[Headwind]

Since the moment I first layed eyes on a Storck bike I have always wanted one (you can check them out at www.storck-bicycle.de). The one I really like is the Scenario Carbon 1.1, but there is a drawback: to save 10 grams these guys constructed the bike in such a way that they left out the headset cups.
In their folder they actually write something like: why would you put an extra alloy cup in your headset if there is already such a cup in the frame itself?
Well, the answer is of course: now you can throw away your frame when the headset is worn, because you can't replace the cup; it's built-in in the frame...
Or can you? Does anybody have any experience with such a (worn) headset? Could you just fit in an extra cup anyway?

 

[Steve-O]

Find out...

Find out if Storck uses cartridge bearings or loose ball bearings. Most of these designs use cartridge bearings which simply press into the head tube. If this is the case then the race is actually part of the cartridge bearing. If it is loose ball bearings and the race IS the headtube then I'd be a little worried. FWIW... this design sounds like the ICBM system that Schwinn came up with several years ago....

Here's some good info on HS designs...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/fix/?id=howfix_headtypes

 

[Headwind]

ok, this is how they put it themselves:

"Why bother pressing an
aluminum headset cup into
an aluminum frame and
then put a cartridge bearing
inside the headset cup?
Storck has developed an integrated
system whereby
the headset cups are eliminated
and the cartridge bearings
are pressed directly
into the frame itself. This of
course requires that the
head tube is perfectly machined
to engineering standards.
The result is increased
steering precision and
longer headset life thanks
to the increased size of the
bearings, not to mention
the improved looks!"

But when a headset is worn, you don't just want to replace the cartridge bearings, but also the cups, right? The one time I replaced a headset myself I could see the wear on the cups (yes, it was really far gone and I should have replaced it sooner...). In that case, I'm sure just replacing the bearings wouldn't have made much difference (not enough, anyway).

And I don't see how replacing the cups is possible with this integraded system...