I’m not sure how many frames this purple Chris King headset has been installed in. A few. I might have bought it in 2012. Or 2013. In any event, it’s spent most of its life married to the front of a mountain bicycle with a rigid fork, DH brake, and big rotor being ridden down steep trails. Or uphill with me standing and wreaking it this way and that with a wide handlebar with a short stem. 

Every couple of years we hit a moment where I start to think I’ve finally killed it. It starts to run rough, or bind up when I really crank the handlebar. So I pull it apart, clean it out first with WD40, and then Isopropyl, let it dry and pack it full with grease. I’m consistently amazed. I install that same pair of seals and snap rings that have lived in this headset since day one and ride off like it’s brand new. Or maybe a little ‘heavier’ handling than brand new due to the thick grease I was using.

Headsets are a funny bearing application. Sure, they’re not a high rotation application in the sense of a hub bearing spinning but at the same time the lighter the action the nicer our bikes handle. They also take a load of different forces from the rider and the wheel. And, at least here in the Shore-To-Sky corridor, they’re fairly exposed to the elements.

Historically I’ve always used a very heavy waterproof bearing grease in my headsets, as I do in suspension pivots, with the thinking that with all the leverage of my 760mm handlebar a little more friction isn’t going to be notable for the trade-off in longevity. Lately, in all headset bearings, I’ve been using Chris King’s grease instead. Is it just in my mind? It lasts very well and allows for freer movement. 

As I was servicing my headset this morning I was thinking about a piece I wrote a couple of years ago called ‘The Best Of Lubes Vs The Rest Of Lubes‘ and specifically in the sense of min-maxing lubrication purchases. It’s nice to always use the best product for an application but I don’t want to buy and store a hundred different lubricants.

Buying really good chain lube (I like Dumonde Tech Regular or Wolf Tooth WT-1 / SCC Slick for my own bikes) makes a bigger difference than buying fancy grease. For any application. Dumonde Tech Freehub Oil blows away whatever other product you’re using to lube your pawl hubs. Those are key places to start on the higher-end lubrication experience. 

In my grease gun these days, for bottom brackets, bolts, and most other bearings, I’ve been using Wolf Tooth’s WT-G product. It lasts long and spins smoothly and I’ll certainly buy it again. It’s slick, would I have any qualms about running it in a headset bearing? Definitely not. It’s replaced my heavier bearing grease, could it also replace my headset bearing grease? What about my hub-bearing grease? 

[aside] Yes, I am a bike-nerd. How could you tell? [/aside]

The reason it’s all come to mind is I’m a couple of headset services – across a few bicycles – away from being out of Chris King’s Blue grease. At 12 USD / 50g and being something I only use for headset bearings, I’m on the fence on whether I’ll buy it again. If I ran a shop that was servicing King headsets regularly I’d pick up the 28 USD / 200g size and charge for using the right stuff but even using it on our non-King headsets, and staying on top of maintenance, we aren’t doing that much service at home. 

One of my fall projects this year is going to be actively pairing down the size of my home shop. Getting rid of some proprietary tools for which I no longer have compatible parts, cutting down on duplicates. Specifically, all the tools that have been replaced by my one pair of Knipex pliers. Looking at best practices for home working on my own stuff versus in a shop working for monies. 

My shelf of lubricants is probably a good place to start. I’ve already eliminated the cheap(er) bearing grease I’ve long used in favour of the WT-G for most applications, and I’m not convinced I can’t just use it as a go-to. I don’t own a Ti frame anymore so my tub of Copper Anti-Seize will last forever, but I could probably downsize it to a smaller container for the few titanium bolts I still have in circulation. Or split it four ways and hook some friends up. We really only need one chain lube at home, not three. 

As I move forward with questions like ‘how many hand-files does one person need?’ I don’t really need to make the headset grease decision for a few months. Nina’s commuter, my commuter, both of Crash Test’s rigs, and then it’ll be time to replace it or just move forward with what’s at hand. 

I’m not saying I’m going to go from a tool-box to a tool-roll or anything insane like that, but cutting down my workbench area by 2/3rds and my tools storage at the same time is bringing up interesting questions about practices I’ve followed in the past. 

For now, here’s a reminder to service your headset bearings whether you’re rolling a ten-year-old, twenty-year-old, King, or a one-year-old CC40. It’s been abused and needs some love.