Cane Creek 40 Short Cover Headset [Rider Review]

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Headsets are the unspoken hero of a bike. A really nice headset is overlooked all too much. Having a great headset could also mean less maintenance. Our friend, Chris, just put a new Cane Creek 40 on their bike. See what they think!

Overview

Cane Creek headsets are made of pure muscle. Less cost than a Chris King set but just as good. Fewer colors than Chris King but its not about bling its about strength, reliability and pure abuse they can endure.

OEM failures in headsets. My son and I have 2018 Specialized Enduro Comps. We love them

However they are flawed at the headset. We downhill every weekend. In 3 weeks my son had slop in the headset an I had creaky noise in mine. Crown race Issues… Both of ours were cracked rings. no longer a complete ring. Downward thrust was now pushing the steer tube all directions. Head over to canecreek.com. punch in your bike model an bam they give you the dimensions you need. In our case, IS42/28.6 IS52/40. Head back to worldwidecyclery.com an order up.

Zero can I say, Zero issues with both our downhill head tubes.

We went with Cane Creek 40. Out of the box you can tell its a quality product. Steel crown race quality sealed bearings, star nut, everything you need for install except spacers. For specialized frames we needed 4mm of 1-1/8 spacer between the top cover o-ring seal and bearing. If not the top cover would bind on the frame tube.

Final Thoughts

No creaks no slop an no worries. Cane Creek rocks… To preserve your bearings I suggest never ever to hit your bike with a garden hose. Water will get in and you will need to replace your upper lower and bottom bracket bearings cause it will rust.