How is important is a medium-range headset?

July 2, 2017 6:10 PM

I'm rebuilding a commuter on a old steel frame that I stripped and epoxied, and spread for modern wheelset, and now that I have so many more choices about small specific things I've never given a second thought before. Mainly, why are headsets so expensive, and why can't I just pick up one from the bin at my bike coop?

I have a 1" threaded steel fork fork currently that I might have stretched improperly, and if my LBS can't adjust it, I'll be springing for the Nashbar 1" threadless carbon ($56 w/ coupon!) However, now i have to pick a headset.

So many brands, so many prices. I'm getting a blockage because I can't start mounting brakes/shifters until handlebars are in, and I can't do that until i'm sure of my posture with my new system.

I know I'm not going to buy a Chris King headset, but why is a Cane Creek EC30 almost $60 but one at my coop is almost free? Is this really important? Please help my decision paralysis.

posted by tedious to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

A few reasons the one at your co-op is almost free:

1. It's not worth the co-op's time to price each headset individually. Some of them will be useless ("indexed steering") and some of them will be quite fine.
2. Most of them will be heavier than the state of the art, but that's probably not a priority for you.
3. You'll probably need to clean them up a bit, which may not matter for you but would be a significant fraction of the price difference if you were paying for professional labor.
4. Prices reflect both supply and demand. Enough people will pay more for a new headset that manufacturers can get away with charging more.
5. Your co-op might well be subsidizing your parts, if, e.g., it is a non-profit partially funded by grants.

posted by d. z. wang at 6:41 PM on July 2, 2017

That Cane Creek headset is going to have sealed bearings - what about the one from your bike coop? Most of the stuff I found for free was loose balls in a race - and sometimes the race was pretty worn, too. Also, maintenance for loose ball headsets is more complicated, they required adjustment, and are generally kind of a pain in the ass.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:04 PM on July 2, 2017

I've been down this road many times. The Cane creek is 60 dollars because it's...new. It's 30 bucks wholesale and 60 retail. Used bike parts that aren't "prestige" types of parts like a King or other recognizable names generally have pretty low resale values especially somewhere like a bike co-op that doesn't have the labor to categorize and photograph them for wider resale. Looking at that frame, looks like a 70's Raleigh I'm guessing, the nashbar fork is probably a good bit shorter than the original one, which will change the geometry a bit. Lower the bottom bracket and steepen the head tube and seat tube angles. Doesn't always matter but..sometimes it does. If it was me I'd make a point to keep the original fork. It's not called a "frameset" for nothing. Also I'm not sure what you mean by "stretched" WRT to the original fork but I doubt you did anything that could really hurt it, unless you actually crashed it or something.
posted by miles at 10:06 PM on July 2, 2017

Headsets are the kind of thing that people mostly never even buy once, largely because they're nigh-indestructible (see below) and a pain in the ass to install and remove. Even the serious "I built my bike" people typically have one already in the frame when they get it, and just leave it there. I doubt there's really a market for them, hence the high new prices and "screw it, just take one" used.

You also totally can just use the free one if you can get one that fits. The headset does not take any real forces in the direction of rotation, and as such, they tend not to wear out even when horribly neglected.
posted by Dr.Enormous at 11:15 PM on July 2, 2017

Best answer: That is a beautiful frame that you have there. For that reason (as well as to preserve the geometry), in your shoes I would try hard to keep the original fork - looking at the lugs elsewhere on the frame, I'm guessing that they'll be equally elaborate at the fork crown, and you want to keep that if you can. All these aesthetic decisions are very personal, but if it was me I would not be going for a carbon fork on that frame, just because of the visuals. So yes, get advice from your LBS about any damage the fork might have taken when you were stretching it. Steel is more forgiving than any other frame material, so maybe you got away with it.

You don't need to go to Chris King crazy prices, but don't cheap out on your headset. In context of your likely overall budget for the whole build, IMHO it's not worth worrying about price difference between a half-decent headset with cartridge bearings from a respectable brand, and a no-name loose-bearing indexed-steering headset. You only ever want to fit one, so do it right. Taking a headset apart to regrease it not something I like to do often, and loose bearings with insufficient lube will wear the bearing races - esp. on the bottom, where rain & grit from the road can get thrown up & wash out the grease - and it's the bottom cup & crown race that's taking all your weight. So, cartridge bearings every time for me, because they run for longer with less servicing. Way more information than you really need here, on Sheldon Brown.

When I built my bike about 5-6 years ago, I tossed out the stock headset that came with the frame on aesthetic grounds, and used a threadless sealed-bearing headset from VP Components (like this but different colour). Aside from the brand name it's indistinguisable (to me) from the more expensive Cane Creek-branded equivalent. I also went to my LBS to get it fitted, because a headset press is not a tool that I need to own. At the same time, I asked them to tap & face the bottom bracket shell, which may/may not need doing on your frame, depending on what condition it's in.
posted by rd45 at 1:46 AM on July 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: My LBS straightened back the dropouts from my attempted home surgery, so everything is copacetic.

Speaking of aesthetics, is it worth it to try a 1" to 1.125" converter to find more common stem length choices? Not that quills aren't cute...

VP Comp makes it a bit difficult to find EC30s and almost no one seems to stock the two they do currently have. I'll have to do a bit more digging.

Unrelated: Color theory questions; Black stems or silver stems? Sorry if this is getting too chatfilter...
posted by tedious at 8:51 AM on July 3, 2017

I have a 1980s bike that I converted into a fixed/single speed bike. I opted to get an adapter so that I could use modern clamp on stems. Kind of an aesthetic choice more than anything. If you have access to a good range of quill stems or the one you have is a good size, I think it's fine to stick with quill ones.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:41 PM on July 3, 2017

On a bike of this vintage, IMO it should be a quill stem & so no converter needed. Silver not black, to match your frame finish. Personally, I love a Nitto stem.
posted by rd45 at 4:10 AM on July 4, 2017

Response by poster: Headset update. I decided to go with a black stem since it would match my headset. For some reason before, i put the wheel on, it felt a bit stiff to move, but now it feels fine and smooth.

For whatever reason, no cap came with with the stem extender, but i have no idea how those work. I'm guess the next step is to go the LBS and get properly sized, then order whatever length that is. We don't have a lot of 1.125" stems :/

Aesthetic check: i think fender color should match frame, so silver/anodized. y/n?
posted by tedious at 10:42 PM on July 8, 2017