MTB Headset Tech | Everything You Should Know About Mountain Bike Headsets

The headset is one of the most important parts of a bike! But understanding which standard you need can be confusing... And why do they keep changing? In this video, we take a look at everything you need to know about headset standards: past, present and what's coming up in the future! - ⏰ Time Stamps 👇
🔘 00:33 - Modern Headsets
🔘 01:12 - Traditional Headsets
🔘 05:34 - The A Headset
🔘 07:39 - A Headset Development
🔘 09:15 - Headset Standards Explained
🔘 10:52 - Steerer Tube Development
🔘 13:16 - Where Are We Today?
🔘 17:25 - What's The Future Of Headset Standards?
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[@drmoynihan]

Over the years I have had to deal with just getting my simple bikes greased up and rolling. I had no idea of the complexities that the pros were dealing with. I am glad that they have it all figured out and I can enjoy my "simple" tapered headset that still intimidates me. Thank you Doddy - glad there are guys like you to help guys like me.

[@Pillokun]

Nomnomnom, we need more, maybe brakes? dont forget the rimbrake with ceramic coated rims if you do... :)

[@randyjohnson7821]

With the help of your guides and this great history lesson I discovered (very luckily) that my 1993 Trek 8300 headset is indeed a Dia-Compe Aheadset and I'm in the process of upgrading the solid Cro-Moly fork to a Rockshox Recon suspended fork. It's pretty neat to think I've got a nearly 30 year old bike with tech on it that was the predecessor to most modern headsets and frankly lucky because I had already bought the fork without understanding well enough how the pieces fit together. And the pieces fit together!

[@ddahstan6876]

I love this guy. He's always thorough, genuiene and passionate! I feel so privileged learning from him...

[@lostboy8814]

Wow what a great tutorial on headsets thanks Doddy you're a star,that was very comprehensive mate,first class.

[@CommaCam]

These part-specific videos are really excellent Doddy. I appreciate the historical discussions and the comprehensive effort you're putting into these.

[@billywilliams8833]

Never heard of or had a threaded headset rattle loose as you said here, 40 years of Bmx, Road and Mtb riding. Also 2 brothers and a sister heavily involved in cycling and never a problem if tightened correctly!!

[@mikes4163]

820 likes, 0 dislikes. That's the first time I've seen a video with significant responses and no dislikes. You must be loved Doddy 😍

[@chriskelley2075]

I want to be like Doddy when I grow up! Outstanding Video, I remember the quill stems. Thanks so much for this incredible lesson on headsets.

[@newttella1043]

The guy I used to ride with had the cone wrenches screwed under his bottle cage. He was a life saver for many people on the trails. Even after he got a bike with threadless, he still mounted the wrenches under the cages for years for some reason.

[@molluscturtle]

Doddy could make a great lecturer - really explains things well.

[@chrisridesbicycles]

I think the history of tech brought into the industry by Gary Fisher might be worth a video.

[@djhillesq]

I second this.

[@MikhailSharpowicz]

I don't think we have time!!

[@moritzdo8305]

Sick, just went through the jungle of finding a new headset for my 2007 Cannondale Rush 3. Would helped a ton of this video would be out sooner. But I'm glad that all I found out was right.

[@stevenconnor4221]

That should have been me, i argued with other mtb or roadies in the 80s at the start of my engineering carrer for using catrige bearings and tapered head tubes. I got told its to heavy or loose bearings take less load per bearing.. ah i coulda been a millionare by now lol 😁

[@JoolsTurrall]

Great explanation, right amount of detail and covered a lot of years and changes of the headset. I am still riding my 97 Kona hei hei and knew it was an Aheadset but wasn't aware of more recent changes, just took my forks off for a service, after a long time sat in the garage unridden, and realised I need a new headset, the minefield of new headset types had me a wee bit confused. So this video has put me straight. Thanks

[@Erafune]

Perfect. Headset top and bottom has always been one of the most boring parts of the bike to get into. But now shopping for a new fork and figuring out if I can fit the same crown race and headsets to both my bikes (and how to remove the old one) to allow both forks on both bikes is soooo confusing.

[@frankthetankricard]

I've got some less than pleasant flashbacks to the threads getting shredded off those old threaded steerer forks we had when I was a kid. These were cheap department store bikes but they planted a deep seated hatred for the standard. Quill stems make me dizzy on sight. I still remember the screams of the material as we overtightened the stem to the point of what feels like friction welding in hopes that it will stay in place for a few days. Only to be rewarded with a crooked handlebar after just rolling off a curb.

