• Preface
• What is an "Integrated" headset?
• The Conventional Headset:
• The "Integrated" Headset:
• The "Internal" Headset, yet another twist:
• Important Facts to Realize:
• Frame Preparation
• Marketing this
• Weight Comparison Table
• Appendix Page One - Non-Braking Forces
• Appendix Page Two - Braking Forces

Integrated Headsets Explained
March 2002

This article is an overview of the differences between "integrated" and conventional headsets. It is not intended as an engineering paper but as a plain language explanation of this often discussed but mostly misunderstood new bicycle option.

Preface

When you call King Cycle Group, you talk to a person, not a machine. Maybe that's why so many people call us with their questions and comments. Because of this we usually a have a good feel for the 'pulse' of the bike shops and riders in the US. We also have learned to identify trends in the kinds of questions people ask when they call. We are not some big company where the engineering and customer service departments don't talk to each other. Engineering gets to hear it all. That's why we wrote this bulletin.

We have gotten an enormous number of calls about "integrated" headsets:

• "What is an integrated headset?"
• "Can I buy one from you?",
• "Is this a good thing for my new bike to have?"
• "When are you guys going to make them?"

We also hear plenty of complaints about the "integrated" headset. Most people think that if we get enough complaints about it, King will start making "integrated" headsets. For as much confusion as there is out there, and as many frame builders using them, and as much marketing hype as is being pumped out there about this, there is no real explanation of what "integrated" is. And certainly nobody is going to tell you why this is a bad direction for the bike industry to go in, and a bad choice for your next bike. Somebody needed to say something about this.

So here we are, saying something about it.