installed, it's probably cheaper and easier to just get a new bearing for it.
40 is mediocre. It's about the same as every other OEM level headset out there - think similar to FSA headsets. Bearings are cheap, wear out pretty regularly every year or two if you're riding hard. Not the end of the world to buy new bearings, but tracking down creaks is annoying and I get not wanting to deal with it.
110 is the best they offer - lifetime warranty includes bearings and they'll cover you if you have issues (or we did during my time there, since the 4 I have have been trouble free I haven't had any reason to test).
Hellbender 70 is essentially the same headset as the 110, but without a lifetime warranty. I don't think it uses 7075 cups either, but don't quote me on that.
Slamset is uses 7075 cups, same bearings as the 110/HB70, super low stack (I think 2mm? 4mm?) and has terrible upper seals and I don't recommend using it if you ride anywhere with rain.
Aluminum crown races don't really wear out - I like them a lot more than the heavy steel crown races the 40 series uses.
The one part that I find wears out most quickly and causes some creaks (and this is pretty common in most high end headsets, not isolated to CC) down the line is the compression ring. Maybe somebody will make a steel one at some point, but pretty much everybody uses aluminum or plastic. Aluminum tends to last longer than plastic, but I don't really like either of them if we're being honest. I'd rather have a steel compression ring, but here we are. Pretty cheap and easy part to replace, and will be visibly marred/rubbed/deformed (depending on the material) when it's in need of replacement.
Edit to add: You can also throw nice bearings in a 40 headset. Dimensions are all identical, so if you already have a perfectly good cup installed, it's probably cheaper and easier to just get a new bearing for it.
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Which is what I've done before. When the lower 40 bearing has given up, replace it with the 110 bearing.
Gary,that remind’s me. Member years back they had a “dirt skirt” I think was the name? You slam the Fork Race Down on it,when put together,it had a AL Lip that was wider than the Frame. You could see and feel it. What ever came of that?
Avy
The Original Bike Condom ™
Its like they went drunk with fame and fortune after their chainstay protector and decided to neoprene all the things.
The best part was when you washed your bike after a particular muddy ride, only to find all those neoprene cock rings were packing dirt against the frame and moving parts they were supposed to protect.
I've had three Acros headsets and haven't had an issue with a soft aluminium thing people are calling a race.
I've put one on three different forks with no issue and I usually remove them with a pocket knife and a hammer then a couple of screwdrivers, coz butcher.
I've put one on three different forks with no issue and I usually remove them with a pocket knife and a hammer then a couple of screwdrivers, coz butcher.
I cracked one last summer. I had no idea this was something that could happen. Maybe it was a freak incident and light aluminum crown race are nothin to worry about. It left me (perhaps unreasonably) worried about these.
The thread is not too old to let die because the black magic fuckery with headset standards is still on. I'm losing my mind googling around this and here are some short thoughts for your comments
Is the ZS56/ZS56 headset or the topside ZS56 like the world's rarest headset combination for any bike? It seems to be a little too hard to find a new decent one. Acros has one full set but it seems to be out of stock all over the world.
The current one is Onoff Mercurium and has 41x30,15 bearings with 45/45 angles. Is bought new Cane Creek bearings last year but didn't realize they were 36/45. Maybe that caused some issues. Btw what is the reason to make the bearing 45/45 and not 36/45?
The 0-degree cups have little sign of wear in them. Maybe bearing misalignment or too fat rider. I planned to put in the +1 cups as the internet tells me the slacker the better. If I do this I only would need new 41 x 30,15 x 7 (45/45) bearings. Seems good option?
Is this called compression ring and is it fucked? What would be the correct words to search for replacement? This needs replacement also
On the other hand could I just replace it with combination of these? What does the 40 and 38,1 mean? Millimetres? The fork is Fox 40
Is the ZS56/ZS56 headset or the topside ZS56 like the world's rarest headset combination for any bike? It seems to be a little too hard to find a new decent one. Acros has one full set but it seems to be out of stock all over the world.
The current one is Onoff Mercurium and has 41x30,15 bearings with 45/45 angles. Is bought new Cane Creek bearings last year but didn't realize they were 36/45. Maybe that caused some issues. Btw what is the reason to make the bearing 45/45 and not 36/45?
The 0-degree cups have little sign of wear in them. Maybe bearing misalignment or too fat rider. I planned to put in the +1 cups as the internet tells me the slacker the better. If I do this I only would need new 41 x 30,15 x 7 (45/45) bearings. Seems good option?