[@MrPyadster]

Bought new hope headset not a clue how to fit it now i do you are a life saver 😎👍

[@Rustyfox46]

Brilliant Doddy!!! How those bearings have changed, the old ball bearings rolling around the garage floor, 🤣🤣

[@chrisridesbicycles]

Oh yes, in the bikeshop where I worked during university, we had drawers with spare balls of all sizes.

[@LooneyTune666]

Interesting to watch. How about the history of bottom brackets?

[@RadovanKrejci]

Brilliant. With history, one understands WHY things are the way they are. Thank you.

[@launisteemu]

Bravo! What an info about headsets. I am still standing and clapping my hands.

[@karlovuja]

Always been confused by headsets. Thought those model numbers were proprietary to certain brands. Thanks!

[@newttella1043]

The worse thing about headsets were that they rarely came with instructions. Some didn't come with crown races, or probably the shop had opened the box and misplaced it.

[@danielv6954]

Doddy, massive thanks! Just what I needed :). Building a "frankenbike" for the neighbor's kid :)

[@grantschmitt6098]

Speaking of Fankenbike, I have plans to remove threaded rigid fork with quill style bar mount from a classic Trek and upgraded it. Are these old forks likely to have 1.125 head tubes that are easily upgraded to thread less?

[@andrewince8824]

My Bolt uses a tapered IS headset and it's just a joy to work with.

[@scarboroughriders]

500 meter allen key! Holy jebus thats a big one doddy

[@brucewilliams259]

Perfect timing! My bike mechanic shied away from my headset but watching this I can’t see why. I will dismantle mine and note the kit I need to replace. Thanks #gmbn.

[@bongocat5223]

Very weird, headsets are one of the easiest parts to work on

[@stillwill1808]

You really delivered on this video. That was so much info so fast that was easy to digest and more interesting than headsets should be. I'm subscribed . Hope you made a bunch of these covering other components.

[@edwardrowland1853]

Very interesting, informative, with great attention to detail, excellent video for those interested in bikes.

[@maxipedia]

Nice work on the video, but pfff... come on, Doddy! You left the benchmark of headsets since the 70's out? I mean Chris King, of course! This guys was the first to make a sealed bearing headset when nobody was making one and he even started doing his own bearings, since he found the industry's offerings of the time subpar. You know that, how does he not make the cut??? I appreciate Cane Creek, I truly do, but King is on another level and has always been. As a kid from Romania, I would only dream of a King headset and eventually I got one. It was a turquoise 96'er and it went through a lot of frames and even more forks. I still have it. I actually have a little King collection these days, but that's a different story. Chris King was totally worthy of this video. Not to mention what an awesome humble person Chris is. Met him one year at EuroBike, probably 10 years ago. I tip my hat to him forever! Don't get me wrong, I like GMBN a lot and I know Doddy since his mag days, being surrounded here with stacks of Dirt Mag's and MBUK's, but disappointed that the single component that is the most benchmark benchmark of an entire industry just isn't here. Much love from Transylvania, otherwise! Mx

[@bobissik3478]

Wow! So much has become clear with this awesome video! Thank you!

[@RicardoPetrazzi]

The Hope Headset guide was invaluable to me! It is a great resource

[@chubscoi]

Finally!!! Found the answer if I can use a Tapered fork on my 44mm straight headtube

[@mattkavanaugh5623]

Great video. Doddy is the best! Walking through the history and evolution of the headset made it much easier to grasp the big picture and the system as a whole. Well done.

[@pakiw2]

Oh. Have "vintage" German bike from 90's, with 37mm tube diameter. What a pain to find anything. No headsets of any description, anywhere - non, zero. Had to source custom adapters which could accept 34mm headsets. 😁

[@stewheelie7874]

Great presentation, i have spent the last few days reading about headsets, this was a nice way of reconfirming my learning.

[@cefnonn]

The old quill stems weren't so bad. Their push-fit bearing races could be made to last by taking them out, turning them a quarter turn and refitting them in the head tube. All my bikes have quill stems and I'm of 'a certain age' : )

[@morlamweb]

"these [quill stems] were never completely tight". Ha! Tell that to the stem in circa-1989 GT Timberline Al Terra - steel stem, steel forks/steerer tube - that so wedged/rusted together that they're extremely difficult to get apart.

[@atomicdmt8763]

brilliant! I appreciate the comprehensive history

[@rcarroll3204]

Not sure if different size parts every 2 years is simpler than my old (now gone) bike with quill headset. Pictures did help getting the "new-simple" one apart. Mine is as one pictured but 9+ spacers, and factory grease included in new sealed bearings. p.s. God bless Sheldon Brown.

