Weight
Customer Service
Smooth
Looks cool
Good Design

I inherited an S-5 headset as part of a bike I bought second hand. All the bearings in the bike needed to be rebuilt due to neglect and rough riding. Through doing this I noticed that the bottom sealed ball bearing cartridge had gotten contaminated. No big deal, just need to rebuild it. When I started looking into it, I realized the bearing was pressed into the cups. Not exactly sure how to get into it, I e-mailed Cane Creek for instructions on how to get to it. They responded with detailed instructions within 24 hrs. They also said to give them a call to talk about a replacement. The guy I talked to absolutely insisted on sending out a replacement even though I assured him that I thought that I could just rebuild it myself. He insisted and sent me out a new bottom assembly that I recieved inside of a week.

This is by far the best example of customer service I have ever seen in the bike industry. Most companies are so cocky about their stuff being "bombproof" that you must have abused the product for it to break. Cane Creek was timely, courteous and helpful regarding a product that I still am not sure was defective. That said, I am a Cane Creek devotee for life. I will buy CC stuff as long as they are pumping it out. I've got a set of Wam Chronos that are great and will buy another set if I can wear these out. I even bought one of the cool pint glasses off of their website as a result of the service.

Keep it up Cane Creek. Not only does your product rock. You stand behind it.

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Tioga
FSA

durable, it doesn't call attention to itself, therefore it's doing it's job. Plus, it wasn't that expensive. It turns smooth. It holds the bike steady, I can take my hands off the handlebars without worrying about my bike going out of control. I haven't had a problem with debris, dirt, or water getting into the head tube.

None so far

After reading all of the horrible reviews about the FSA and the conix problems, I decided that I wanted a hassle-free headset. Cane Creek has done the job.

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none

no need to even worry about installing.
$50 cheeper than a Chris King, but just a good.

None so far, even after 3 years of riding along the east coast with tons of salt exposure.

Great performance at a medium price. Just as good and dependable as a Chris king. I've had my bike a full three years now and this was the stock headset. I haven't had to re-adjust or perform any other service on it yet. I take a look at it once in a while when I rebuild my fork and have yet to see any corrosion or wear. Still as smooth as the day I bought it. I run chris kings on my other bikes that I built myself, but I might start going with these S5's because it's held up so well. Everyone should own one of these or a chris king. A good heaset will make a huge difference in the feel and stiffness of your bike. Don't go cheap on this component.

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Chris king

Excellent ano finsh

None

I agree with Bruce, the Cane Creed aheadset is servicable just like the King headset. If value is what you are looking for then go and buy yourself a Cane Creek aheadset. So far, I have'nt had to replace any bearings but I'll let you all know how it holds up within the next few months.

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Chris King, Ringle Slamma Jamma

Excellent cosmetic, price and customer service.

None

I just picked the C2 because I ran out of things to upgrade on my bike. I will give it a try in a few weeks and I will get back to this forum for the actual test. The product seems to be good! Time will tell. The folks at Cyclepath in Oakville especially Justin did an excellent job of installing this on my bike. Good work.

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Diacompe

Strong and rebuildable. Excellent customer service.

Original S-Series headsets could not be regreased

The original S-Series Diacompe headset was good for about 3 years. Moisture invaded the lower bearing and has caused it to lose lubrication and develop play and grinding. It was warranteed for 5 years. I returned it to Diacompe. They replaced it with the similar Cane Creek, except the Cane Creek bearings can be serviced just like my Chris King. I like the method of securing the headset to the steerer tube better than the Chris King. They are very comparable headsets and both companies have treated me very well. The Chris King is a very tried and true headset. The Cane Creek is probably a better value.

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Chris King

Inexpensive
Cartridge Bearings

No seals
Open cartridge bearings
Heavy

Just a warning-I bought the Cane Creek C2 headset by accident, I thought I was getting a great deal on their better h-set the S5. I noticed it wasn't the S5 immediately but was going on a road trip and my old h-set was crapped out. My riding buddies love their S5s, I've owned my C2 for two mos. and after only a couple of rides it needs to be repacked with grease.

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Dia Compe AL

I have had my Cane creek head set for the past year and it has been a year of
futsing with it. It always seems like it is too tight, I have loosened the stem loosened the cap, I've done just about every thing you can think of to get it
to feel good and it just wont. I would understand if it felt good at the start and has stiffened up, but it has always felt like this. I have decided to quit
messing with it and save up for the Chris King, which I have on my cyclo cross
and is well worth the cash, I say don't skim spend the dough on the King and you will be much happier with a headset that is worth it's cost.

Excellent Headset, good quality Bearings and seals do a damn fine job, easy to install and needs no maintenance!! Good price headset where you get what you pay for!! Full marks

I got this headset five months ago as a replacement for the rusty Dia-Compe that came with my bike. I have ridden about five or six hundred miles across all sorts of terrain that is mainly rough and really bumpy, and the headset has held up despite all the abuse that I have given it. I haven't had any creaking problems, either. So, in other words, THIS HEADSET IS THE BEST OUT THERE!!!!!!!