Spearmin

Hi,

I have removed the headset from my Bianchi C2C 928 carbon (2011?2012?) bike. On one of the bearings, I found: FSA Industries 1 1/8 45X45.
Does anyone know what type of headset this might be? I can't find any other information.

Thanks in advance

DrIsotope

FSA Orbit CE or CE Plus. IS42/28.6 / IS42/30

The CE Plus is listed as the OEM. It has a carbon headset cap and appears to be discontinued. The CE is still widely available.

cyccommute 

We just went through this at my local co-op. The "45x45" is in reference to the external and internal angles of the bearing. It's a mostly meaningless categorization. You need to measure the inner diameter of the bearing, the outer diameter of the bearing and the thickness with a pair of calipers. That will tell you what bearing is needed.

The information given by DrIsotope is probably valid but it is best to measure first.

Spearmin

Thanks for this guys. What do the following mean: IS42/28.6 / IS42/30?

TimothyH

For future reference, Cane Creek has an excellent Headset Fit Finder tool

https://blue.canecreek.com/headset-fit-finder

Below is for the 2011 928.



IS means integrated. There are also ZS (zero stack), EC (external cup) and a few others.


-Tim-

HillRider

As DrIsotope noted, buy an FSA Orbit CE replacement headset. It will be a direct replacement. Here is Amazon's listing for it:

​​​​​​https://www.amazon.com/FSA-Orbit-CE-.../dp/B0083CQYDO

cyccommute 

The "IS" stands for "integrated headset". Why it isn't "IH", I don't know. The "42" stands for "type of headset" but is really related to the diameter of the bearing. The bearing internal diameter (OD) should be 41.8mm but they round it up to 42 for the sake of confusion. A "41" type stands for a 41mm bearing OD so I guess "41" was taken and, I suppose, they ran out of decimal points (?).

The "28.6" and "30" are the ID of the bearing or, perhaps more specifically, the OD of the steer tube and the crown crown race, respectively. I guess they had a quota of decimal points since they were willing to use one but not 2 (or 4)

For more confusion, check the Park website for the Standardized Headset Identification System (SHIS). It does make it a little clearer but you really need to read through the whole article to understand it.

Could they have made it any more confusing? Why not include the actual measurement of the bearing OD so that someone coming across a 41.8mm bearing would know that it's a type 42? Would it kill them to use decimal points? And while ZS stands for "zero stack" the SHIS system calls it an "Internal headset". Would an "IH" designation be more confusing than calling it a "ZS" and then referring to the headset as an internal headset?

I know headsets are confusing but, honestly, a "standard" system shouldn't add to the confusion.

Spearmin

Thanks guys. I'm still not sure I understand all this, but I'll try buying the replacement headset.

Spearmin

One more question guys. The Orbit CE headset comes in 8 mm and 15 mm. Do these measurements refer to the bolt size. I asked on an on-line shop and they said it was to do with height?

DrIsotope