[@siwalder1618]

Perfect timing... literally the last part of my bike to upgrade

[@AlBorland3877]

#AskGMBNTech Doddy, do the same with bottom brackets. You might need a 2 part video. ^^ Keep up the great work. Informative and entertaining.

[@BernhardSchlegel]

Thanks, really sorted this chaotic topic for me. Thanks for including history:) well done 👍

[@jugaloo5873]

Lets respect the old stuff, it's what a lot of us dudes grew up with!!

[@jediali221]

Great video. Reminds me of all the fiddling I did on old bikes. Hated quill stems. One odd little consideration is the Oneup EDC tool that replaces the star fangled nut with an internal steerer tube thread and special open top cap. I think that is just neater overall regardless of tool space it gives.

[@joeyd1636]

Girvin flex stem! Classic!

[@Bianchiboy]

The Flexstem... I had an old Proflex with one of these, and I think it had cotton wool for the rear shock!

[@MyNate1980]

That girvin flex stem. Memories of only dampening shock on my bikes.

[@drewstreet4178]

Remember about 7 years back when I was into scooters, mate had a threaded fork and headset scooter, I had a threadless one and just bought a new headset for new colour, so I sold him the old one for £5 and fitted it to his scooter threadless with the threaded top cap on😂🤦‍♂️ worked brilliant though tbh

[@breppe443]

Literally just changed my headset yesterday. I was upgrading my fork and planned just using the same components and just transfer the crown race to the new fork. WRONG. I messed up because I didn't realize my bike came specc'ed with a straight 1.125 fork even though it was a tapered headtube. I tried new crown races, different bearings, etc. But ended up just giving it to my lbs, to replace the entire headset. Got a good headset upgrade on it at least, no more loose bearings and now got cartridges in there.

[@nicholashooper9935]

Still have my Diamondback Apex 1994. With a very early Aheadset

[@peterwhittemore2720]

Brilliant advice as I'm going to be upgrading my front end. Very useful 👌

[@the1khronohs40]

Now all we need is for someone to figure out that bolts with 5mm allen on all parts of the headset makes things even easier.

[@silviutanase6141]

learned so much in 18 minutes, thanks !

[@gmbntech]

Thanks! We're glad it helped.

[@AlxJrz401]

Thank you for clarification! great info!!!

[@igorcvetkovic2112]

great review. answered my questions in a nice organized way

[@arthurgolubev]

Thank you VERY much for this video! I've been struggling to understand standards and technical part of headsets and you just got everything set up in my brain nicely!

[@clipless03]

Your comment about not being able to change the HT angle of the IS system isn't entirely correct. Last year, 9point8 came out with the Slack-R which is an angleset for IS head tubes. Great video, cheers!

[@subliminalfreedom]

Thank you! Had no idea

[@jaywomer2313]

I have that exact headset never had an issue with it

[@anastasioskondakos2090]

0 dislikes! So proud of this community!!

[@Sibert_]

Hard to dislike Doddy! :)

[@maxs.2073]

still

[@OlleyThorpe]

Looking forward to this one. Your videos are getting better and better. Big inspo 😎

[@ryanjonsson]

Honestly mtb should use the bmx system. Its integrated, both ends of the head tube have 45 degree angles to slot the cups, which have the bearings already inside them. Then ofc you have the crown race and the compression ring with the top cap. But you can use any brands headset with any brands frame as long as they use the integrated headset standard, which i basically 95% of bmx frames.

[@livinlarge1247]

Very helpful videos. I have an 06 Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper with a "Mindset" (headset) integrated into its FACT carbon frame. I am figuring it out.

[@DeanH51]

Thank you! I am considering building up my first bike, and this headset stuff was a bit of mystery. Very helpful!

[@pieterbaert]

Great video. A lot of knowledge. A top cam shot on the hands would be handy to see the details on the table.

[@ElburroE]

Perfect explanation. Thank you.

[@ronaldquint]

Intelligently explained ! Thank you !

[@mikekeen9710]

now i understand it much better thank you thank you doody from new zealand

[@nosreuter]

Extraordinary, as always, if that's even possible?!

[@01FozzyS]

I have one of those Fisher Evolution systems on my 1990 Fisher Advance.

[@charlieroberts3171]

earliest ive been to a video, been looking for a vid like this for a while :)

[@cat_glove]

You're one of the most educational and enjoyable bike educators. I've learnt so much since I started watching your videos.

[@lunara69]

Great video. Thanks!

[@gmbntech]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[@markymarkpowpow]

very knowledgeable as usual, so thank you for sharing!

[@DirtyPandaMTB]

very cool video! so much information. Thank you so much for this video, keep up the good work!

[@williamj3459]

Fantastic video. Thanks very much. Keep them coming!

