# no more king headsets?



## mwinoski (Aug 19, 2004)

it appears that the discovery channel team no longer uses king headsets and that the one they use now is a pro rm-11...anyone know who makes this headset or anyone use it?

just wondering why they switched out such a high grade component after they used it for so many years...

see it here...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2...iscovery_Channel_Trek_Madone_SSL_69_head_tube


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## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

Pro is a subsidiary of Shimano.


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## Mark McM (Jun 18, 2005)

*Shimano and threadless headsets?*

It's interesting that Pro sells threadless headsets. Only threaded headsets were sold under the Shimano name - the story was that Shimano didn't want to pay royalties to Dia-Compe, who own the patent for the threadless headset. Is it possible that the threadless headset patent has expired? (There is a bit of precedent if this is the case - Shimano only started making slant parallelogram derailleurs after the Suntour patent on that design expired).


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

So why again did they switch from King to Pro headsets?? :idea:

I believe this question has not yet been answered..


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## Mark McM (Jun 18, 2005)

*Discover, Pro, King and threadless headsets*



uzziefly said:


> So why again did they switch from King to Pro headsets?? :idea:
> 
> I believe this question has not yet been answered..


While there may not have been a official answer, I think it is pretty easy to figure it out.

Discovery is sponsored by Shimano (components) and Trek (frames and forks). Trek only makes threadless forks, and Shimano only makes threaded headsets. So, Discovery had to go else for their headsets, and decided to go with King. However, King is not a team sponsor.

The Pro brand is owned by Shimano, and makes threadless headsets. It therefore makes more sense for Discovery to switch to Pro headsets, so their sponsor at least gets some indirect benefit from the exposure. It is probably more economic for the Discovery team, as it is likely that they get the Pro headsets for free via the Shimano sponsorship, but had to pay money to buy the King headsets.

No, the real question is: Why does Shimano sell threadless headsets under the Pro brand, but not under the Shimano brand?


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