1" threaded Headset - which one?

hey guys,
hope this here is the right place for my question ;)

i'm looking for a good looking and reliable headset. i'm building up my (used) new orlowski and will show it off when i got the parts ;)

i know chris king is considered to be one of the best but it's pretty damn expensive. i'm just not willing pay over 100 quids for a headset.

any suggestions? would be cool if it had a classic look to it, like the "tange levin (NJS/NonNJS/Steel)".

thanks!

What's wrong with the Tange Levin? I've found it to be fine.

it looks like it's not sealed at all? and i'd say that's not soooo good.

and i don't get like the different versions, what's so different? just the tiny, tiny stamp?

Tange Levin is a good solution especially if you have a short amount of threading (low stack).

What about Stronglight A9? Or are they loose bearing/roller?

It has an o-ring inside the locknut, which should stop water running down the stem. Not sure about the bottom race, but then I use mudguards year-round. No idea about NJS vs. non-NJS, I just went for cheepz and it's fine so far.

I got a Tange passage after finding a Chris King 2nut was too tall, needed something with really short stack height (30mm).

It has plastic o-rings covering the space at both cups, hardly any gap. Cheap and feels well made.

i think i'm looking for a headset with 37-39mm stack height ;)

this one might for you http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tange-seiki-falcon-fl250c-1-inch-threaded-headset-silver-prod35037/#bottomsection

it's got 38mm

A9 is 38mm too.

Campagnolo record, stronglight a9 all have the right stack height. So does the more expensive shimano da 7410 headset.

Nothing wrong with tange headsets they work well But the stack is too short by a few mm.

Stronglight A9 is the needle bearing unit? Very high quality, and sealing is more than good enough for road/commuter use IMO, not good enough for a winter MTB or winter commuter that lives outside though, but then no loose ball would be that I can think of.

Cane Creak C1 were a fiver each on chain reaction last year, I bought 4 of them. Still on the first headset, think the lower cup is steel rather than alloy but it has a low/medium stack height, the same sealed cart bearings you see in just about all good (FSA/VP etc) 1" headsets and an extra little o ring seal on both cups. For a fiver, even for £20/25 I'd buy them all day long.

Stronglight A9 is the needle bearing unit?

Originally caged ball, then needle/roller and now cartridge.

Personally I'd avoid roller bearings, as a HS is the wrong application for them.

Aha, so A9 is now cartridge. Cheers @Scilly.Suffolk for clearing that up.

The silver, aluminium version is; the black, steel version still uses caged bearings.

Miche headseTs use needle roller bearings and i have one in my wet weather bike. It has seen thousands of miles of shitty weather and it still perfect. needle bearings are fine for headsets if it is a good one.

Not suggesting that roller bearings will fail catastrophically, but considering the loads a HS experience, they are inferior to ball bearings (whether loose, caged or cartridge).

Now cartridge?
Hmmm, may have to consider one of those, as finding a 6400 is proving difficult. Is it easy to spot the difference in bearing type when buying the A9?

bt

Yes, definitely cartridge (I've added links to my post above).

I don't know if there is a visible difference between the different versions, you'd have to ask the seller.

Cheers, just looked them up. Seem pretty similar to the roller bearing type I used to have.
May have to go for one of those instead

bt