[@df0rce]

Awesome video! I missed words about the Stiffmaster

[@dylan-5287]

I love all of the history of mtb type videos, definitely some of the best explaining how things have come to be. Your guys retro bike and visiting Marin, CA and repack mountain are some of my favorite videos.

[@Anthony-d7p]

Cane creek baby they make frames and fork sets don't know if they still have them it was a white frame pretty sick 2018

[@mikeemmons1079]

Oh. This system was just coming out when I gave up riding as a HOBBY. Now I am back cuz of e-bikes and I was confused aF at what was going on. This is awkward. Good thing the electrical part of ebikes is dirt simple.

[@jhoughjr1]

Ive been to Durango. My aunt lived in Delores.

[@dragoclarke9497]

Nicely explained.

[@michielnooren2076]

I'm doing an 1992 Specialized Rockhopper conversion to gravelbike. It needed a new headset and as it has a 1" threaded headset I just ordered a new one online. When I tried to install the new crownrace it didn't fit my fork. Some research later I found out that there is an ISO and JIS standard. 1" ISO: crownrace inside diam. 26.4mm and cups outside diam. 30.2mm 1" JIS crownrace inside diam. 27.0mm and cups outside diam. 30.0mm As my frame is a JIS standard the ISO headset that I ordered didn't fit. JIS 1" headsets are hard to find so the option is to mill down the fork crown race setting seat and bore out the inside of the headset tube on the frame. You need special (and expensive) tools for this and as I don't have them (nor does my local LBS) some people advised me to file down the frame and fork... Didn't feel comfortable to do this so the search for a JIS 1" headset was on! Found one eventually for an acceptable price. Long story short...1" isn't always 1"! Bike standards, don't you just love them?!

[@Mattcamel51]

Great video and very helpful. Thank you!

[@urmomentum1679]

Great Video! Currently sat trying to figure out what a Semi Integrated set is? Wanting to upgrade my 2010 Cube Fritzz with the NP HZN headset to match my NP HZN stem & bars... Now not so sure I can? Original is a FSA Orbit Z 1.5R semi-integrated which I can find no info/specs on.....sat on Fox 36 TALAS ?? This chick needs a coffee!?

[@NS-zv9qf]

great video to watch as I build up my dream bike as an adolescent - the univega alpina ultima - with a threaded steerer. Wow can I pull back my ebay bids to spend 1k for my recreation?

[@mrbigolnuts3041]

I'm trying to get a straight tube shock at present for a Talon, utter nightmare, just not produced

[@ruabonite]

Fantastic explainer,I started out in 1989 with Muddy Fox and after several riding hiatus's (if that's a word!),am now putting together a hybrid bike using mixed age componentry,so this really levelled the field for me 😀👍

[@ahamilton1305]

Great video, understand it now!

[@luminousfractal420]

remembering all the snapped forks from the 90's 1.5 has saved many a hospital trip.

[@rogergrant455]

Very comprehensive as always, Doddy! Many thanks. Keep up the good work. God bless!

[@jgsimons]

Great topic and video. Thanks!

[@scottlstone]

You have to love these type of videos! However, they cover sections in brief, a snippet like this video. So unless you already understand the numbers Doddy is quoting, it can just “go over your head” I would really like a detailed individual video of each standard (that will be really cool) GMBN TECH and GCN TECH should have much more subscribers than they do. Much less than their sister channel counterparts, it is these tech videos that allow the “average Joe” to complete any maintenance task that would normally be left to the LBS (not digging LBS BTW), and understanding the mechanics of a bicycle not only give us confidence but also helps us understand what the bike is actually doing underneath us when we ride it. Invaluable!

[@rodm1949]

9 point 8 maker Slack R for IS headset to change angle, fiddly to fit would have liked a flat or a hole for a C spanner to help keep them aligned. It kills me every time you paste grease on the outside of head bearings, you want the external cup to bed in and not to rotate preventing the bearing to do it's job. A spinning bearing with wear out the headset cup prematurely.

[@michaelrobinson9111]

as a kid of the 70's i remember getting back into bikes ..I thought I'd adjust the stem height.. hang on.🤔 where is the old sliding bolt.. put it back together and forgot about the black magic 😂

[@joaovieira3264]

Doddy being brilliant, again!

[@eric-rogers]

Fantastic vid, well done!

[@HermanHermDawgCasaol]

This is super helpful

[@roythearcher]

All my 1.25 (1 1/8") A-head steerers were made from steel so they were not all made from aluminium! Are we going to see taper-roller bearings used on trail and enduro bikes? Yes they are heavier and need careful setting up but they're bomb-proof.