Chris King retailer in UK?

Duncan Smith said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Duncan

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com said:

Duncan Smith said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas?

Quoted message said:

Many thanks,

Quoted message said:

Duncan

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

"Duncan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com said:

Duncan Smith said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas?

Quoted message said:

Many thanks,

Quoted message said:

Duncan

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

I am of the opinion that your conclusion is fallacious. The headset is a
precision engineered component with mating precision parts. A spacer is a
spacer and even with tolerances to size at ten times the tolerance of the
parts in the headset would still most likely be fit for purpose.

MJP

"Duncan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Think about the engineering involved and where the problems will be.
Headset : bearings, seals, and stuff to hold them in place. Lots of chances
to use lower quality bearings, bits which don't fit as well, etc.

Spacer : ring of metal (or CF if you're feeling posey :-) ). Even I could
probably make a straight spacer...

Of course if it's looks you're after, that's a different game.

cheers,
clive

Clive George said:

"Duncan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Think about the engineering involved and where the problems will be.
Headset : bearings, seals, and stuff to hold them in place. Lots of
chances to use lower quality bearings, bits which don't fit as well, etc.

Spacer : ring of metal (or CF if you're feeling posey :-) ). Even I
could probably make a straight spacer...

Are you sure? Those are very special spacers according to their website,
I cite:

Spacers are an important link in properly setting up your headset. While
used to adjust the height of your stem, they transfer important
alignment from the bottom of your stem to the top of the headset.
Lacking exactness, there will be little you can do to achieve and
maintain proper adjustment. While spacers are simple in their design and
duty, there is no more room for compromise here than in our other
components.

Our precision headset spacers are made to the same exacting standards as
our headsets. Each spacer is lathe-cut from high-grade aluminum bar
stock in a single operation ensuring exactness of size, concentricity,
and parallel surfaces. Many of the other headset spacers available in
the market are saw-cut from a tube resulting in variances of these
all-important tolerances. This is especially true with the now popular
carbon fiber headset spacer. Fashionable? Yes. Precision? Questionable.
In addition to sizing variances, carbon fiber has poor qualities in
compression, which is what it is subject to during adjustment and from
trail forces as the bicycle is ridden. We believe that this is an
impractical material to specify spacers to be made from when our 3mm
spacer weighs just 2.5 grams by the way.

Geezzz.

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

"Lou Holtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are you sure? Those are very special spacers according to their website, I
cite:

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Geezzz.

Lou

I think the "squareness" of the spacer is important to maintain correct
alignment of the headset bearing (i.e. the height of the spacer needs to be
perpendicular to the diameter of the spacer), but this is not hard to do
Having used an el-cheapo front canti brake cable guide that fitted on the
fork steerer column, I had trouble making sure the alignment of the bearing
headset was square until I measured the height of the cable guide all around
its circumference and found that it was not constant.

Lou Holtman said:

Clive George said:

"Duncan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

> "Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
> to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Think about the engineering involved and where the problems will be.
Headset : bearings, seals, and stuff to hold them in place. Lots of
chances to use lower quality bearings, bits which don't fit as well, etc.

Spacer : ring of metal (or CF if you're feeling posey :-) ). Even I
could probably make a straight spacer...

Are you sure? Those are very special spacers according to their website,
I cite:

Spacers are an important link in properly setting up your headset. While
used to adjust the height of your stem, they transfer important
alignment from the bottom of your stem to the top of the headset.
Lacking exactness, there will be little you can do to achieve and
maintain proper adjustment. While spacers are simple in their design and
duty, there is no more room for compromise here than in our other
components.

Our precision headset spacers are made to the same exacting standards as
our headsets. Each spacer is lathe-cut from high-grade aluminum bar
stock in a single operation ensuring exactness of size, concentricity,
and parallel surfaces. Many of the other headset spacers available in
the market are saw-cut from a tube resulting in variances of these
all-important tolerances. This is especially true with the now popular
carbon fiber headset spacer. Fashionable? Yes. Precision? Questionable.
In addition to sizing variances, carbon fiber has poor qualities in
compression, which is what it is subject to during adjustment and from
trail forces as the bicycle is ridden. We believe that this is an
impractical material to specify spacers to be made from when our 3mm
spacer weighs just 2.5 grams by the way.

Geezzz.

Lou

I guess this means we' ll have to wait untill a CK stem <--insert 5
paragraphs here on how the the stembore is created exactly square to the
bottom with a genius not available to lesser mortals while
simultaneously respecting the environment and driving around in V10
pickup trucks....--> becomes available before we can experience the true
precision promised by these exacting spacers 😉

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

Jambo said:

"Lou Holtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Are you sure? Those are very special spacers according to their website, I
cite:

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Geezzz.

