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The first headset on my Chisel FS lasted about 200 miles (the lower bearing got very rough).
Second headset lasted about 550 miles - better. It's not smooth anymore, so I'll strip it later today.
Out of interest, how long are yours lasting for purely MTB riding? I'm used to things lasting thousands of miles on the road bike, hence the question. 🤷♂️
Hope, or any other decent sealed bearing headset that is installed with plenty of grease- 1000+ km in most cases. Bottom one usually goes first but periodic cleaning and greasing helps.
If it's an Acros then about 1-2 rides. Anything else seems to last me pretty well, I had a Brand-X on my old bike that lasted a good few years, had no issues with the Brand-X on my current bike too (replaced an Acros which was creaking/clicking straight away).
Quality sealed ones can last a ridiculously long time tbh, doesn't even have to be expensive. All mine get FSA, Hope or Cane Creek (or Works, which is Cane Creek based). The fatbike inexplicably still has the original FSA bearings in it, that was a £500 bike and gets used in all sorts of terrible conditions and it's been fully underwater at least a couple of times, but it just keeps going.
To be fair I do less bad weather riding than I used to, but it's still Scotland.
I'm not a hard rider and don't do zillions of miles, but the FSA Orbit MX (1 1/8th external) on my Swift is in its eighth year, on the original cartridges & has never been serviced.
It's been out in all weathers & just keeps going.
I find i get two lower bearings to one top bearing
Ages, but the bottom will typically need replacing before the bottom and then you can just drop new bearings in. How and how often you wash your bike might make a difference
Varies, and the conditions it's been used in. I now pack new bearings with marine grease. If you've had a particularly wet/gritty winter ride, might be worth checking. As the MTB is SRAM, I have to pay more attention to the BB and Jockey wheels. Road bikes don't get half the crap thrown at them unlike MTB's.
Got an orbit xl in a zaskar never been touched in 20yrs and a raleigh maverick from 88ish still on original balls
Anything from 10 miles up.
The one on my retro MTB race bike is a WTB grease guard. That's pretty much original fit. That has got about 15-18 years of all weather riding, year round, plus another 6-7 years of high days and holidays, maybe 1000 miles a year?) and only had one replacement set of bearings when i restored it. It was still smooth with the originals, they were just a bit icky.
The one on my Canyon LUx lasted one slightly damp ride and started oozing rusty water across the crown of the £900 quid forks. That was an Acros, not even a cheap Acros, just a rubbish one. The Hope that replaced it is still going strong, untouched for 5 years so far, got a Hope headset in my Scott as well, that's 6 or 7 years old and still immaculate.
If you want proper longevity, i've got a Record 1" on my road bike which is still completely original, just gets a splash of grease once every couple of years. I fitted that in late 1997 when the bike was resprayed to team colours and it was then my go to ride for nearly 25 years, and for a good chunk of every year (when team bikes went back) was my only bike.
The trick is to dismantle everything when you get the bike and *Totally* fill all the cavities in the headset (top and bottom race) with some proper sticky grease, then reassemble and wipe the outside clean (even a spritz of degreaser/brake cleaner). Can get 3 or 4 years, even on a shit weather bike, like that. Only exception is CX bikes, they need doing every season.
Bottom one usually goes first but periodic cleaning and greasing helps.
I find i get two lower bearings to one top bearing
the bottom will typically need replacing before
Yup - twice now it was the bottom bearing. Same on my gravel bike, although I get two years out of that one before having to moan.
but periodic cleaning and greasing helps.
That's what I failed to do. I fitted it in February, and piled on the miles without realising. Should have done it when I did the air can service (I do that every 250 miles). It's an "FSA" headset, but I have no idea who makes the actual bearings.
There's no seal at the bottom - the main issue I think. Need to see what's out there that would be better protection.
I now pack new bearings with marine grease.
fill all the cavities in the headset (top and bottom race) with some proper sticky grease,
I packed around the bearings with NLGI 2 grease, probably not nearly thick enough then. The top bearing is still smooth, but I might as well replace both and get something really goopy in there. 👍
I chew through FSA headsets in a month or so.
