I have an integrated headset on my Orbea road bike. It needs replacing, but I live in a SMALL(!!) town away from a decent bike shop. I turn a wrench on most basic bike stuff, but was wondering if any mechanic out there could walk me through the process of putting one in. I am using a Cane Creek IS-6.
Thanks,
HC
got a digital camera? know how to post photos? then yes, it is likely we could help you here.
can you take photos of the bike disassembled to show how the ‘races/bearings’ are mounted on the orbea (this would be near fork crown and top and bottom of head tube details)…
I have an integrated headset on my Orbea road bike. It needs replacing, but I live in a SMALL(!!) town away from a decent bike shop. I turn a wrench on most basic bike stuff, but was wondering if any mechanic out there could walk me through the process of putting one in. I am using a Cane Creek IS-6.
Thanks,
HC
Are you replacing an IS-6? For some reason I’m thinking an Orbea wouldn’t be using a CC headset. I would guess FSA or Campy.
The only hard thing in replacing the an Integrated headset is making sure you have the correct one. There’s no standards for Integrated Headsets so they can’t be interchanged (i.e. CC won’t fit a FSA or Campy or visa versa). Therefore I recommend buying what’s already on the bike. Otherwise if you put the wrong bearings in (i.e. wrong diameter) you could damage your headtube. My advise check and check again before you buy. In my experience people will sell you the wrong one for your bike.
Once you get the correct headset. Just take the stem off. Remove spacers. Pop out fork. Bearings will fall out. Replace Bearings and reverse build steps. Just torque and press everything to the instructions provided with the headset.
Cheers!
Trevor
Not to hijack the thread but can you go from Cane Creek IS 2 to higher grade CC IHS? I was thinking of upgrading the headset to a better one and assume the higher the number the better the bearings, etc? Is that an accurate assumption?
higher quality bearings is the main difference between them and as far as I know the IS2 and the IS6 (and for that matter the Solos as well) all have the same bearing size and cup size so they should be interchangeable. The CC website might be able to tell you the key differences between the series numbers.
http://www.canecreek.com/15.html
here’s the link to the headset page…hope it helps.
Not to hijack the thread but can you go from Cane Creek IS 2 to higher grade CC IHS? I was thinking of upgrading the headset to a better one and assume the higher the number the better the bearings, etc? Is that an accurate assumption?
As **Kentiger **stated check the CC website. The IS-6 (stainless steel bearings) is an upgraded to the IS-2. Now, they have an IS-2i in there which is Campy compatible but there’s no IS-6i so like I said be careful of what you buy.
Cheers
Trevor
The current headset is “Aheadset IS, made by Tange for Cane Creek”.
I call Orbea and CC and check, but I would think a 1 1/8" CC IS would fit OK??
HC
The current headset is “Aheadset IS, made by Tange for Cane Creek”.
I call Orbea and CC and check, but I would think a 1 1/8" CC IS would fit OK??
HC
Double check. I ran into the same thing with my Specialized E5. The Specialized headset is made by Aheadset (now owned by CC) for Specialized. CC wouldn’t comment because of the Licence agreement between Specialized and Aheadset. Specialized said I had to use it’s headset (of course :-)). **The only way you can really tell is if you can get the bearing diameters and tolerances from both companies. **Otherwise to be safe just order the Tange headset from Orbea. You don’t want the bearings slapping around in the headtube. This is why I hate integrated headsets. No Standards!! 
Good Luck.
In the end I just bought the Specialized headset to save on the hassle. As far as I was concerned if I couldn’t get a Chris King headset put in; the material difference going from standard steel bearings (on the Aheadset) to Stainless steel bearings (IS-6) would be small anyway.
Hi, Doug from FSA here. I agree with one of the other posters. My guess would be that an Orbea would use a Campy hiddenset compatible integrated headset. I’d check w/ Orbea since CC and CA integrated headsets are not compatible.
If you do need a CA compatible headset we offer two models; Orbit CE which is similar to Campagnolo and then we offer Orbit CF which has all stainless bearings and carbon top cap.
Finally, we offer a ‘Headset Guage’ which is a tool that allows a mechanic to identify which standard a frame maker is using for their integrated HS. I think they cost $15-20.
Good Luck…Doug
OK, so here is another question. I have a Litespeed Saber (which already has a tall headtube) with a CC IS6 headset. Is there another model or brand that is compatible that doesn’t have such a tall stack to it? I could probably get another quarter inch lower up front if it wasn’t for the height of the top part of the IS6. My wife’s QR Caliente has a very short headset on top of an already very short headtube and was hoping there was something out there like that.
Michael
Hey! I am in no way an integrated headset expert. What I know is what I’ve learnt trying to get new integrated headsets for my bikes.
But I do know that the IS2 and IS6 are the only one interchangeable with it each other. You must have the IS-6 tall? You might try to get the IS-6 short (about 8 or 9 mm shorter) and play around with some spacers??? I’m not too sure. This one I think CC could answer for sure.