The frame uses an integrated headset. Part of the reason for this project was that I didn’t know enough about the bike I was riding. If you’d said to me “integrated headset” last month, I’d have looked blankly at you. I bought the frame more than a month ago.

After much reading it seems there’s a train of thought that integrated headsets are inferior because the bearings sit straight onto the frame, the frame having integrated lips that hold the bearings in place. This is opposed to normal headsets which have a top and bottom cup that slot into the frame head and hold the bearings in place. The idea being if the bearings crack for some reason, they’ll start wearing and destroying your frame, if the bearings crack in a traditional headset they only destroy the cups. Like almost every other dilemma I’ve come across on this project these things are mostly theoretical and usually only happen at the extreme end of cycling.

To late for me either way, I’ve got integrated and that’s that. I bought a Cane Creek set mainly because it was the only threadless integrated headset I could find that wasn’t black. Added a few chrome spacers and then the lovely Velo Orange 6-degree stem:

I’ve turned the stem upside down. Its only a little touch, but the result is the stem runs in line with the frame top bar, rather than turning upwards. I like clean lines you see, and this way it evokes the older and far more elegant quill stems of yore. Not much left to go really. The handlebar is now on, taped up and wired to the gears and brakes. I’m excited.