Road headset on mountain bike?

I have an old Specialized S-Works Steel that I've converted to a city bike. Now I'm having trouble
finding a new 1" mountain headset for
it. I'd rather not have to spend the bucks for a Chris King or something. Can I use a road
headset on it?

"Dave Smith" <orngcat-remove-@cox.net> wrote in message
news:i4lj8v02misq7hpha6mv9s2hjt5s7cfhec@4ax.com...
> I have an old Specialized S-Works Steel that I've converted to a city bike. Now I'm having trouble
> finding a new 1" mountain headset for
> it. I'd rather not have to spend the bucks for a Chris King or something. Can I use a road
> headset on it?

Headsets are headsets... The biggest difference between road and mtn are the "seals." More better
seals to keep the grunge out of the bearings on the mtn versions.

I like the Shimano sealed bearing headsets. Nice, light, durable, fairly inexpensive. If you've gone
threadless on this bike, try the Cane Creek C2.

Mike

On Tue, 01 Apr 2003 10:09:39 -0800, Dave Smith <orngcat-remove-@cox.net> wrote:

>I have an old Specialized S-Works Steel that I've converted to a city bike. Now I'm having trouble
>finding a new 1" mountain headset for
>it. I'd rather not have to spend the bucks for a Chris King or something. Can I use a road headset
> on it?

Yeah you could... especially any of the lower grade ones .. there is almost no difference at that
point ...but drop me an e-mail. I've got an unused XT headset circa '92 kicking around the basement
.. If your interested... $20 plus S&H ...(assuming I can find it )

"Mike S." <mikeshaw2@coxDOTnet> wrote in message news:5Rkia.54$sk.41@fed1read07...

> "Dave Smith" <orngcat-remove-@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:i4lj8v02misq7hpha6mv9s2hjt5s7cfhec@4ax.com...

> > I have an old Specialized S-Works Steel that I've
converted to a city
> > bike. Now I'm having trouble finding a new 1" mountain
headset for
> > it. I'd rather not have to spend the bucks for a Chris
King or
> > something. Can I use a road headset on it?
>
> Headsets are headsets... The biggest difference between
road and mtn are
> the "seals." More better seals to keep the grunge out of
the bearings on
> the mtn versions.

The most important seal is still the one that seals around the top locknut, keeping out sweat that
drips down on the stem. Good road headsets have this.

> I like the Shimano sealed bearing headsets. Nice, light,
durable, fairly
> inexpensive. If you've gone threadless on this bike, try
the Cane Creek C2.

In fact the Shimano ones are best, particularly for a rigid fork. This is because on long descents
under hard braking, the fork flexes fore and aft over bumps, rocking the lower bearing race, causing
fretting damage. Back in the days of lightweight rigid forks and 1" head tubes on mountain bikes,
headsets were treated almost as consumables. The Shimano design goes a long way toward curing the
problem. There's an article in the FAQ which explains this:

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8f.13.html

So get a Shimano headset, if you can.

Matt O.

orngcat-<< I have an old Specialized S-Works Steel that I've converted to a city bike. Now I'm
having trouble finding a new 1" mountain headset for
it. I'd rather not have to spend the bucks for a Chris King or something. Can I use a road
headset on it?

of course...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"