When was the last time you thought about your headset? Maybe every now and then if you take your bike apart frequently. Maybe just the last time it seized if you are the kind of person that neglects maintenance until it is really needed. It has to be one of the ultimate fit-and-forget components. While it isn’t (and shouldn’t be) in your thoughts each ride, the headset is constantly working. Everything is all good until it isn’t. No one wants notchy steering, or to have to replace bearings too often. Luckily, Hope Technology has your back, again...
Keep on trucking
Reliability and durability. Two words that apply to the entire Hope range, including our headsets. It’s easy to undervalue something that is essentially quite simple. We aren’t going to lie. Our headsets have some similarities with every other manufacturer out there. All a headset is trying to do is hold a couple of bearings in your frame to allow the fork steerer to rotate. Let's have a quick think about the forces that go through the headset though – the leverage created by the front end of the bike for example. It’s not such an easy life. Add into that constant spray from the front wheel, and all of a sudden the cheapest bearings you can find don’t necessarily sound like the best choice.
All in the details
When a product is simple, it is the details that set it apart. That’s why we use a split crown race in all our headsets, allowing for quick fitting to the fork, and reduced risk of damage to the race/bearing interface.
You won’t be surprised to hear that Hope uses the best quality stainless steel bearings, specifically to resist corrosion. Then, when they do eventually reach the end of their life, the bearings are replaceable. We don’t believe in unnecessary waste.
Our headset cups are precision machined from 2014 T6 aluminium. Even a small variation can lead to creaking or a damaged headtube in the long run. We ensure that our headsets fit as they should. Every time.
You can also buy our headsets in all the usual Hope colours. Just because a product is functional doesn’t mean it shouldn’t look good, or match your bike. Lets face it, you’ll probably spend a good while staring down at that headset cap as you climb – it may as well look the part.
No such thing as standards
All this sounds a little too easy so far. Need a headset? Buy Hope. But which one? Bikes are generally designed with one of three types of headset: Conventional, Integrated and Integral. In short, a conventional headset sees the headset bearings sitting outside of the frame. Integrated headsets set the bearings in cups that sit inside the frame (useful for giving a low stack height for example). Finally, integral headsets do away with replaceable cups, and the bearings sit directly in the frame.
That’s maybe not so hard to get your head(set? sorry...) around, but add in tapered headtubes, oversized headtubes and straight or tapered fork steerers things get a little more complex again. The last thing we want you to end up doing is buying the wrong headset for your frame. That’s why we have our Headset Guide (Upper Cups and Lower Cups), allowing you to select the upper and lower cups that fit your frame/fork combo. If that still feels a little overwhelming, it’s something that your local Hope Dealer will happily help you with when you place an order.
The headlines
Will you notice the performance benefits of a Hope headset every single day? Maybe not... but over the life of the product, our quality shines through as brightly as our anodising. You’ll end up replacing bearings less frequently and feel safe in the knowledge that your headset was designed for the worst of British conditions.
