The Bike that Phill Built: Headset

The headset is a small, yet expensive mechanism that allows for the smooth turning of the front wheel. They are extremely important because this is the single area on your bike where the most shock is experienced by the smallest amount of surface. A cheap headset will need the bearings to be repeatedly replaced.

A headset - its only 2.9 cm high!

I looked a few different brands but finally decided on the cane creek S8 B11e. I had to make sure the headset was a threadless 1-1/8" (from frame specs).

size	1 1/8 in. (28.6 mm)
material	6061 T-6 Aluminum
weight	99.4 g (excl. spacers and preload assembly)
upper bearing	Stainless Steel ACB

The headset pulled apart, the back row is the lower cup and front row the upper cup - from the right to left we have the casing, cartridge bearings (silver circular thingies), a seal to stop dirt and muck, and finally some sort of lid

This piece will have to be put on professsionally as the top of the fork needs to be cut to size and the fitting of the headset is very technical.

This is where the headset will be installed

This little sucker is worth over $200 but I scoured Ebay and found a brand new headset for $77.50 including postage and handling. Once it arrived i had it checked by Phil Byron to ensure I wasn't ripped off by a counterfeit. Apparently its Kosher (there were official stamps on the bearings)!

The full model

Cane Creek S8 Headset B11e = $77.50

Total
Frame Set $1099+
Wheel Set $ 495
Handlebars $135
Headset $77.50
$1806.50