headset question

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by creaky crank
Been looking at the lemond Nevada City, and wondering about the headset. Looking at the headtube it looks like it is some kind of integrated headset. Or is it a normal headset anyway?
They call it -SlimStak Direct Connect- . Anybody familiar with it?
Is it easily available and replaceable?
thanks


http://www.lemondbikes.com/2004_bikes/nevada_city.jsp

Why don't you ask lemond? "Slimstack Direct Connect": that is a real barge load of mumbo jumbo. I bet they have tech people that could not define that mess,but maybe marketing...........?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by creaky crank
Been looking at the lemond Nevada City, and wondering about the headset. Looking at the headtube it looks like it is some kind of integrated headset. Or is it a normal headset anyway?
They call it -SlimStak Direct Connect- . Anybody familiar with it?
Is it easily available and replaceable?

Eh, what's a 'normal headset' today? Slimstak Whatever Whatever is the brand name for this thing, which, as you pointed out, seems to be an integrated unit. That in itself is not a big deal; probably more than half of all current production bikes use integrated headsets.

Is it a particularly snazzy headset? Well, probably not. The Nevada is a sturdy entry-level bike, and the SlimStak headset probably fits the same bill.

As for replacability -- you'd have to contact Lemond. It's tough to know how specialized or proprietary this setup is. Worst-case scenario probably isn't much worse than having to get it serviced by a Lemond dealer, with the possibility of having it sent to a factory for a week or so.

The bottom line? There aren't many headsets installed by reputable bike companies (like Lemond) that can't be serviced or replaced. In all likelihood, the darn thing will last 20 years anyways. Don't sweat it. Good luck!