
Another rare find destined for the Trek 450 was picked up this week -
It's fantastic that all of this older stuff occasionally goes on special, and I love it when I hear things like "No-body uses 1" threaded anymore..." from a bike shop. Deep discounts tend to follow statements like that.
This week, added to the pile is a Shimano Dura-Ace 1" threaded headset. Sadly, Shimano has been slowly getting out of the headset game. I have no idea WHY, other than to say that "no-body uses 1" threaded anymore". I've had an Ultegra headset twice before, one instance on my old Trek 720 tourer, the cartridge bearing version. Arguably, a BETTER headset than the Chris King headsets - but only in a direct comparison of value-to-performance. I think the Chris King is probably the end-all of headsets, but the Shimano 1" models with their "floating" cartridge bearings are actually smoother, and require FAR less tediousness in initial prep. The Ultegra that I had on the Trek 720 never wore out, and as far as I know it's still in use today -- last time I saw it, the current owner had it built up as a fixxie, and the same headset was on it. Butter-smooth, no notches. I had the same experience with the older Shimano 600 (old-school speak for pre-1997 Ultegra) headset that I had on my old Surly Steamroller. It used ball-bearings and cages, but the bearing races were ultra-hardened, to prevent notching and pitting -- and it worked. Never had a single issue with that headset, either. Smooth, free. Interestingly enough - Shimano's headset design was so good that even when they changed the verbiage from Shimano 600 to Shimano Ultegra, the logo on the headset stayed the same for a long time, up until the last two years they made them. It's actually harder to find a headset that says "Ultegra" on it, than it is to find the Dura-Ace model.

But, as differences go - it IS a difference.
Now, if the stock Tange-Sekai Levin headset *EVER* wears out..... ha-ha!
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