Lou

I think the "squareness" of the spacer is important to maintain correct
alignment of the headset bearing (i.e. the height of the spacer needs to be
perpendicular to the diameter of the spacer), but this is not hard to do

That's the only important spec. Anyone can do that using a lathe.
Concentricity?
High-grade aluminum bar stock?
Carbon fiber has poor qualities in compression?
Saw-cut from a tube?

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Think about the engineering involved and where the problems will be.
Headset : bearings, seals, and stuff to hold them in place. Lots of chances
to use lower quality bearings, bits which don't fit as well, etc.

Spacer : ring of metal (or CF if you're feeling posey :-) ). Even I could
probably make a straight spacer...

Of course if it's looks you're after, that's a different game.

Quite, I'd sourced the CK headset as quality kit 'cause of issues I'm
having with my current unit and it fits my requirements well. One
might as well have the colour and finish of the spacers to match up.

Regards,

Duncan

Duncan Smith said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Quoted message said:

Think about the engineering involved and where the problems will be.
Headset : bearings, seals, and stuff to hold them in place. Lots of chances
to use lower quality bearings, bits which don't fit as well, etc.

Quoted message said:

Spacer : ring of metal (or CF if you're feeling posey :-) ). Even I could
probably make a straight spacer...

Quoted message said:

Of course if it's looks you're after, that's a different game.

Quite, I'd sourced the CK headset as quality kit 'cause of issues I'm
having with my current unit and it fits my requirements well. One
might as well have the colour and finish of the spacers to match up.

Regards,

Duncan

Make sure the headtube is facxed and the spacers will work just
fine....

$200 US for that HS..yowser and thanks George for allowing the $ to
slide so much vs the Euro and Pound...makes US products cheaper and
keeps all the yankees home.

Duncan Smith said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Duncan

You can't get the spacers in the UK, but I got mine (yeah, I'm a poser
and wanted spacers to colour match my Mango CK headset) from
http://www.aspirevelotech.com and with the weak dollar you'd be better
getting the headset from them too, $129 is GBP65 and free shipping.
Mine came inside a week and with no import duty/VAT to pay, although
you might not be so lucky so you might have to pay the Post Office
about twenty quid.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas?

Quoted message said:

Many thanks,

Quoted message said:

Duncan

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

No, the logical conclusion would be not to use a bike at all until Chris
King decides to come out with a stem, since it's far more likely you'll have
tolernace issues with the facing of the stem than you will with spacers.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Duncan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com said:

Duncan Smith said:

There are plenty of UK websites that offer the Chris King NoThreadSet
headset (for about £100 if you shop around), but I haven't found
anywhere that can supply the spacer kit as well.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas?

Quoted message said:

Many thanks,

Quoted message said:

Duncan

"Spacer kit"? Just use any aluminum headset spacer..no need for them
to be 'Chris King'..

Guess not. But if I follow that to its conclusion I could just use
any alu headset.

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com said:

$200 US for that HS..yowser and thanks George for allowing the $ to
slide so much vs the Euro and Pound...makes US products cheaper and
keeps all the yankees home.

nothing to do with exchange rates, everything with markup as US retail =
Europe wholesale! RRP for a simple headset is $220 ex 19% salestax here.

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

Quoted message said:

You can't get the spacers in the UK, but I got mine (yeah, I'm a poser
and wanted spacers to colour match my Mango CK headset) fromhttp://www.aspirevelotech.comand with the weak dollar you'd be better
getting the headset from them too, $129 is GBP65 and free shipping.
Mine came inside a week and with no import duty/VAT to pay, although
you might not be so lucky so you might have to pay the Post Office
about twenty quid.

Good answer! Thanks.

M-gineering said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com said:

$200 US for that HS..yowser and thanks George for allowing the $ to
slide so much vs the Euro and Pound...makes US products cheaper and
keeps all the yankees home.

nothing to do with exchange rates, everything with markup as US retail =
Europe wholesale! RRP for a simple headset is $220 ex 19% salestax here.

Quite a lot to do with exchange rates; the UK price of the CK headset
was the same when the pound was at $1.40, which was fair enough, but
importers/wholesalers/retailers haven't adjusted to the new GBP=$2
reality.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

Lou Holtman said:

Geezzz.

:-)

It's a bike, not a Pentium processor. If the bars turn freely, there's
no play and it doesn't come loose, it's all right.

Kinky Cowboy said:

Quite a lot to do with exchange rates; the UK price of the CK headset
was the same when the pound was at $1.40, which was fair enough, but
importers/wholesalers/retailers haven't adjusted to the new GBP=$2
reality.

They have adjusted...now they think "Ker-ching!" with every sale...