Slave Posted February 26, 2009 Share Having gone through three set of the things, I hit LBS again this morning to get another one. I think I have finally found the reason why I have wrecked two of them, but that's a seperate issue and I will debate my intelligence or lack thereof in another thread. Intersting enough, the realisation came to me when teeny had a problem with his Alpina and the headset bearings. I noticed last night, when I stripped the bearing off our bike, that the Alpina has a slightly narrower fork and the bearings are not the same size as mine. According to other LBS (and all) the headset bearing sets are "universal". So when I went to Cycle hub, the dudes tell me there is no such. There are two sizes. 1 Inch and 1 1/4 inch. The one inch fits my peejou but is too big for the Alpina. Anyone knwo where I can get a set of headset bearings for an old Alipna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bored girl Posted February 26, 2009 Share I don't know bout bearings but Jules just bought a 1" from Linden. Think it was bout R150 And this is more a response to your topic.....my bike takes a 1" so as it was an old bike and we did some diy upgrades I bought a new headset last yr....maybe Aug or so. 2 weeks back it felt bit loose so we tightened it and lets say it was a bit hard to turn left A visit to the LBS revealed that the bearings have made an imprint into the little cup they sit in so short of buying a new one there was no saving it....those that oppose that view could pls let me know how it can be repaired I'll take pms..... So that's how long mine lasted.....less than a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slave Posted February 26, 2009 Share BG. I have had this problem for a long time and JB has some very interesting technical answers for the problem. The indentations can be caused by a number of things. In my case, the last two have been because I tightened the headset too much and this caused too much pressure on the bearing race. The bike was like that when I got it and the first time I did the replacement, it lasted me a whole 500 k's (That's around two to three weeks the distance I ride.) The last one lasted me 50 ks, but then I know that I had the set too tight. The smallest of indentaions can cause havoc on the steering. Another problem that was suggested is that the bearings themselves, deposit bits of themselves on the race (This is the little "cup" dis-ting that you refer to) largely because the grease is squeezed out and there is metal to metal contact. Another possibility is that the vibrations form the road cause the dents. In my case however, I am now convinced that it was just a simple case of the thing being too tight. Will know in about a month toiugh as I will do the job tonight and go for a long ride on Sat. The headeset I bought last year in November was R30 at LBS but now gone up to R40. (and they measure inflation at around 10%) Bullsh!t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted February 26, 2009 Share buy decent headset you guys. My road bike's Aheadset is 6 years old (22 500km) and never even opened it and my MTB's Cane Creek is just over a year. Also never opened it. ...Mampara2009-02-26 04:29:54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bored girl Posted February 26, 2009 Share I'm almost certain the one I have on now is a Cane creek. Paid R50 for it, from a shop....Go figure. The one from Linden is a ITM and had needle bearings so different approach. I've always seem to have had the same problem with headsets - always a bit of "play", not sure if it can be another part of my bike that's not right (pls do educate me if it could be) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoBigBen Posted February 26, 2009 Share another part of my bike that's not right It isn't a Specialized .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slave Posted February 26, 2009 Share Needle roller bearings are far superior to ball bearings any day.The needle rollers should last a lifetime. I have the same feeling that they were not installed correctly in much the same way as I'm convinced that my most recent headset failure was my own doing. Mampara. On old bike like mine, there is really only one choice. Same old elcheapo's made in China. This set is made in Taiwan, so maybe.... (Yeah I know but I can dream can't I?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bored girl Posted February 26, 2009 Share another part of my bike that's not right ? It isn't a Specialized .... Bloody cannondales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted February 26, 2009 Share I know it's a lot of money but Chris King makes 1" headset. It will cost you about R900 but it will last. When you sell the bike, just fit the cheapie again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoBigBen Posted February 26, 2009 Share I know it's a lot of money but Chris King makes 1" headset. It will cost you about R900 but it will last. When you sell the bike' date=' just fit the cheapie again. [/quote'] I know someone who has moved his same Chris King through 3 MTB's in the last few years ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slave Posted February 26, 2009 Share I know it's a lot of money but Chris King makes 1" headset. It will cost you about R900 but it will last. When you sell the bike' date=' just fit the cheapie again. [/quote'] And then I will have another thing on the bike that exceeds its value. I'm planning on trying to get the bike replaced as soon as the golden eagle come home to sh!t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted February 26, 2009 Share A few thumbs were sucked quite clean in the creation of this thread. Lets go back to basics. Road bike headsets and MTB headsets generally fail in differnt ways. A roadbike headset fails when the race develops dimples as Bored Girl so nicely observed. The cause of these dimples are a mystery to most people though. More about them in a moment. Mountain bike headsets usually fail from dirt and water ingression. If you never ride in wet stuff and stick to tar roads, they last as long as a road bike headset. If you never ride in the wet but do a lot of single-track, they last quite long - easily longer than a road bike headset. RB headsets fail from lack of grease. The favoured straight-ahead position of most road trips see to it that the road vibrations that make the fork flex forwards and backwards, work the grease out from under the bearing balls. This fretting motion makes the bearings weld to the race (cup) only to have the next vibration break the weld off again. The race then erodes one molecule at a time and forms the characteristic dimples. These dimples are mostly in the forward/aft position and not on the sides. If you examine a dimpled cup you'll notice that the dimples aren't right around but only in the direction of fork flex. These dimples are milky white, not shiny, a clear indication that they are not impact dimples but erosion dimples. They cannot be formed by overtightening. If you don't believe me, take an old headset bearing and whack it with a hammer. Keep the dog in the kitchen when you do this and close your eyes - preferrably wear safety goggles and keep your mouth closed too. You'll see that an incredibly hard wack creates a small shiny dimple that looks nothing like those on your old headset. You cannot create these types of loads with a spanner. A mountain bike headset that sees lots of water rots away long before it can wear away. That's 'cause water gets in there from front wheel spray, thanks to the doff design and our reluctance to use mudguards. I think there's merit in a short mudguard that just protects the headset, if nothing else - even for roadbikes doing wet rides. Older bikes with threaded steerers had one-inch steerers and there's no way you can fit a 1 1/8 inch headset in there and vice versa. A one-inch steerer is a headset killer. It flexes a lot more than a steerer that's just 1/8 of an inch (4mm) larger in diameter. Mountain bikes nowadays have super beefy 1 1/4 inch steerers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slave Posted March 12, 2009 Share Thought I'd provide an update. Baught el cheapo new head set bearing, races etc. Fitted them to the bike taking great care to make sure that I only hand tightened the head set until there was no more play on the head when holding the front brake and rocking the bike. Then locked the lock rings. I have so far done around 500 k's and no sign of any problems yet. Will keep updating on odd occasion. Obviously, my previous effort, I tightened the whole thing too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Posted March 12, 2009 Share Good stuff. My single speed headset is starting to give trouble. I opened it yesterday and I see it has cartridge bearings. I hope they are cheap to replace.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delgado Posted March 12, 2009 Share I have a toasted Alpina bike with a 1" headset that we can strip and check the bearings. If they work you are welcome to have them...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delgado Posted March 12, 2009 Share Good stuff. My single speed headset is starting to give trouble. I opened it yesterday and I see it has cartridge bearings. I hope they are cheap to replace.... Maybe don't hold your breath Jules. I replaced a pair Cane Creek cartridge bearings at R275.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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