This Da Bomb Jump/downhill headset has been resident on our Orange Patriot for ages now, and still shows no sign of giving up despite loads of abuse.
To be honest we stuck it in first because we thought the Iron Cross headset cap looked ‘Hell's Angel’ cool. Since then it’s handled everything from 160mm single crown forks to 200mm triple clamp Marzocchis, plus a particularly snowy Megavalanche, without complaint.
Deep alloy cups mean a big 37.3mm stack height but lots of mechanical overlap to protect the cartridge bearings. As a result we’ve done nowt to it apart from wiping out filth and smearing in fresh grease whenever we’ve switched forks.
Admittedly, the combined lower bearing and crown race is a bit rough now, but there’s no trace of drag or wobble yet. Machined alloy cups also mean it’s still trail viable in terms of weight. It’s good value too, although only black external cup versions are available.
