sticky headset

curlyrobert

I have recently completed the Devilride Sportive, complete with hail and 10,000ft of climbing, and not touched my bike for 2 weeks since while I moved house.

Today I got the bike (2006 Madone) ready to ride to work and noticed a couple of post sportive problems:

the bike is 'locked' in forwards position, it moves reluctantly but it feels really lumpy, this has never happened to me before post ride, normally the Cane Creek S-2 Aheadset is good. cant afford to replace it, so do I need to lube take it apart and grease it? if so does this headset come apart easily?

second problem is that the left brake developed a problem, tho releasing the brake lever the plastic rubs and it is annoying, perhaps need to put a load of new cables on the bike and adjust the tensions?

any advice, especially on the headset would be great.

Thanks, Rob

ride_whenever

If the headset is notchy then replace the cartridge bearings. It's an easy job, next time don't overtighten it.

By the plastic rubs what do you mean?

Monty Dog

The s2 takes cartridge bearings - but replacements are probably as expensive as buying a whole new headset. If you have the patience, take the bearings out and try to pop-off the rubber seals using someting like a scalpel blade. Leave the bearings to soak for a while in oil and then try and 'work-them' back and forth to get the bearings moving again - whether they can be saved is down to the amount of corrosion and how smooth they feel. Repack with grease and refit the seals. Depending on how much roughness you can cope with, swap the bottom and top bearings around - the bottom one is the one that's probably corroded and takes the greatest load. In terms of the brake cable, try squirting WD40 or GT85 down the outer to free it up.