Hope headsets on the other hand outlast the bike. The one on my Sherpa is now 5 years old and has done 10,000km.
Not bad considering it gets used in all weathers.
Depends on the headset type. Anything with proper cups seems to last MUCH longer than dropsets. My CK dropsets tend to get about 18m between services and maybe 5y max. My CK inset headsets are service free, older and still smooth.
Pretty sure the same Hope top bearing on my Solaris is on its second Solaris! Cotic put the headset in when I bought my mk1 in 2013, i think it had a couple of years rest in the shed while I tried an angleset, then it went in my SolarisMax where it still lives.
In that ten years of use I’m only on the second lower bearing.
I’m either on the original bearings or have had one of the pair replaced on my Levo after 6 years and 7500 miles in all weathers. I do tend to run a huge front mudguard almost all the time and I’ve washed the bike less than five times, and never with a pressure washer.
I've had FSA headsets last years and years and hope headset bottom bearings last 6 months.
Varies between 1 ride and 10 years+ depending on maintenance regime.
even cheaper ones can last a heck of a long time if maintained regularly.
obviously if you’re out in all weathers grease will need replacing more regularly than fair weather riding.
i never jetwash my bikes though, so ymmv.
Hope headset in my 2012 Yeti Arc is, along with the fork, the only original part, even the frame was replaced about 6 years ago. It was probably cleaned and greased on the frame swap and I might have done it myself once in those 13 years. Probably done about 4 or 5k miles
Cane creek headset here... Started creaking after 6 months but I've popped the seals off and added fresh grease at least once a year and it's still going strong 6 years later.
Bottom bearing on Spesh from factory aren’t good. I’ve just had to replace them on my Crux, which doesn’t see that much wet weather use, after only 12 months. Hoping the new stainless one with additional prep will last much longer.
All mine are either Hope or Chris King.
I only ever get a new one if there is a compatibility issue with a new frame otherwise they just get swapped over. Headsets should not be a consumable any more
Hope, some FSA (orbit Xtreme pro), that sort of thing with seals and good bearings - years. Acros - minutes. Everything else - somewhere in-between. Oddly a Cane Creek 40 was closer to Acros than Hope...which I didn't expect.
I have a Superstar Components 44mm headtube external cup headset that's been on my Surly Krampus since new - Jan 2013 - so over 12 years old now. I've been pretty lazy with maintenance, but the bearings have been greased 2 or 3 times.
Posting this will, of course, mean that it dies within days 😆
I have a Superstar Components 44mm headtube external cup headset that's been on my Surly Krampus since new - Jan 2013 - so over 12 years old now. I've been pretty lazy with maintenance, but the bearings have been greased 2 or 3 times.
Posting this will, of course, mean that it dies within days 😆
I know - only the other week, I was telling a friend how the new headset lasted longer than the old one. 😂
I don't jet wash, I use a brush and bucket (no sponge), and rinse with hose/rose thingy from a few feet. Not sure what else I can do. 🤷♂️
30 years and counting (USA made, you can guess which one).
5 years and counting (Enduro/Hope).
3 months was the worst one, one very wet spring (CaneCreek).
6 months (Acros).
TBH i've tried that, stripping new bikes with crap headsets down and assembling them properly. Doesn't often work.depending on maintenance regime.
Got a Hope on one bike that is going to outlast the frame - currently 3yrs and counting. Only repacked with grease once (not even a seal removal, just slapped more grease when I re-fitted the fork).
Same story with a brand-x on the other bike. Switched out an across headset after a few months that basically destroyed itself over a summer from new.
I'd second that. Hope headset has done '000s of kms over 25 years. Still runs like new. BUt then I never ever Jet wash my hubs, headset or bottom bracket areas.
I'm not expecting great things from the FSA on my cheapish gravel bike. Checked it yesterday, only done 400 miles and there's rusty gunk in the bottom race and the seals are falling apart.
