My 7-8 years old Chris King No Thread headset has developed a cracked in the buttom cup. I will have it replaced as soon as possible, but question is; can I continue to ride the bike, there is no play an it seems to hold up fine, but can it come apart totally?

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Bring the mountains to Denmark!!

It's not only the crack of the bottom cup it's the crack on such a brand! That should be replaced free of charge, judging by CK reputation
I don't think you can do much harm to the HS assembly ridding it. Off course replacement would be welcomed asap.

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It would seem safer to say not to ride it. I don't think I would. The old question of what happens if it fails when you are being followed by other riders also springs up.. they'd be rightfully annoyed to know you were riding on something that is essentially busted or running on borrowed time.

Have you examined the cup faces from the inside to see if there are any other hairline cracks ? A full separation could leave you with a long walk or worse...

How was the cup installed? Its been a long time since I heard of something like this happening, but they used to happen when cups had been installed without correct press tools or inserted out of alignment.

Thanks for the answers. I will not be attending any group rides nor will I do any extreme turns or down hills etc. (Denmark is pretty flat ).

The headset has been installed for 7-8 years and I guess it has done like almost 100.000 km and many of them in bad wether etc. (including when they use salt on the roads against ice) so guess it's worn out or maybe the metal has gotten weak.

Not holding anything against CK, just wandering if somehow the whole thing could come apart. I would guess not since its still pressed up in the frame and only one crack, but you never know.

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Bring the mountains to Denmark!!

Chris king carries a 10 year warranty on their headsets... It's worth contacting them about a replacement cup..

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Not an expert on CK headsets, my thought is that now that it's failed, the forces that caused the failure are now going to be transmitted directly to the head tube. So not good.

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If you are asking if the bike will explode or something and if you will have a big a ss accident in a near future?? the answer is no. The worse it could happen is that the cup will crack somewhere else and might get a piece out of it but the bike wont explode at all if that's worrying you. The worse it could happen is that the steering will get lose because of a chunk fell of or something and in that case you will be able to get back home just ride slow and dont do any jumping trick with the bike aswell

Why cracked? My best guess is that the thing got a manufacturing problem or that frame needs to go to the shop to get the top and botton headtube chased before you put a new headset in.

Ck Should RMA that, call them man they sure will send you a new cup and bearings but please get the headtube chased before installing anything. If they dont rma it try to find an old shimano ultegra or 105 with sealed bearings, that will last you maybe more than a CK. Not as light but super reliable.

Good luck.