Works Components 2 Degree Angle Headset

I wanted to spruce up and modernize my 2019 Kona Process 153, so I decided to purchase a Works Components 2 Degree Angle Headset. The 2019 Process was a continuation of the 2018 Process, meaning the geometry that was probably pretty progressive at the time, is now 5 model years old.

Kona lists the head tube angle for the 2019 Process 153 at 66 degrees on their website. I was able to verify this using the level app on my phone. A 2 degree angle headset installed in the slack position should give me a 64 degree HTA, and according to the app on my phone, that is the case. Yay!

This puts my bike right between the 2022 Kona Process X (an even longer, slacker, enduro bike with more travel) and the 2022 Kona Process 153, which have 63.5 and 64.5 HTA's respectively.

I was curious what other affects this would have on my bike, specifically to the reach, seat tube angle, wheelbase and BB height, so before I installed the Angle Headset I took some measurements for reference.

I am going to share that info here, just in case anyone else is considering an Angle Headset and is interested in knowing how it will affect other aspects of the bikes geometry. Keep in mind these figures were obtained using an iPhone app and a metric tape measure - and I find millimeters really hard to read accurately as I get older. So this info is hardly scientific and could be subject to errors of a millimeter or two here or there.

Head Tube Angle: -2 degrees to 64 (measured by holding iPhone against fork stanchion)

Seat Tube Angle: Unchanged (I did not bother measuring the effective seat tube angle the way Kona does on their website. Instead I just extended my dropper post all the way and slapped my phone against it to get a reading).

Wheelbase: +15mm

BB Height: -2mm to -4mm (this was hard to measure accurately and still be able to read the tape measure)

Effective Reach: -7mm (yikes!)

I use the term "effective reach" because I didn't measure from a hypothetical line from the center of my BB to the center of the headtube/steer tube. That would have been too tricky to do on my own. Instead I measured from the front side of my seat post directly above the collar/clamp to the center of my top cap/steer tube). This loss of reach concerns me. I'm 5'10" with ridiculously long arms for my height. I probably should have gotten a size Large frame, but in the midst of a Pandemic, beggars can't be choosers so a size Medium it was. I've played around extensively with different length stem and bar combos and finally had my bars in a place that felt comfortable both on the climbs and the descents.  We'll see if this makes any difference...

I have not had a chance to ride the bike yet, so I cannot comment on how any of these very minimal changes affect the performance or ride experience, but I am hoping the slightly slacker head angle and slightly longer wheelbase are noticeable when the trail starts to get steep - because that's the main thing I'm looking for.

I will report back when I've had a chance to go for a ride. If anyone has any experiences they'd like to share using a Works Components Angle Headset, by all means please share. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them.

What length stem do you run? I am starting to believe that the hype of a 35mm length stem is overblown. I recently started going back to longer stems on some of my bikes and in some ways find it better. Specifically, I like the added weight on the front wheel for cornering. With the slacker hta, it may be worthwhile adding 10mm to the stem to help weight the front wheel.

That sounds like a nice upgrade for geo, but yeah, it does come at a cost of reach, especially with a -2. My own experience is with the -1.5 I put on my hard tail. It lowers the front end a bit, as the fork gets raked out, which does preserve a bit of reach, but the overall effect is reduced reach. For my bike, I went from internal cup on the top to external, and this used up what little extra steerer I had left (no spacers now, just stem on headset). With no spacer ability, I went to a slightly taller bar to maintain my bar height, and ended up rolling it forward a bit more than usual. Doing that actually made the reduced reach much less of an issue with the overall fit/feeling, and I actually prefer a more forward-roll than most anyway. Maybe you could try that if you feel a bit cramped. Taller bar to maintain height, rolled forward for a bit more cockpit length.

Another thing I noticed is that the bike handles quite differently at very slow speeds. This might be why modern forks tend to have a different offset than older forks, but things like track stands are really difficult to do without toppling over. It feels really good at medium to fast speeds, but as soon as you're standing still, your really need to concentrate to keep from flopping right over sideways. A buddy of mine put one on his '19 Devinci Spartan, and he said the same thing about his experiences when moving slower. He had to relearn that balance point a bit.

I've got a -1 deg WC headset in my Krampus [69.5 -1 = 68.5 deg] and a -1 deg WC in my GG Smash [65 -1 = 64 deg]. They both ride better like this or at least I like them better slacker. I didn't notice the loss of Reach, but I'm not after the biggest bike and you are trading Reach for Wheelbase/Front Centre so I'm not sure you really lose anything.

I can ride stems from 30mm-50mm without minding too much so I wouldn't hesitate to put a longer stem on the bike if the seated pedaling position is too tight and you've got a particularly short stem on there now.

I just wish it was easier to lay hands on these WC headsets. I've been ordering from the UK and they stopped wanting to use Royal Mail unfortunately.

I'm currently running the stock 40mm stem and a 35mm rise bar. I have experimented with a 50mm stem and a 20mm rise bar, and every combination thereof.

I also found that by removing 10mm of spacers from under my stem I was able to get close to an extra 5mm of reach. That's when I swapped back to the 40mm stem.

The headtube on my Process has an internal headset, but the FSA Orbit headset that came stock had quite a tall top bearing cover, so the stack height under my stem hasn't really changed from how I was running it - even with the Works Components upper headset cup being external now.

