Works Components 2 Degree Angle Headset

@mrbrett - yeah I hope to get the bike out for a ride on some steeper terrain soon.  I'm keeping an open mind!

@martin - as expected, that's a slick looking headset by Wolf Tooth.  I really like the graphic/gif they have on the site illustrating the changes.  I will say this - I was expecting my seat tub angle to steepen up a little bit with the angle set installed and was kind of surprised to see no change.  I think it may be more of an issue with my phone not being the most accurate measuring device, or something like that - because it makes sense that it would get slightly steeper.  Maybe not 2 degrees, but something.

If you want to measure more precisely and you have Photoshop, what I do is take a picture of my bike from the side, from far enough so there is no lens dirtortion, then I open the picture in Photoshop, set both axles perfectly level with a line, then rotate it so that the fork gets level and see how many degrees it gives. Seems pretty accurate!

It's also useful to check all frame measurements if your picture is big enough and you have a measure that you are absolutely certain is scalable. Geeking a bit more, since I've slid my saddle forwards on the rails to get a steeper seat tube, I could figure out what the real STA is taking into account the forward adjustment. Helps to see what you want from your next bike : )

Posted by: Ride.DMC

... I was expecting my seat tub angle to steepen up a little bit with the angle set installed and was kind of surprised to see no change. I think it may be more of an issue with my phone not being the most accurate measuring device, or something like that - because it makes sense that it would get slightly steeper. Maybe not 2 degrees, but something.

I also put a -2° Works Angleset on my 2019 Process. Mine is an XL 29, so my numbers will be slightly different than yours. But I built a model in CAD to fully examine what was going to change as a result of the angle set (and bumping the fork up to 170), so I can help explain what's going on here.

The first thing to note is that an angle set doesn't change the "Head Tube Angle" as stated in a static geometry chart, it changes the angle that the fork goes through the headtube, which in turn drives a bunch of other changes.

We can look at this in three states.

State 1: Stock Geometry

Your static geometry is (approximately within tolerances) equal to what the manufacturer puts on their geo chart

State 2: You clamp your bike as it stands in State 1 and install a -2° Angle Set. Your geometry is now as follows

Head Tube Angle: -2° Relative to stock (64° in this case)

Wheel base: increases, but your front wheel no longer touches the ground ( Your fork length hasn't changed, but you've angled the fork outwards)

Everything else: no change (but again, your front wheel is floating in the air)

State 3: You unclamp your bike from State 2 and place both wheel on the ground (The bike rotates around the rear axle until the front wheel touches the ground)

State 3 Relative to State 2:

Head Angle: Steepens slightly

Seat Tube Angle: Steepens Slightly

Wheelbase: Decreases Slightly

BB Height: Lowers

Reach: Increases slightly

Stack: Lowers Slightly

State 3 Geo Static Chart (for XL Process 29 with -2° Works Angle Set, 160mm Fork, 51mm Offset)

Head Angle: 64.39° (from 66°)

Seat Angle: 76.16 (from 75.7°)

Wheel Base: 1276.69 (from 1258)

BB Height: 343.12 (from 346)

Reach: 511.87 (from 510)

Stack: 625.35 (from 630)

Alot of these angular changes are too small for your iPhone to measure well, especially when you have to deal with buttons making the sides not flat. (Also all these numbers are basically theoretical, the two decimal places are not particularly useful, and there will be tolerances etc. so they're not exactly representative of a given real bike)

This is where your "effective reach" measurement comes into play, your steerer tube is now more angled back towards you, so your handlebars have moved back because they're held in a stem, not located at a theoretical point, which is why your "effective reach" is reduced. And as you said, stem spacers now have an increased effect on your effective reach, because your fork is intersecting your frame at a greater angle.

What I think you should be looking at is your hand position relative to your BB, in the horizontal and vertical directions. You can then use a combination of handlebars, stems, and spacers to place your hands where you need them relative the BB, which may be in a different place than you had them before, as your front wheel is now farther away

@wingelabs - thank you for all of that.  It's a great explanation and really helped fill in a couple of the blanks I had!

So I have had the chance to spend more time on my bike with the angle set installed.  I have not had a chance to ride sufficiently long, steep trails, which I believe will really reveal the biggest positive change, but I have noticed that the bike seems easier to lean over in corners.  Especially at speed.  Riding into a nice berm at a good clip and the bike just eases over that much easier.  I wouldn't say that it's game changing, but it's noticeable, and it's an improvement (in my opinion).

So far the only downside was the loss of about 5mm of reach, which I was able to get back by replacing my 40mm stem with a 45mm stem.  

With all the supply chain issues affecting the production of new bikes, adding an angle set may be the easiest/cheapest way to modernize/freshen up your ride and get another season or two out of it...  But if your sensitive about losing reach, be sure to factor in the cost of a new stem... 

While it's certainly cheaper than a new bike/frame, it's not exactly cheap.

What was your total cost?

Posted by: syncro

What was your total cost?

Works Components Angle Set $129.80 (includes currency exchange, shipping)

FedEX $15.11 (duties & taxes)

Angle Set installation $31.50 (includes taxes)

Farside Components Cyclic Stem (45mm reach) $229 (includes shipping & taxes).

Grand Total: $405.41

Obviously there are ways to get the cost lower, like installing the headset myself, or not changing stems.  But the Farside stem was something I had my eye on before installing the angle set, and to be perfectly honest it was the only stem I could find at 45mm (with a 35mm clamping diameter).

Ouch on the price of the stem! I was wondering what made this "not exactly cheap, but I guess if it was something you had already been eyeing up then it's not a big extra cost.

Can you please help me and tell me what you ordered exactly for this? i'm also on the Kona Process but insure what exactly to order? there is a few to choose from !! Cheers

Posted by: [email protected]

Can you please help me and tell me what you ordered exactly for this? i'm also on the Kona Process but insure what exactly to order? there is a few to choose from !! Cheers

Start the menu with how many degrees of change you want, then cup sizes and head tube length. 

If you don't know the cup sizes check the specs on the manufacturers site, if you can't operate a ruler to find head tube length then fitting a headset will be too hard. 

Just teasing, follow the steps and rad-lego your bike.

Hi Mike - I pm'd you the details of what I ordered.  Just be sure to check your frames head tube length as that could change based on frame size, frame material, or even wheel size.  My frame has a 120mm long head tube so I ordered set 4, which fits frames from 120mm - 129mm.

A simple way to measure reach is to stand the bike in a door frame. Place one of the edges in the vertical middle of the BB (crank), and measure from that edge horizontally to the middle of the top of the headtube (if that's the way the mfgr. specifies it).