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Right, I'll be expecting feedback from VWSurfbum among others...

My Rocky Mountain Element 930 needs some lovin... she needs (or I want to give her) a new doo... that is to say a nice nice headset.

She's got a fairly basic (and rotten) Cane Creek 10 series at the moment and I wanted to give her a little bling so I've been looking at:

Hope
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/hope/tapered-headset-ec027416

Chris King (this is my preference as I want the red one...)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/chris-king/tapered-1-1-8-top-15-headset-ec028177

They are also going on about headsets that let you change the head angle... not sure what that is all about but almost definitely not something I am going to need... is it?

So there we are... what headset?

Hope headsets have proven super reliable and it's generally easy to get spares so you don't have to go through the pain of removing the cups.

I've not used Chris King headsets though.

Don't forget Superstar do headsets... I'm going to be fitting one to my 29'er today hopefully... And it's a sealed unit so no rusty bits after a week of wet weather riding...

If you want to spend vast amounts then get a Chris king or Hope... Great both of them.....

I did think about Superstar but there's such a cost difference that I was thinking Superstar may not be the best idea.

The Hope & Chris King units are a little more expensive but my hope is that they would last longer.

Lets face it, I've had entry level Cane Creek since day 1 and that is comparable to Superstar in terms of cost.

I suppose the better question is should I bother paying the extra for Hope/Chris King?

The only thing with Chris King's is to make sure you get the head tube reamed to ensure perfect top and bottom cup alignment otherwise you may get creaking, which is a pain to resolve. Chris King headsets don't use a compression ring that is why. I would go with a Hope one. Been considering one myself as they're around £67 for the standard one I'd need and more bling can do no harm!

I'm leaning towards the Hope one - especially after what you just said (that I didn't really understand) about the Chris King one...

Actually I might be wrong on the Chris King one as long as you're buying new: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/e ... 011-27701/

Hmm. Jamie is fitting his Superstar headset now so I'll see what he says.

The Chris King hubs that a mate has are bullet proof and that's why they were on my list of possibilities but as I say I do have to look at it and think will 'I' get any benefit from a £140 headset over a £40 one...

I do loves my Element but £100 is a good 5 or 6 bottle of rum!

I'm going for the vp Chris king copy next comes in about £35

Yeah I know what you mean, plus I've just seen the standard Hope headset for £60 at Wiggle, that makes it a much more viable than Chris King. Unfortunately SuperStar have sold out of 1 1/8" Headesets apart from the Uno. Be careful with my tools Jamie!

Tools fine Eccles

All fitted in and lovely and smooth operation....





Lovely

Chris king all the way everything else is a false economy. Buy right n' buy once..

Looking good chatman I have a headset press do you have a proper removal tool ?
I like the idea of sealed bearings especially with all the slop in the winter and fork removal must be easier

I like fit and forget as well but you could get 5 superstars for a chris king.
So if you replaced it every other year that's 10 years(how long will you keep the frame?) and it should last more than that and if you get a new frame a new colour scheme a new headset is cheap as chips and you know how your headset works
I'm also maintenance light quick wash touch of lube done if I had expensive components I would have to strip down the bike more often

Adam I used the tools from Rob (Eccles) so press tool and removal tool.. Makes the job so much easier