whats the deal with Chris King Headsets?

[guitarsark]

Someone told me that it's the best upgrade i can do to my bike. Is this true?? I have a Gary Fisher Sugar 2. steering feels a bit loose. will it make a difference or just a bunch of hype??

[C.P.]

Try fixing the loose headset first. If steering still "loose" check other front end stuff before you lay out cash for a headset...check fork stantions/seals,wheel spoke tension etc...

RE: ChrisKing. They are pretty much the standard for headsets of the highest quality. Once you install a King - you can forget about it. You pay a high price for king quality 100bucks-plus. That said I don't neccesarily agree that a King Headset "is the best upgrade you can do to your bike" - thats quite a subjective blanket statement.

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

if none of those tune ups work, check your axels, hubs, and see if your fork drop outs are ovalized

Chris King Headsets FINEST AVAILABLE!
Excellent upgrade....It is only money!
The only headset with a 10 year warranty!
Plus they look cool....

Chris KIng is nice but you can get decent quality at half the price

[SloMoJo]

Hi Karen,
Couple days ago I ordered a Chris King headset at Jensonusa.com for $89. quite an upgrade from the original $10 one I have. ::)

Karen...you posted about shock upgrades too.
I just got a better front fork. I'm now convinced that is the best upgrade for a bike. What a difference! Certainly more pleasurable than a new headset. ;)

As the guys said....your steering should not be loose even with what you have. My steering was loose after my NJ trip. I had to loosen the stem, tighten the screw on top of the headset then retighten the stem....then it was snug again.
Good Luck
-Slo

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

I agree, when I got a new bike, my fox vanilla felt A LOT better than a 73mm elastomer fork but I noticed no difference in how smoothly my bars would spin when I got a significantly nicer headset (cane creek compared to generic)

[knucklebuste]

Yeah everyone goes nuts about CK, but for me it's usually about the money, as when I'm building a bike, like my new one, I don't have much left for a real nice headset caus I've wasted all my money on other high end stuff. Yeah it's nice to have if you got $100 bucks spent on it, but I've been using cheap ones. I have a $23 FSA Pig, with unsealed bearings :-X
Keep the thing clean and greased and it's fine. I think it depends on how much work you want to do. For me, it takes all but 10 minutes time to take off the fork and regrease and clean the thing. I guess with CK, you wont have to touch it again. Like I said, you must take into consideration the knucklebuster factor. How much you want to work on your bike. Knuckle

[CouchingTiger]

If you are replacing a headset because of necessity, and don't want to have to do it again, or worry about lubing or replacing bearings, then the King is the way to go. I've had tons of "sealed" and "cartridge bearing" headsets and the King are the best quality and have the best bearings, bar NONE.

All of the lesser name headsets (various Cane Creek models, RaceFace, Ringle, DiaCompe, Tioga, Shimano, etc.) that I've owned with sealed cartridge bearing or not have become contaminated and have needed either bearing repacks or replacements. King just work.

-Couch

[gungywump]

Chris King headsets & hubs are manufactured to aerospace specs. When Chris King was just getting started they couldn't find any bearing manufacturers that would make bearings that met their strict tolerances so, they make their own bearings. If you have an appreciation for precision components, they don't come with more precision than a King. Oh yeah, the 10year guarantee kicks ass as well. Buy a King and it will be the last headset you ever buy, or you can keep buying cheaper headsets.

[harosport]

I got a Chris King for my bmx cause I got sick of adjusting my shamano. I haven't touched it since(2 years). The cost easily overcame the aggrevation.