Has anyone tried Cane Creek's ViscoSet headset?

[satanas]

It's supposed to stop shimmy:

http://www.canecreek.com/product/viscoset/

Seems like it ought to work, if it fits your frame.

Later,
Stephen

[Mark Bulgier]

Maybe Jamie Swan will comment.  He turned one into a 1" headset with his mad machinist skilz.  See his Flickr.

Mark Bulgier

Seattle

[Stephen Poole]

Thanks Mark,

The cups don't look as if they would be too hard to turn up apart from the notches inside; I'll pass though!

Later,

Stephen

[James Swan]

Yeah, Cane Creek gave me a few of them to experiment with. I made cups for myself, Peter Weigle and Johnny Coast and we all played with the things.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48950170@N03/albums/72157699445613405/with/30729220213/

You adjust the amount of damping by the order in which you stack the clutch discs and modulating the quantity and viscosity of the special damping grease. Out of the box they provide way too much damping, and it took a bit of monkeying around to get to the sweet spot. Real cold weather requires re-tuning.

Bottom line is that it works about as good as a roller bearing headset for mitigating low-speed / no hands shimmy in a low trail rando bike. Cane Creek has abandoned plans to make a 1” version.

Jamie Swan

http://www.jamieswan.net

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[Stephen Poole]

"About as good" doesn't sound too promising to me; The Dreaded GR still shimmied horribly with a Stronglight Delta. Maybe it would work better with the "way too much" damping mentioned, but since it's 9/8" only that's a bit of a moot point for lots of bikes.  :-(

Later,

Stephen

[Theodor Rzad]

Hmmm, possibly interesting. My three favorite bikes can all shimmy from time to time (2 x low trail, 1 high trail), but none are problematically-prone IMO. The Nordavinden is probably the worst of the three, but even then it's easily correctable.

Viscous steering dampers are commonplace in the motorcycle world. Find a fan of the early Ducati Monsters and you'll be talking to big proponent of steering dampers! 

Ted

On Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 9:25:29 PM UTC-7, satanas wrote:

[Ronnie Caddow]

Hi 

Happy to give advice as I have two of these fitted to my bikes.

Woks a treat

[Ronnie Caddow]

Hi

I have tried this as an alternative to a hopey damper as I cycle with one hand .

I am delighted with the results it really helps me with control

Ronnie Caddow 

On Wednesday, 25 July 2018 05:25:29 UTC+1, satanas wrote:

[Brad]

Okay, so what is the difference between viscous dampng and really thick grease with caged ball bearings?

[Jon Kendziera]

Really thick grease does provide damping, but only a little.

I've done some experimenting, here are my results organized from least effective to most effective damping:

-Caged ball bearing headset with thick grease (I've even tried damping grease)

This certainly feels much stiffer in the bike stand, but no noticeable difference while riding.  If the bike has a tendency to shimmy this won't stop it.

-Over tightened cartridge bearing headset:   I don't recommend it, but a good headset like a Chris King or Cane Creek can tolerate over tightening

This does make a noticable difference when riding and can help stop shimmy.

-Needle bearing headset: 

Seems to offer a little more damping than the overtightened cartridge bearing headset.  Helpful in stopping shimmy.

-Cane Creek damping headset:

By far the most effective.   Usually prevents shimmy on its lowest setting, but do be careful with the higher settings - those can make the handling pretty miserable.

Jon

https://www.jonny-cycles.com/

[Eric Nichols]

I’ve done experiments with different grades of damping grease in roller bearing headsets and ball bearing headsets, and have made the same findings as John Kendziera.

Eric Nichols

[Daniel MacPherson]

In the video included in the link, the engineer talks about designing the product for e-bikes and cargo bikes... what’s the reason for shimmy issues for those type of bikes? Is it weight?

[Justin, Oakland]

The first part of the copy talks about speed wobble which is a different phenomenon from the shimmy commonly associated with flexy tubed, fat tired bikes. When carrying large loads at speed, speed wobble has been common in my experience and is terrifying.

-J

[satanas]

^ Speed wobble is just a more extreme version of shimmy; I've suffered both on The Dreaded GR. Usually there was enough time to prevent shimmy turning into the other, but not always.

If the oscillations get worse in spite of (or are aggravated by) the load carried, then getting things back under control is more difficult. Prevention is much better.

Later,
Stephen