I now realize that measuring to the center of the top cap wasn't the best way I could have measured "effective reach" because it doesn't take into account the amount of space(rs) beneath the stem. The more space under the stem, the shorter the effective reach, the less space under the stem, the longer the effective reach.

I want to ride it a few times before making any other changes, but if I absolutely cannot get used to the shorter reach I will absolutely experiment with a 45mm or 50mm stem.

I'll see if I get the tippy feeling.  I ride slower than I used to (even when I'm trying to go fast), so hopefully it's not an issue.

Posted by: Vikb

I just wish it was easier to lay hands on these WC headsets. I've been ordering from the UK and they stopped wanting to use Royal Mail unfortunately.

I was shocked how fast it got to me.  I ordered it on a Wednesday and it was on my doorstep by Monday.  They sent it by FedEx.  I did have to pay about $15 in duties and taxes.

Posted by: Ride.DMC

I was shocked how fast it got to me.  I ordered it on a Wednesday and it was on my doorstep by Monday.  They sent it by FedEx.  I did have to pay about $15 in duties and taxes.

I'm glad it went smoothly for you. I'm sure I'll be buying a few more WC headsets. I pretty much exclude any frames from consideration if they don't allow install of a WC headset down the road.

I think the gain in wheelbase/front-centre matters more than the loss of reach. You may find that a 10 mm longer stem feels good for staying on top of the more raked out front wheel.

The new just released today Wolf Tooth 2 degrees geoshift seems absolutely perfect. I've been running their Premium headset for 2 seasons and while expensive, it was totally worth it. The Geoshift ends up being like 20-30$cdn more than the Works but I think it would be worth it. I'm getting one and will report back!

Posted by: martin

The new just released today Wolf Tooth 2 degrees geoshift seems absolutely perfect. I've been running their Premium headset for 2 seasons and while expensive, it was totally worth it. The Geoshift ends up being like 20-30$cdn more than the Works but I think it would be worth it. I'm getting one and will report back!

I also ordered a Wolf Tooth -2 deg for my fat bike. Should be just what the dr ordered for that bike, that has an otherwise fairly steep HA. 

Have tried Works Components before too, on a Process 153 - just like the other person. Was a quality headset, and the bike felt a lot better with the angle set.

I managed to get a ride in. I only had time to get to my local trails, Delta Watershed Park. Anyone who rides there knows it's not the type of terrain where you would expect a slack(er) bike to shine, but having said that I thought maybe it would be the perfect terrain to expose the warts of a slack(er) ride?

Well, that wasn't the case. I didn't notice any change. No more pedal strikes than usual. No difficulty navigating slow speed turns. No floppy feeling.

I was kind of disappointed to be honest. I guess I thought if I noticed the negatives straight away, the positives would be equally noticeable once I get to the right terrain.

Now there are a couple of short steep sections in the park, so I decided to check one of them out near the end of my lap... And I swear the bike DID feel more stable and more composed. But then I assume I must of imagined it because it was literally 50 feet of trail, maybe less. How could I really notice anything with such a short sample?

So the jury is still out I guess if this "upgrade" made any difference. I've gone from disappointed to happy that there seems to be no ill effects at least. I am looking forward to getting on some steeper trails sometime soon.

Posted by: mrbrett

Posted by: martin

The new just released today Wolf Tooth 2 degrees geoshift seems absolutely perfect. I've been running their Premium headset for 2 seasons and while expensive, it was totally worth it. The Geoshift ends up being like 20-30$cdn more than the Works but I think it would be worth it. I'm getting one and will report back!

I also ordered a Wolf Tooth -2 deg for my fat bike. Should be just what the dr ordered for that bike, that has an otherwise fairly steep HA. 

Have tried Works Components before too, on a Process 153 - just like the other person. Was a quality headset, and the bike felt a lot better with the angle set.

My Google searches have only turned up the 1 degree Angle set from Wolftooth - but the site did contain lots information that I liked reading.  I am sure it will be a quality piece - everything I have seen from that company has been well made.  I will say this - the Works Components appears to be a quality headset as well.  Nothing flashy, other than the geo adjust, but it looks and feels nice!

Posted by: Ride.DMC

I managed to get a ride in. I only had time to get to my local trails, Delta Watershed Park. Anyone who rides there knows it's not the type of terrain where you would expect a slack(er) bike to shine, but having said that I thought maybe it would be the perfect terrain to expose the warts of a slack(er) ride?

Well, that wasn't the case. I didn't notice any change. No more pedal strikes than usual. No difficulty navigating slow speed turns. No floppy feeling.

I was kind of disappointed to be honest. I guess I thought if I noticed the negatives straight away, the positives would be equally noticeable once I get to the right terrain.

Now there are a couple of short steep sections in the park, so I decided to check one of them out near the end of my lap... And I swear the bike DID feel more stable and more composed. But then I assume I must of imagined it because it was literally 50 feet of trail, maybe less. How could I really notice anything with such a short sample?

So the jury is still out I guess if this "upgrade" made any difference. I've gone from disappointed to happy that there seems to be no ill effects at least. I am looking forward to getting on some steeper trails sometime soon.

I think taking some time on that bike, in its new form, in some terrain that's well served by a slacker head angle is the key. I managed to ride my bike (with the -2) and a buddy's rental 153 (stock headset) back to back and there's definitely a difference. But, like any suspension bike, static geometry isn't the same as dynamic.