Why upgrade headset

Helping avoid removing earbuds from ear or dealing with tangles wires, 4 Long Battery Life Efficient and low power consumption chips bring longer battery life. It can lasts up to 4h music time, 6h talking time, 1. Rate Product. Have doubts regarding this product? Post your question. Safe and Secure Payments. Easy returns. Back to top. The top bearing interfaces with a slotted conical compression ring.

As preload is applied, the compression ring effectively gets wedged between the top bearing and the steerer tube, tightening around the steerer as preload is applied and the slot closes. This secures the steerer tube with respect to the top bearing. On high-end headsets, the compression ring is often a captive element of the headset cap that sits on top of the headset to seal it from the elements.

With preload applied, the stem can be tightened, clamping things in place. There are a few different types of threadless headset available, but they all follow the same basic assembly principle. The differences are mainly in how the bearings are fitted into the frame. This is the original threadless design.

The bearings sit in external bearing cups, and the bearing cups are pressed into the top and bottom of the head tube. The bearings are generally a transition fit inside the headset cups.

That means that while they can still be removed by hand with some force, they sit snugly inside their seat. The bearings generally have a conical interface with the cup, which helps secure and locate the bearing inside the cup when preload is applied. Some manufacturers such as Chris King choose to press fit the bearings inside the headset cups.

As above, the bearings sit in cups, but these, in turn, sit inside, rather than proud of, the head tube, with only a small lip protruding to locate the cup and prevent it being pressed all the way inside the head tube. In order to accommodate the bearings inside the cup, the head tube has a larger overall diameter. A side-effect of this is that larger diameter tubing can be used, resulting in increases in stiffness of the frame in this area.

An integrated headset does away with the bearing cups, with the bearings dropped into pre-shaped seats at either end of the head tube — the head tube takes over the duties of the bearing cups. Instead, the head tube is bored with conical seats. When preload is applied, these angled seats result in the bearings self-aligning, as well as securing them in place, creating a rigid assembly.

It has been claimed this configuration is a cost-saving measure on behalf of manufacturers. Rather than pressing a bearing cup into the frame, the bearing can simply be dropped in during assembly. It also appears to allow slightly more relaxed manufacturing tolerances, though it is critical the two bores are machined concentrically and on the same axis for good fitting of the headset. The standard angle for the conical bore is 45 degrees.

In some cases, the seats may be machined out square with respect to the head tube and inserts can then be pressed in with the required contact angle. Conceptually, the zero stack and integrated bearing arrangements could also be adapted to threaded headsets as well. Some head tubes use a mix of different designs, for example, an external cup at the bottom and a semi-integrated design at the top.

Forks have traditionally been fitted with a crown race near the crown of the fork. Originally, loose ball bearings were used for the headset, and this provided a hardened and precisely machined surface for the balls to roll on. As mentioned, nowadays, with the common use of cartridge bearings, this part is strictly speaking a seat given that the races are integral to the cartridge bearing.

Crown races are often headset specific, with many different variations of the precise dimensions and interface with the bearings. Therefore, if you are swapping a headset, you will probably need to swap the crown race on the fork. Cartridge bearings also allow for split crown races to be used, easing installation. Because the crown race acts as a seat, it can be slotted without negative impact, allowing it to be opened up to loosen the fit when installing or removing it.

The use of cartridge bearings has also allowed for the development of integrated crown races. An integrated crown race is simply a steerer tube that has been shaped to mate precisely with the outer race of the headset bearing.

This takes over the duties of the crown race that would have been installed before. The other key part to consider is the steerer diameter. Tapered steerer tubes are the most common arrangement on modern bikes. This attempts to provide the best of both worlds, with a wide crown that provides improved steering stiffness, with a tapered top section that saves a little weight.

This is found on both mountain bikes and road bikes. This allows designers to increase stiffness here, with the top tube kept relatively skinny to improve riding comfort and reduce weight.

Thankfully, there is a standard of sorts for headsets to help navigate you through the array of parts, and — moreover — the names of parts on the market. The number is given in whole millimetres, but does not always correspond exactly to the dimensions of the bore.

Nov 9, view s 5 people thought this was helpful. This tool enables you to upgrade and check your headset firmware through your web browser. It automatically checks your headset model and current firmware version.

It gives you the option to upgrade your headset when there is a newer firmware version available. Use the following table as a guide: Table 1. Before you begin.

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