Slam that Stem? Cane Creek Debuts the "Slamset" - Eurobike 2017
While the whole "slam your stem" movement has historicaly been more of a roadie obsession than a dirt thing, a growing number of mountain bikers are starting to fixate on stack height as well. You can chalk some of that up to the fact that nobody can obsess like a cyclist when it comes to the subject of bike geometry and it. I mean, why not lose sleep over your handlebar height since you're already twitching uncontrollably over your bottom bracket height or reach?
There is good reason, however, to consider stack height, particularly given the axle to crown dimension on those 170-millimeter travel forks that spearhead a lot of enduro bikes these days or any of the 140-plus millimeter travel 29er forks on the market.
Few things bung up front-end handling like the sensation that your low-rise handlebars are inexplicably at nipple height. That T-Rex feeling blows.
Few things bung up front-end handling like the sensation that your low-rise handlebars are inexplicably at nipple height. That T-Rex feeling blows.
I'm poaching Transition's illustration here...it illustrates stack height nicely.
Enter Cane Creek's new Slamset headset.
The name kind of says it all. While Cane Creek already sold short stack versions of their Zero Stack and Integrated Stack upper headset assemblies, those short stack versions still had a bout 8 millimeters of height to them. The Slamset damn near levels them completely. The Zero Stack version of the Slamset, for instance, sits just two millimeters above dead flush. Cane Creek will offer the Slamset in both integrated (IS) and Zero Stack (ZS) versions. The Slamset will be available in November. The cups are machined in-house, at Cane Creek's Fletcher, North Carolina headquarters.
The bearing is a new design as well. Cane Creek calls it the Hellbender bearing. The Hellbender bearing is a completely stainless-steel ball bearing. Instead of having the casing, or the webbing, for the balls to sit inside, it's completely contacting all the way around. There's an extra six ball bearings tucked up in there (over what you'd find in Cane Creek's typical 41-millimeter cartridge). The Hellbender's sealing is also more robust than what you'll find in Cane Creek's other headsets.
Cane Creek's Hellbender bearing adds an extra dose of sealing and durability.
The reason for that extra sealing? The IS Slamset top assembly has lost its sealing elements because of the emphasis on creating a low stack height; as a result, the Hellbender bearing has to house all of the seal elements required to keep it from getting contaminated and freezing up. Side note: if you run a Cane Creek headset and you simply dig the idea of upgrading to an uber-sealed bearing, you can trade up to the Hellbender. The Hellbender bearing is retrofittable to Cane Creek's 40 series, 110, Air and Angleset headsets. Naturally, if you run the Zero Stack version of the Slamset, you also get an additional dose of sealing, since the Zero Stack upper assembly retains its seals.
The Slamset will retail for $130 (top and bottom IS assemblies) and $160 for the ZS (top and bottom assemblies).
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...of course being 6'4" is probably my main reason.
As a tall guy, why should I have to bother with spacers, a riser stem, and riser bars after I've already gone through the trouble of special ordering an XL frame??
Look at this old XL sized Stumpy: www.pinkbike.com/photo/10010696
My take is that XL frames with skimpy head tubes look.. skimpy. Frames don't have to look stupid to be sized properly for normal sized people. Look at this XL Evil
I finally have a proper size bike with a proper head tube (139mm) and stack (659mm). And I'm only 185cm/ 6'1..
#LowerBackPainFoLife
where you want your bars is personal preference.
With a tiny tube you can spacer the shit out of it to fit it to your preferences but with a tall tube you are stuck up there and can't adjust it down if a rider would want that... so i would say low is more versatile and therefore is the way to go!
Having a stack of spacers is one of the worst things you can do to front end stiffness as a whole. A heavy dude hanging off of 800mm bars puts a bunch of extra stress on a steerer tube.
I recently bought a Specialized S-Works Tarmac frameset and the handling and ride quality has been a revelation for me. They've actually done some engineering to ensure that the handling and ride quality is consistent across their size range. The down tube and top tube are enormous!
Santa Cruz is another that is doing a great job designing in enough stiffness on their larger sizes.
I've had many 40's, never seen one rust. I do live in a dy climate though...
That being said, I have an Angleset on my DH bike that pukes lower bearings on the regular. Same cartridge for both bikes but the seals on my tail bikes 40 protect a lot better.
Step up the bearing game bike world then you'll have some real heads turning.
Tear down the bearings and it looks like orange dust got into the dust seals. Repacking the bearings helps for a few days but the damage is already done
@jo1212man - www.workscomponents.co.uk/reach-adjust-headsets-21-c.asp
You people need to youtube Hellbenders.
At least a badass moto compilation was in the suggested vids below the f*ckery that was playing: youtu.be/YPGCMKc7Nlw
Pros
And
Cons
Cons: if you need your handlebars higher this will not help.
Cons: Feeding the internet trolls