FSA and CK on the other bikes have been fine, though.
Several 1000's of km. Or the lifetime of the bike.
The Hope one on my Cotic is from 2008, and it's only seen daylight once when I swapped the forks out. Got a wipe down and a bit more grease, and put back together.
The Hope one on my gravel bike is similar, but I've never dropped the forks out or serviced it in its entire life (so about 2010), and now it's my all weather commuter.
Massively dependent on how wet your riding is. Even the OEM Acros in my Vitus that everyone complains about is lasting well because it's my 'nice' bike and rarely / never sees wet trails.
And whether you wash your bike. Every few years I got through a phase of thinking my bikes must be spotlessly clean, buy some muck-off, and without fail all the bearings need replacing a few months later. Then I go back to warm water, car shampoo and a sponge and magically bearings go back to lasting longer.
Cane Creek 40 series seem to be the sweetspot. Although with n+1 bikes then cheap FSA ones seem to be perfectly adequate on all but the gravel bike which seems to see the worst of the wet weather. And that has a straight steerer so I just buy the same cheap FSA headsets to get 2 bearings and just replace the lower one every few thousand miles!
Hope, or any other decent sealed bearing headset that is installed with plenty of grease- 1000+ km in most cases.
I think this and anyone saying similar numbers just proves my theory that washing bikes is bad. People don't set off on the HT550 with a spare headset. Ergo the number of rides (and therefore washes) must be at least as big a factor in component life as simple miles.
And whether you wash your bike. Every few years I got through a phase of thinking my bikes must be spotlessly clean, buy some muck-off, and without fail all the bearings need replacing a few months later. Then I go back to warm water, car shampoo and a sponge and magically bearings go back to lasting longer.You used muck off, therefore your headset failed. And FWIW my bikes are *always* spotless and i've never bought any muck off cleaner. Mild degreaser and hot soapy water is more than enough, even for the CX bikes.
I think this and anyone saying similar numbers just proves my theory that washing bikes is bad.Nope. Just proves that washing bikes badly or with unsuitable cleaners is no good for them. That Record headset equipped bike up there probably has 250000 km on the frame, headset and seatpin (even the fork has been replaced twice), has done a few minor classics over the years, premier calendar events, couple of national tours, been ridden through (many) British winters, ridden in all weathers and was cleaned at least once (probably twice) a week all the time it was being used regularly. (1997 to about 2019).
Almost all my bikes are treated the same way.
Nope.
That's a long argumentative way of saying you agree "warm water, car shampoo and a sponge and magically bearings go back to lasting longer." 😂
Oh, that's the other one, friend of mine *always* used to clean their bike upside down, that kills headsets in no time at all. The water/soap/degreaser running down (up?) the fork legs and sitting against the "seal".
Since they stopped doing that, headsets are lasting several years.
Did you read your post? Washing bikes doesn't damage headsets. Spraying horrible shitty crap (possibly under pressure) into the bearings does, that's not washing a bike. That's deliberately damaging it.That's a long argumentative way of saying you agree "warm water, car shampoo and a sponge and magically bearings go back to lasting longer." 😂
Did you read your post? Washing bikes doesn't damage headsets. Spraying horrible shitty crap (possibly under pressure) into the bearings does, that's not washing a bike.
You appear to be arguing with a straw man here, the only other person to mention pressure washing was someone else, and they agree with us, don't do it 😂
Quality sealed ones can last a ridiculously long time tbh, doesn't even have to be expensive. All mine get FSA, Hope or Cane Creek (or Works, which is Cane Creek based). …
To be fair I do less bad weather riding than I used to,
this is my experience. Replaced a few Oem headsets on low end bikes but once I started building up frame sets and fitting Ck/hope never had to replace one.
nor recently on any Oem factory fit in recent years. Needed a new top cap on a canyon cane creek because the seal got mashed (bad design) and the acros on our Orbeas have been fine (3 years on the e bikes)
but I avoid riding in filthy conditions and live in the south.