Cane Creek Unveils Angleset Adjustable Angle Headsets

This slick invention was hinted at on Pivot’s new Phoenix DH downhill bike, but today Cane Creek has officially unveiled their all new Angleset, an adjustable angle headset that lets you fine tune your bike’s handling.

The Angleset provides six settings, with adjustments ranging from 0.5º to 1.5º forward and backward, and three different models allow use on many standard tapered headtubes on existing bikes! Even better, there are no minimum headtube heights required. Perhaps the only limiting factor is that it requires use of a straight 1-1/8″ steerer tube fork.

The design has been tested and implemented by Pivot, Santa Cruz and Intense, and will show up on 2011 bikes from those manufacturers and others. Full details and more pics behind the jump…

UPDATED: Technical description of how it works added @ 3:34pm.

HOW IT WORKS: The AngleSet consists of an upper and lower cup. On the straight 1.5″ headtubes, you’d install the upper cup that has the angle you want, rotating depending on whether you want it taller or slacker. On tapered headtubes, you’d swap the lower cup to set the angle you want. Technically speaking, you could put the angled cup on the bottom of the 1.5″ headtube, but Cane Creek recommends putting it on the top.

The actual headset bearings “float” like ball joints, so they self-align regardless of headtube height. That said, only the shortest of headtubes are going to achieve an actual 1.5º change. But Cane Creek’s Jason Grantz says the change on the tallest headtubes is minimal, akin to a 1.45º change.

There is a center line marker on the cups, and you need to line up the center line with the centerline of the frame. Again, a technicality in that you need to get it straight, but in reality the self-aligning nature of the headset means that as long as you have it as close as you can (because honestly, it’s never going to be exact short of making a keyed version), the fork will be aligned just fine.

Pricing for tapered is TBD, the 1.5″ straight is $175 with one cup, $230 with all three angle cups. They’ll show up on OE bikes (see below) in early August, and available aftermarket in early September.

PRESS RELEASE: As riders have stretched the limits of what is possible on a mountain bike, they’ve begun to realize a need to fine-tune geometry to meet the challenges of the trail. Cane Creek is proud to introduce the AngleSet, a threadless headset that gives users the ability to change the head angle of their frame to meet their demands.

With an AngleSet headset riders can now transform the head angle of their mountain bike by up to six offset angle adjustments. With steeper or slacker adjustments from 0.5 to 1.5 degrees, dialing in the perfect geometry to attack the trail is a breeze.

The patent-pending design of AngleSet is head-tube length independent and fits most popular head-tube standards. A self-aligning feature between the bearings and the steerer tube ensures a perfect fit and makes fork installation a snap. The AngleSet offers riders a choice of +/- 0.5°, +/- 1.0°, +/- 1.5° offset from the bicycle’s stock head-tube geometry. Riders can also choose a 0° set-up to achieve the bike’s original head-tube angle.

“In a conversation with Santa Cruz Bicycles, they identified a need in the mountain bike market to give riders a simple way to adjust a head-tube angle,” says Josh Coaplen, Cane Creek Director of R&D. “Every other angle adjustment system on the market is dependent on head-tube length or is bike specific, which is not user friendly and often incompatible with a given frame. Santa Cruz gave me a challenge and the resulting AngleSet fits a much wider range of bikes and is very easy to use.”

Extensive testing and development of the AngleSet was performed by Santa Cruz Bicycles and many of the top professional downhill riders on the World Cup circuit. Rider Kyle Strait and others are actively riding the AngleSet in World Cup competition this season.

The AngleSet will be available this September in three popular downhill and free-ride bicycle headset configurations. Riders will have the option of purchasing a complete AngleSet system that includes all three offset options or with a single offset option for those riders who know exactly what they are looking for.

• AngleSet ZS49 – ZS49/30 (Fits 49mm [1.5”Traditional standard] ID head-tubes with an 1-1/8” straight steerer)
• AngleSet ZS44 – ZS49/30 (Fits tapered head-tubes – 44mm [1-1/8” Zero Stack standard] ID top, 49mm [1.5” Traditional standard] ID bottom with an 1-1/8” straight steerer)
• AngleSet ZS44 – ZS56/30 (Fits tapered head-tubes – 44mm [1-1/8” Zero Stack standard] ID top, 56mm [1.5” Zero Stack standard] ID bottom with an 1-1/8” straight steerer) (Editor’s Note: Basically this is for Trek E2 headtubes like on the Session 88, and maybe on some Specialized bikes.)

The AngleSet will also be available as a stock or upgrade option on a number of 2011 bicycle models from Intense, Pivot, Santa Cruz and other high-end manufacturers.

As part of the AngleSet launch, Cane Creek has partnered with Intense Cycles to bring to market a special edition of their popular 951 frameset this August. Available in CRC Blue, the special edition 951 will feature Cane Creek’s popular Double Barrel rear shock and the new AngleSet headset.

“The AngleSet is a game changing headset for free-ride and downhill bikers, this combined with the hugely popular 951 frameset and Cane Creek’s Double Barrel shock is an exciting option in a sea of downhill bikes,” says Jeff Moates, Intense Cycles Director of Operations. “We are really proud of our collaboration with Cane Creek on this Cane Creek Edition 951, a collaboration that takes our already adjustable 951 and gives riders the ability to dial-in their bikes even further.”