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Nukeproof roll out Titanium coated Horizon headset bearings with 5-year warranty

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For a lot of riders, the headset is a fit and forget item. For some though, it is a never ending cycle of “jeez, it feels like only yesterday I replaced those bearings!”. If you are riding your mountain bike more than twice a week through winter, likely your headset bearings will have the tell tale roughness of rust and wear. Water and grit eventually make their way past the bearing seals and get up close and personal with the tiny ball bearings inside. Thus, they don’t last forever. But with the new Nukeproof Titanium-Coated Horizon headset and its 5-year warranty, they get a little closer…

Nukeproof Horizon Titanium Coated Headset

Five years is a really long time for a headset to last (at least in the UK) so Nukeproof must be super confident in the durability. It is the races themselves that are coated with Titanium, while the ball bearings inside them are steel. The Ti coating is 0.000118” thick and is applied using a chemical process called “Physical Vapour Deposition” in which the Titanium is vaporized and subsequently deposited onto the surface of the race. The bond formed between the Titanium and the race is a super strong molecular (covalent, for the chemistry buffs) bond. The process allows the structure, density and stoichiometry (ratio of chemical components in a reaction) of the coating to be controlled.

My precious?

The bearing is ABEC 5 certified, having passed inside diameter and outside diameter tolerances, roundness of ball, trueness of faces & surfaces as well as noise testing at high RPM, which Nukeproof say make it the perfect bearing for use in a headset.

Nukeproof say the Titanium coating renders these bearings perfect for use in the harshest conditions, and less susceptible to corrosion. In an attempt to demonstrate this, Nukeproof conducted a salt water corrosion test on their Ti-coated bearings and standard steel bearings, in which the bearings were placed in a salt-water solution for 6 weeks. They were then transferred to damp air storage for a further 6 weeks, and photographed (above). While the steel bearing (bottom) was completely seized, the titanium bearing was still running smoothly (right), despite the significant rust shown on the outer casing.

Nukeproof Titanium Headset Pricing and Availability

The Nukeproof Horizon Titanium-coated headset is on sale now, and the bearings will be sold as separate bottom and top cups, each priced at £29.99 (~$37).

About that 5-year Warranty

Lots of brands offer a “lifetime” warranty on bearings, but you’ll find that the small print often says that the warranty is void if they need replaced due to general wear and tear. That seems a bit of a cop out. We got in touch with Nukeproof who specified exactly the terms of the warranty. No bearing survives pressure washing, so keep the jet wash away from your bike if you want its pivots and headset to keep running smoothly. All Nukeproof ask is that the bearings are fitted correctly and generally maintained with some excess grease on the seals to reduce the amount of water and grit that gets under them. If you’ve done that, you’re covered, and likely, your steering will remain silky smooth.

Nukeproof.com

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Justin White
Justin White
5 years ago

I know it’s just press/marketing stuff, but:

“as well as noise testing at high RPM, which Nukeproof say make it the perfect bearing for use in a headset.”

High RPM noise has _nothing_ to do with headsets.

Andy
Andy
5 years ago
Reply to  Justin White

Dude! I spin my bars at 100 RPM, this will finally help my sensitive ears…

Dylan
Dylan
5 years ago

Next time I’m planning to store my bike under the sea for 6 weeks then leaving it in a humidifier for another 6 I’ll consider using this headset. Meanwhile in the real world replacing headset bearings on my MTBs hasn’t been something I’ve ever felt the need to do, even when I lived in the UK, and despite pressure washing being my default option. Riding the bike regularly does a great job of distributing grease on the bearings thereby preventing corrosion – I’d argue you’re much more likely to get a rusted headset if you ride your bike once a month than if you ride it twice a week.

Erik
Erik
5 years ago

Apart from environmental conditions causing corrosion the most dominant failure mode for headsets would be false brinelling since the bearing basically does not rotate. So the Ti coating would only prevent corrosion in my personal opinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_brinelling

Tom
Tom
5 years ago

The only time I’ve ever had lower headset bearing go bad, it was because I was hanging the bike by the back wheel after washing, allowing all the water to run down the downtube and saturate the lower bearing. After washing, either leave it on the wheels, or hang by the front wheel. Years later, no problems.

Markymark
5 years ago
Reply to  Tom

Lower bearings take a beating on mountain bikes especially, the force of everything that the fork is unable to absorb goes straight into that poor little bearing. Most of the time the cartridge bearing falls apart within 2 or 3 years.

Tom
Tom
5 years ago
Reply to  Markymark

my old Santa Cruz Blur with a Chris King headset went 10 years without any problems. My current bike has a Cane Creek almost 2 years old, no problems with it currently. Perhaps I’m not as hard on bikes as you, but corrosion now seems to be the headset killer, vs brinnelling like we used to have on loose ball Campy headsets.

Velo Kitty
Velo Kitty
5 years ago

Think this may be okay. I think the titanium PVD coating will wear off the races where the balls contact, but it should be okay on the rest of the bearing, and keep it from becoming a rusty mess. But why not just go with fully stainless bearings which will prevent the balls from corroding too?

joe
joe
5 years ago
Reply to  Velo Kitty

SS is pretty soft.

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