Cane Creek has released a new Hellbender 70 Visco Headset which promises to eliminate high-frequency vibration from your bike’s steering, claiming to work especially well on front-heavy bikes. 

• Your complete guide to bearings
• How to pack bikepacking bags - carry everything you need and more
• Best bikepacking seat packs for gravel and mountain bikes - tried, tested and reviewed

Cane Creek says that the type of vibration this headset targets happens especially on front heavy, loaded and long-wheelbase bikes, so that could be anything from a cargo bike to a bikepacking rig. Especially at high speeds, these types of bikes can be subject to speed wobble, which, as the name suggests, causes the steering to become unstable and wobble.  

cane-creek-hellbender-visco_3.jpeg, by Cane Creek

The 70 Visco Headset is a new version of the headset damping technology, which Cane Creek released back in 2019, works in the same way as the original product. Inside the headset, vibration dampening is allowed by a series of tuneable metal shims (damping plate), each of them covered in high-viscosity fluorocarbon gel. Each headset is set to "mid-tune" but by changing the orientation of the shins, riders are able to fine-tune the level of dampening the headset offers. And as the name suggests, the 70 Visco headset uses Cane Creek’s Hellbender stainless steel bearings. 

The Hellbender 70 Visco Headset comes in a popular ZS44 configuration for the top, and ZS56 for the bottom. You do need to press the frame cups into place, but to achieve the dampening, you only need one, Cane Creek advises.

The headset is available on Cane Creek’s website where it retails for $99.99. 

• canecreek.com/

​​You might also like: 

• Jet wash proof bearings? Cane Creek and SKF launch solid lubricant range
• 5 Ways to tweak your mountain bike's geometry - Frame
• Wolf Tooth Lower Headset Extender Cups will allow you to change any mountain bike's head angle