Last winter, Chris King Precision Components brought back a glimpse of their rare, expensive, but essentially lifetime titanium headsets with some integrated DropSet options to fit modern bikes – and now the classic 1 1/8″ NoThreadSet is back for a very limited time in ti too. All Chris King headsets are “built to last a lifetime, fully serviceable, and backed by [their] lifetime built-to-last warranty“, but these titanium versions take it to the next level.

Chris King Titanium 1 1/8″ NoThreadSet in limited production

(All review photos/Cory Benson)

Half a year ago, when I wrote about the King Titanium DropSet, I essentially turned it into a review of my own 1 1/8″ Chris King Titanium NoThreadSet. That’s because this is a headset that I legit bought more than two decades ago. It’s been pressed into at least two cyclocross bikes, a titanium XC softail, and an aluminum full-suspension trail mountain bike along the way. I’ve ridden bikes on two continents and in at least twelve different countries with this headset. And I’ve serviced the bearings probably just twice.

It was more of an ode to the King Ti headset at the time, because you couldn’t really buy that same headset I was riding at the time. But now you actually can again!

(Studio photos/Chris King)

“Despite the onward march of technologies and new standards, the NoThreadSet remains one of our biggest sellers, and we made it in titanium for a long time. So, we also feel a massive responsibility to the hundreds of thousands of great bikes out there that are still rolling and still giving people joy.”

– Jay Sycip, Chris King Design Manager

The key to the long-running success of King headsets is a mix of precision machining, high-quality in-house bearing production, and the patented GripLock bearing cap. GripLock is its independent preload of the headset’s loosely dropped-in sealed bearings separately of how it clamps against your steerer tube, so that the bearings stay preloaded as you ride, making it “impervious to the ill effects of load spikes from large hits and heavy braking“. The result is “smoother steering, fewer adjustments, no creaking, and a longer-lasting headset” further justification for buying one of these expensive beauties!

My lifetime Chris King Titanium 1 1/8″ NoThreadSet headset

The King Ti headset I’m actually reviewing from this point on isn’t exactly the new one you can buy today.

Its laser-etched graphics are ever-so-slightly different. But what’s kind of amazing is that other than how Chris King etched those same logos into it, nothing else has changed. In a time where we grimace with each new standard, there really still are tons of bikes out there that still fit a good old classic 1.125″ threadless headset.

Back to my 20+ year old headset that’s been pressed into and extracted from several bikes over those decades – then pressed back in with its symmetrical cups upside down, honoring old bike shop rat traditions…

My Chris King Titanium NoThreadSet is now in an equally old Soma Double Cross cyclocross bike that started life with a limited edition Pretty & Strong pink King headset for breast cancer awareness around 2002, I think. That original pink headset btw, is still in service too, now pressed into a Moots YBB. The Soma was since cut into pieces to have some S&S couplers brazed-in, turning it into a globetrotting, cantilever-braked, all-terrain all-rounder – last repainted around 2015 when it got the titanium headset upgrade. It raced cross, raced gravel, and finished a few international border crossing tours loaded with various bags in the meantime.

Here it was on top of the Madonna del Ghisallo for its road-style cycling pilgrimage – testing pre-production versions of Vittoria’s first-ever Graphene-infused Corsa tubular tires. But it’s back as more of an off-road gravel touring bike again these days. Really only getting ridden a couple of times a year, between all the modern gravel bikes I now test.

Our Longest-Term Product Review

The headset was in two different mountain bikes before this. First, the full-sus Kona Kikapu DeLuxe as a short-travel trail bike back in the day, then in a ti Moots MOOT-X YBB 29er cross-country softail. It also spent some time in a custom lugged steel Clark Custom Cycles XMY♡ cyclocross race bike, too.

And the headset still spins as smoothly as when it was new. Having realistically only 2 (or maybe 3) full tear-down services in its lifetime, so far. Bearings opened up, cleaned, regreased, and reassembled. Even the one time that it looked like I had waited too long, a good soak in degreaser… and it was as shiny as new a couple of days later.

There’s plenty of lifetimes left in both these titanium cups and the precision stainless steel Chris King bearings inside.

The beauty of the 1 1/18″ threadless standard still is that it is actually a common standard. Innumerable bikes have passed through my workshop in the past two decades that could fit this NoThreadSet. Even though tapered steerers have taken over for the most part, I’m sure there will still be frames to fit this headset.

I didn’t pick up a Ti DropSet before they sold out over the winter. But if King machines a Ti Inset to fit my carbon Festka, I will snap one of those right up. I don’t need to buy one of these new Chris King Titanium NoThreadSets because frankly, the one I have still has decades of service left in it. I’m sure if you pick one up now, it will probably outlast whatever bike you press it into today.

Chris King Titanium NoThreadSet headsets – Pricing, options & availability

The new Chris King Titanium 1 1/8″ NoThreadSet comes in just one model. That’s all you need. It sells for $475 and features a matte ti finish, a matching ti cap & titanium bolt. If you have a nice bike that you love, which fits a classic press-in threadless headset, you should consider giving it a King Ti upgrade.

But act fast, Chris King doesn’t say just how limited these are, but they sell out every time. It could be decades before Chris King gets around to machining blocks of titanium into headsets to fit your classic bike again. But rest assured, this one will still be spinning for many years to come.

ChrisKing.com

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