Is this called compression ring and is it fucked? What would be the correct words to search for replacement? This needs replacement also
On the other hand could I just replace it with combination of these? What does the 40 and 38,1 mean? Millimetres? The fork is Fox 40
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Short answer: Easiest thing to do is to buy a new headset - but it's only a tiny bit easier, and it's more expensive by a lot. The one you linked wont work though. Hope's website is kind of a pain to navigate but you need a ZS56/28.6 upper - the ZS56/38.1 is for a straight 1.5 steer tube fork. If you're doing a new lower, you'll also want a ZS56/30 lower. The ZS56/40 you linked is for a 1.5 steer or tapered steer. The ZS56/40 is fine for the lower if that's all you can find, but it wont come with the crown race you need so you'll need to buy that separately, and since it's a pretty easy headset to find I'd just get the right one from the beginning.
Long answer: Onoff's documentation and lack of support for replacement parts leads me to believe they're buying catalogue parts from taiwan and don't know what they're doing. Also that they're bad people, and they probably ride with goggles and half shell helmets. That means you'll probably need to break out some calipers and spend a total of 5-10 minutes measuring things yourself.
Your cup is probably fine unless its visibly deformed. A little bit of wear in the anodizing isn't usually the end of the world, that will happen as the bearing gets old and crunchy and stops spinning smoothly. New bearing should be fine. If the cup is visibly deformed though than sure, go for the other headset cups, or if you just want to experiment.
Upper bearing: Are you *sure* it's a 41mm bearing with a 45x45? I'd slap some calipers on the outer diameter of the bearing to find out. Reason I ask is because 41mm bearings are generally pretty standardized at 36x45 and the 45x45 is usually reserved for the campy standard which uses a 41.8mm bearing (sometimes called 42 for differentiation). If it is a 41mm bearing with a 45x45, I'd replace it with a 36x45 because that's gonna be a pain in the ass to find a replacement.
Once you determine if its a 41mm or 41.8mm bearing, I'd just get some new bearings. This is the least expensive option. I'm too lazy to look around Hope's website but they're making quality stuff and I'm fairly confident they have the bearings and parts you need, so that's on you to figure out what you need if you want Hope. I know Cane Creek part numbers a little better be cause I used to work there, so here's their part numbers you need from them.
Figure out of its a 41mm vs 41.8.
If its 41, heres the upper and lower bearing part number: BAA1178.
If its 41.8, the part number is BAA1179
These are a pair of nice stainless steel bearings (those part numbers will include both upper AND lower bearings). If you want to go cheaper, there are some zinc coated bearings that will last a few years before needing replacement. I generally don't recommend them for DH bikes but I get that price can be relevant. Hope uses a similar stainless steel bearing that's pretty solid if its easier for you to get ahold of.
You should also grab a new crown race just incase they used some dumbass lower bearing bevel previously. This is the cane creek part number you want for a 52/30 crown race: BAA0463A for aluminum or BAA0009S if you want a steel crown race
The compression ring you'll want is part number AAA0001B.
If you do this, the only other thing to watch out for is the height of the new compression ring vs the old one. If the new one is taller, you'll be introducing a gap between the bearing cover and the headset cup that will allow shit to get in there, which isn't really the end of the world and you'll have the appropriate bearings for it, but it may mean replacing the upper bearing more frequently. If the old compression ring is taller (which it looks like it might be because the one you linked looks tall), than you'll want to snag some micro spacers that fit between the compression ring and top cover in order to make sure the top cover doesn't bottom out on the headset cup before you've finished applying the appropriate amount of preload. Cane Creek sells them, the part number is .HSS2050 or the .25mm spacers and .HSS2051 for the .5mm spacers if you need them. I'd grab 2 of each.
Background:
ZS56 upper is fairly uncommon these days, because pretty much nothing uses a straight 1.5 steer tube and everything is tapered or 1.125. They exist, but it hasn't been commonly used since around 2010-2012 range and now days it's mostly smaller brands mixing it up that bother with it. It did exist for a short time when DH bikes were still figuring out that 63 degree headangles were the appropriate HA and so there was a rush to send bikes out with head angle adjustable options by doing different cups, which it sounds like you have. Because of this, it could be hard to find an upper replacement headset and you may be best off with just doing bearings.
The 36/45 vs 45/45 goes back to when sealed headset bearings first were becoming a thing. A bunch of manufacturers went with 36/45, and campagnolo went 45/45. Now days it's pretty hard to find high quality 45/45 bearings, they're usually a pretty basic and moderately shitty bearing that will only last a few years if you ride in any sort of adverse conditions like rain, humidity, mud, etc. Should be fine if you live in the desert though. In this case though I'd just try and switch over to 36x45 and not look back.
Hope that helps
Long answer: Onoff's documentation and lack of support for replacement parts leads me to believe they're buying catalogue parts from taiwan and don't know what they're doing. Also that they're bad people, and they probably ride with goggles and half shell helmets. That means you'll probably need to break out some calipers and spend a total of 5-10 minutes measuring things yourself.
