Thug Posted December 9, 2009 Share After the mudfest called Sani Transfrontier, I need to replace the bearings from my Cane Creek headset. Apart from sourcing original replacements at an inflated price from my lbs, would I be able to obtain them from a place such as Bearingman of SKF, or are headset bearings, headset specific ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted December 9, 2009 Share Those bearings were designed specifically for headsets but are not available from normal bearing outlets. I'd say they're bicycle specific. However, they're not brand-specific and you can chuck any cartridge in there. IIRC the Crane Creek design uses the standard angular contact, taper-one-side square-the-other-side design and the only consideration is steerer size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techguy Posted December 9, 2009 Share However' date=' they're not brand-specific and you can chuck any cartridge in there. IIRC the Crane Creek design uses the standard angular contact, taper-one-side square-the-other-side design and the only consideration is steerer size.[/quote'] I beg to differ, they can be brand specific as you get them with a 45x45 deg angle or a 36x45 deg angle and a 36x36 deg angle as well as varying outer diameters have a look at the FSA website and see how many variations you get... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoBigBen Posted December 9, 2009 Share Can only say that on my new frame I tried some Ritchey WCS ones we had at home and they did not fit (just ever so slightly too big in diameter) but the KCNC Bearbone ones did so it seems there are some kind of 'subtle' differences ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted December 9, 2009 Share However' date=' they're not brand-specific and you can chuck any cartridge in there. IIRC the Crane Creek design uses the standard angular contact, taper-one-side square-the-other-side design and the only consideration is steerer size.[/quote'] I beg to differ, they can be brand specific as you get them with a 45x45 deg angle or a 36x45 deg angle and a 36x36 deg angle as well as varying outer diameters have a look at the FSA website and see how many variations you get... I think you'll find that the bearings are not made by bicycle companies but by bearing companies. An SKF bearing originally fitted to a....say Cane Creek bearing will also fit in a few other headests. You mention various outer diameters but forgot to mention various inner diameters. Like I said the steerer size ultimately determines the outer diameter of the bearing. They are NOT brand specific. Take your bearing to a bike shop and ask for a similar one. It does not have to be from the same brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowta Posted December 9, 2009 Share AFAIK, the majority of bearings supplied in the headset are manufactured by the same company. (the name eludes me know) You just have to make sure the angles and diameters are correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowta Posted December 9, 2009 Share TH Industries I bought a Giant headset the other day and it had these bearings, my Cane creek integrated headset also had the same as well as the pivot bearings for my I-drive (the actual angles might be different in some cases) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veloce Posted December 9, 2009 Share Yup TH industries makes the bearings for FSA etc. I bought a Giant headset the other day for my Anthem and it had the 2 TH Industries bearings and an FSA headset cover. Check the TH website, you can get part numbers for most makes of frames. Oh, you also need to know the angle of your crown race so that it matches the angle of the angular bearing you shove in your head-tube. Veloce2009-12-09 04:16:50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium Rocket Posted December 9, 2009 Share I have a Cane Creek S6 non-integrated headset, and there are Giant bearings which fit perfectly, at about R160 for a pair. The genuine Cane Creek set costs >R350, but they do last way longer. Have just checked in my workshop, and they are not from the same manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowta Posted December 9, 2009 Share I also have a Cane Creek S3 headset, which I'm positive has TH Industries bearings (I can't check right now tho) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted December 9, 2009 Share Thanks for the answers. I'm sitting with the CC headset bearing in my hand and it is branded Cane Creek with the bearing size on it as well as a part number. So a visit to my LBS will be in order and it maybe even be cost effective to purchase a new headset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaskar Posted December 9, 2009 Share Thug, i got some new Cane Creek bearings from Alex a few weeks ago. Think they were R50 a bearing, and they came in "Giant" branded packaging. They fit my Carbon Zaskar, and are the exact same size bearings (1-1/8" 36x45) as in the KCNC Omega S1 headset I bought a while ago while building a bike for a friend. Give Alex a call...Zaskar2009-12-09 05:02:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted December 9, 2009 Share Thanks Zaskar, will pop past Alex later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted December 9, 2009 Share Thug' date=' i got some new Cane Creek bearings from Alex a few weeks ago. Think they were R50 a bearing, and they came in "Giant" branded packaging. They fit my Carbon Zaskar, and are the exact same size bearings? (1-1/8" 36x45) as in the KCNC Omega S1 headset I bought a while ago while building a bike for a friend. Give Alex a call... [/quote'] the bearings in the headset in my bike is also Cane Creek branded with a FSA cap and came in a Giant (the brand not size) box. Mike's fitted it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowta Posted December 9, 2009 Share OK, my bad Just checked my Cane Creek and it is .... da dah...Cane Creek Ok so it appears majority are Cane Creek or TH Industries. There is a lot of technology and component sharing, ie Tektro makes some brakes for Cane Creek and also for Shimano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted December 9, 2009 Share The current headset bearing configuration was invented by a company called Wilderness Trail Bikes. They built upon a development by Aheadset (today called Cane Creek). The Aheadset patent was the threadless steerer and was widely licensed and adopted by (please don't find one exception to catch me out) by the entire industry. This still didn't solve all the headset problems. The one remaining problem was how to get rid of the fretting in the bearings from fore-aft movement during riding, due to fork flex. Then WTB came onto the scene (I'm talking mid-90s here) and invented the conical cartridge bearing what you see in your headsets. It was conical at one end and square at the other. The idea is for it to fit loosely into a cup and provide ridig support for the steerer but still allow some forewards backwards movement that doesn't damage the bearing. Hence the loose fit of these cups/bearings. These bearings were widely licensed and adopted by just about everyone in the industry. I don't know what angles the patent called for (it can be found on uspatent.gov if you have the time), but I'd imagine they didn't restrict it to angles nor to same size top and bottom. Effectively we then had a de-facto standard, which benefits us all. You can use your Giant bearing in your Cane Creek headset and vice versa. Obviously your brand new Cane Creek headset will not be fitted with a Giant-branded bearing but you can bet your bottom bracket that both these companies have their bearings made by just a handful of factories somewhere in the east. This, is what I call progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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