Getting You Going In The Right Direction – Bike Headsets
Without a headset, you wouldn’t have much luck at all steering a bike!
Bike headsets are basically where the handlebars meet the fork steerer. They refer to the bearings, clamps and lock nuts that essentially steer the bike.
Your standard headset includes two cups that are pressed to the bottom and top of the headtube, inside which bearings are located. These bearings enable low friction contact between the steerer and the bearing cup, with the fork steerer passing through the headtube to which the clamp or lock nut is attached.
In the world of bike headsets, there is basically the old fashioned version, and the more contemporary counterpart. The former uses a threaded headset that locks the forks into place. In contrast, the latter uses a threadless headset that relies on a stem with a clamp and multiple spacers to fix the fork steerer into the head tube.