Your cup is probably fine unless its visibly deformed. A little bit of wear in the anodizing isn't usually the end of the world, that will happen as the bearing gets old and crunchy and stops spinning smoothly. New bearing should be fine. If the cup is visibly deformed though than sure, go for the other headset cups, or if you just want to experiment.
Upper bearing: Are you *sure* it's a 41mm bearing with a 45x45? I'd slap some calipers on the outer diameter of the bearing to find out. Reason I ask is because 41mm bearings are generally pretty standardized at 36x45 and the 45x45 is usually reserved for the campy standard which uses a 41.8mm bearing (sometimes called 42 for differentiation). If it is a 41mm bearing with a 45x45, I'd replace it with a 36x45 because that's gonna be a pain in the ass to find a replacement.
Once you determine if its a 41mm or 41.8mm bearing, I'd just get some new bearings. This is the least expensive option. I'm too lazy to look around Hope's website but they're making quality stuff and I'm fairly confident they have the bearings and parts you need, so that's on you to figure out what you need if you want Hope. I know Cane Creek part numbers a little better be cause I used to work there, so here's their part numbers you need from them.
Figure out of its a 41mm vs 41.8.
If its 41, heres the upper and lower bearing part number: BAA1178.
If its 41.8, the part number is BAA1179
These are a pair of nice stainless steel bearings (those part numbers will include both upper AND lower bearings). If you want to go cheaper, there are some zinc coated bearings that will last a few years before needing replacement. I generally don't recommend them for DH bikes but I get that price can be relevant. Hope uses a similar stainless steel bearing that's pretty solid if its easier for you to get ahold of.
You should also grab a new crown race just incase they used some dumbass lower bearing bevel previously. This is the cane creek part number you want for a 52/30 crown race: BAA0463A for aluminum or BAA0009S if you want a steel crown race
The compression ring you'll want is part number AAA0001B.
If you do this, the only other thing to watch out for is the height of the new compression ring vs the old one. If the new one is taller, you'll be introducing a gap between the bearing cover and the headset cup that will allow shit to get in there, which isn't really the end of the world and you'll have the appropriate bearings for it, but it may mean replacing the upper bearing more frequently. If the old compression ring is taller (which it looks like it might be because the one you linked looks tall), than you'll want to snag some micro spacers that fit between the compression ring and top cover in order to make sure the top cover doesn't bottom out on the headset cup before you've finished applying the appropriate amount of preload. Cane Creek sells them, the part number is .HSS2050 or the .25mm spacers and .HSS2051 for the .5mm spacers if you need them. I'd grab 2 of each.
Background:
ZS56 upper is fairly uncommon these days, because pretty much nothing uses a straight 1.5 steer tube and everything is tapered or 1.125. They exist, but it hasn't been commonly used since around 2010-2012 range and now days it's mostly smaller brands mixing it up that bother with it. It did exist for a short time when DH bikes were still figuring out that 63 degree headangles were the appropriate HA and so there was a rush to send bikes out with head angle adjustable options by doing different cups, which it sounds like you have. Because of this, it could be hard to find an upper replacement headset and you may be best off with just doing bearings.
The 36/45 vs 45/45 goes back to when sealed headset bearings first were becoming a thing. A bunch of manufacturers went with 36/45, and campagnolo went 45/45. Now days it's pretty hard to find high quality 45/45 bearings, they're usually a pretty basic and moderately shitty bearing that will only last a few years if you ride in any sort of adverse conditions like rain, humidity, mud, etc. Should be fine if you live in the desert though. In this case though I'd just try and switch over to 36x45 and not look back.
Hope that helps
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Oh my god. This might be the quickest, longest and the most informative post I've ever got in internet. Thank you very much. 
The bike is 2022 model but I guess they made some very boutique choices in Malaga factory.
I did some measuring couple of days ago but not for the bearing.
The bike is 2022 model but I guess they made some very boutique choices in Malaga factory.
I did some measuring couple of days ago but not for the bearing.
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So thats the steerer tube and the top cover - the bearings you'll want to measure are the bearings with the black seal in image 12 (looks like you have a Cane Creek top cover and bearing with a green seal on the upper part of the picture, blue measuring background, and the stock top cover with black bearings. Measure the outer diameter of those bearings with the black seal and you'll have your answer on 41mm or 41.8mm
Make sense?
Make sense?
The bearings were 41mm. I ended up buying new Cane Creek 40-series bearings. To be able to use my unused Cane Creek top cover I had to put shims under it so that the seal works well.
Hopefully it now does what it's supposed to: be quiet and turn smoothly. Thanks William42 for the guidance!
Hopefully it now does what it's supposed to: be quiet and turn smoothly. Thanks William42 for the guidance!
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Thread Hijack---- Does anyone know if you can put an angle headset on a Giant Trance X advanced 29 SE? Thinking of buying one but with that 65.5 head angle, I am hesitant.
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