Is there any performance, structural or otherwise benefit to one or the other?
I have read Chris King’s multiple rants on why they suck, but I didn’t really glean much more from the articles other than there is no difference. I’m quite the fan of King Cycling products and have used his headsets for years with zero issues.
is there any? Bearing are inside rather than outside the head tube…and???
I’ll admit I’ve not had any major problems with my integrated HS yet on my P2C (knock wood), but if it came w/ the option I’d prefer a standard just for the sake of being able to swap it out if something did go seriously wrong and not have it potentially doom the whole frame or limit me to only one make of replacement (but then I’m of the multiple-bike-owning serial upgrader sort who’s replaced perfectly good headsets before just because I could and wanted to bling it up a bit…).
I’ve never really known either type to be superior to the other. I suppose somewhere along the line someone must have believed that integrated was worth the R&D costs to get started.
The main difference to understand is that you get less stack from an integrated headset. Whether that’s good or bad depends on how precisely you need to locate your stem.
and you don’t need a headset press to install an integrated headset, or replace it, just pop the old bearing out and pop you ones in and you’ve got a brand new headset, rather than having to hammer cups out, press cups back in etc… Never seen or heard of an integrated headset frame ruined in the headset area for any reason.
and you don’t need a headset press to install an integrated headset, or replace it, just pop the old bearing out and pop you ones in and you’ve got a brand new headset, rather than having to hammer cups out, press cups back in etc… Never seen or heard of an integrated headset frame ruined in the headset area for any reason.
No shizzle? I am actually in the midst of searching for a new fork b/c having a carbon steerer tube freaks me out…the integrated Ouzo Pro is coming out…so I could do this pretty darn easily then. I have to admit for all my wrenching time spanning 2 decades I have only installed 1 headset under supervision…I always let the LBS do this one task.
and you don’t need a headset press to install an integrated headset, or replace it, just pop the old bearing out and pop you ones in and you’ve got a brand new headset, rather than having to hammer cups out, press cups back in etc… Never seen or heard of an integrated headset frame ruined in the headset area for any reason.
No shizzle? I am actually in the midst of searching for a new fork b/c having a carbon steerer tube freaks me out…the integrated Ouzo Pro is coming out…so I could do this pretty darn easily then. I have to admit for all my wrenching time spanning 2 decades I have only installed 1 headset under supervision…I always let the LBS do this one task.
In this case ‘integrated’ means 2 slightly different things.
Just get the standard steerer tube Ouzo and use your current headset. You need to mover over the crown race, or install a new one on your new fork.
(I assume your current fork being replaced doesn’t have an oversized lower crown race? — larger than 1 1/8")
Not sure of any performance benefits but I love the look of a Chris King headset on a metal frame. It just looks classy and stands out from all the bling carbon bikes. You just don’t see standard non-integrated headsets on popular production bikes anymore. Now a days on road bikes it’s like old school cool to see a Chris King headset on frames from smaller custom bike builders everything else is now all integrated headsets.