2008 CrankBrothers (Part 3)

Now its time for the third chapter of 2008 CrankBrothers extensive coverage, so far I have covered the crankset, their hoops and now I'm going to elaborate bout a unit which is placed between the fork steerer tube and headtube. The unit im talking bout is the headset.

CrankBrothers call their headset as Directsets. There is one word to describe CrankBrothers headset and that is....light. Its seriously light and its heaviest duty platform weights at 110gram. So how light is most of the range? Try 50 - 70 gram. Its lightweight will appeal to weight weenies and Chris King headsets weights around 90 - 120 gram. So CrankBrothers headset is about half the weight of a CK headset. CrankBrothers manage to get the weight down is cause of the headset simplicity.



Instead of the traditional headset which usually has about 8 - 11 components in it (vary to manufacturer), CrankBrothers Directsets have simplify some of the parts, for example : the headset cup is the bearing itself (outer race of the bearing is outside). The disadvantage of making it so simple is the bearing aint replaceable, meaning you need to replace the whole headset once the bearing worn out. Dont worry bout this though cause the price isnt too shabby either (depending on which model you are getting). CrankBrothes opted for 3 different price points, The most expensive models will be priced at USD 300, middle range is USD 130 (Chris King price), and the lowest range is USD90. The weight between the 3 different pricepoints is very marginal (if its me, Im getting the cheapest model). Again, Crank Brothers decided to stick to their 08 product names, see below:



Cross Country : Cobalt (Blue)
Ti - 58g : USD 300
SL - 65g : USD 130
C - 65g : USD 90

All - Mountain : Iodine (Copper)
SL - 65.5g : USD 130
C - 65.5 : USD 90

Downhill : Opium (Red)
SL - 70g : USD 130
C - 70g : USD 90

Freeride : Sage (Green)
SL - 92g : USD 130
C - 110g - USD 90

* SL and C difference is SL stands for Stainless Steel while C stands for Steel. I guess this has something to do with the headset internals, considering the same weight but different prices (except Sage).

With all this headset choices, CrankBrothers certainly will be a worthy competitor in the headset department. The heaviest headset weights at 110g which is design for heavy duty purposes and its as light as most XC headsets out there. Well since this headset havent been released yet, guess we have to wait for some real world reviews. From the specs, this headset sure sounds good.

*Pics provided by cyclingnews.com and mtbr.com interbike page.

*Update #1 :
I recently checked BikeRadar.com and I found a cut out of CrankBrothers Hub, enjoy!