Failed headset after 5 months!

NITR8s

The headset on my Pinarello FP uno has failed due to water after 5 months use/700ish miles, Pinarello have initially claimed not covered under warranty as perisable item.

I have responded with that if thats their stance I claim that bike is not fit for purpose as I havent abused the bike and for an internal part to fail after only 5 months on a £1400 bike is not good enough. I have never had one go on any other bikes or my friends have never had any issues on there scotts/cannondales/Giants etc and they ride the same routes and days as me and have had their bikes a lot longer.

I dont even own a hosepipe and wash the bike with Muc Off Spray a sponge and a bucket of water. I live in england so obviously it rains now and again and should be an expected condition for any bike to be resistant to. I keep the bike in my living room and therefore only faces elements when I am on my onces a week commute to work and once a week club ride.

Has anyone else had any issues with headsets on Pinarello as apparently all the models use the same headset. I it may help to build may case if any one else has suffered from a simular situation.

pnev

It's not a warranty issue and you sure as shit can't use the "fit for purpose" bollocks.

Go to a bike shop and pay the £30 to get it changed

Monty Dog

Wear and tear part not covered by warranty I'm afraid. You've ridden the bike in the rain, washes out grease and creates corrosion. Fit a new one, clean and regrease regularly.

Hoopdriver

I would still have to say that 5 months and 700 miles is a pretty lousy lifespan for a headset, spectacularly so.

Bobbinogs

It does seem to be a grey area, albeit one linked to attitude more than anything else. I have just got one of my bikes back from the LBS as the bottom bracket bearings were shot only 2 months after fitting. The LBS fitted the 'old' BB bearings... However, there was no mention of "wear and tear" as they proactively did the replacement as a warranty job, went up-spec considerably with the replacement bearings, did the job very promptly and didn't charge a penny (they were blinking reasonable in the first place).

Personally, whilst accepting that it is legal, I would be very disappointed with the 'wear and tear' stance on a shot headset after only a few months. I expect to get several years (and yes, even ridden in the rain) from a headset.

tiredofwhiners

Hasn't this subject been done to death here on another already ? Specifically the Pinarello and low mileage headsets going ?

stickman

I have heard this about Pinerellos before. Headsetwise you'd be better off with a BSO and a headset that lasts 10yrs with with zero maintainence.

rolf_f

Bobbinogs wrote:

Personally, whilst accepting that it is legal, I would be very disappointed with the 'wear and tear' stance on a shot headset after only a few months. I expect to get several years (and yes, even ridden in the rain) from a headset.

+1 So far got ten times the OPs mileage at least on my Ribble and not heard a peep from the headset. That bike gets commuted on rain and shine and I've re-greased the headset once.

NITR8s

To the people who responded its fair wear and tear and is because it has been used in the rain and that a claim under not fit for purpose is not gonna work. Yes its only £40 for a new one and yes I can afford to pay that, but its not the price its the principal.

Is the bike not marketed and sold in the UK, is the bike not inteded to be used outside and is rain not a commen weather condition in the UK. Therefore it can be reasonably expected that a bike sold in the UK is going to contend with rain now and again, not to mention spray from the floor. For an internal sealed bearing to fail after 4/5 months and 700 miles is not a reasonable timescale, if this was a common thing people would be replacing headsets everyhalf a year. But it is not common for a headset to fail after this period of time.

He is another example you buy a Lotus Elise and after 5 months the sealed wheel bearing fails due to water damage. Would you be happy with that?

Therefore either the headset or the design of the Bike is not fit for its intended purpose or it is just a one off faulty part and this is the reason I have asked if anyone else has suffered from the same issue on a Pinarello as apparently they all use the same headset.

Captainlip

Warranty covers the frame NOT components, you should have been told this by any good LBS.

Save the agro, save pissing off the LBS and becoming branded the whinging customer and just pay the £30ish quid.

NITR8s

Captinlip in the Words of Rage Against the Machine. "F U I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME"

ugo.santalucia

Generally speaking, hidden/integrated headsets with sealed bearings are all rubbish... it's the very design which prevent them from being good. Traditional headsets have cups machined to perfection and tight seals that prevent water from entering, while the integrated ones rely on the frame tolerances for that. It is just one of those cycling inventions which are good for the PRO riders but not good for the customers.
When I was on that kind of junk, my headsets used to last 1-2 years at best, now I have a Record Threadless headset on my steel bike and over the past 3 years of use in all weathers it has never required any attention

NITR8s

Exactly 1 to 2 years not 3 to 5 months.

ugo.santalucia

NITR8s wrote:

Exactly 1 to 2 years not 3 to 5 months.

That bike was not ridden in all weathers, otherwise it would have been 3-5 months, probably... they are all crap... and not sure it is worth investing in good ones, unless they have a completely improved design with some serious seals.
Chris King refused to make integrated headsets for this very reason... I think now they've given up as the demand is huge... basically all alloy and carbon frames are designed to take this sxxt!
It is just one of the many reasons I only ride steel bikes now

nicklouse

NITR8s wrote:

Exactly 1 to 2 years not 3 to 5 months.

when did you last have it seviced?

junglist_matty

I don't have a clue what headset my bike has, but in 6 months since purchasing the bike, I've ridden 4000 miles and the headset is fine.... There's been a lot of wet rides included in that 4000 miles.... And even a couple frosty/icy/snowy.

Tip: Sell the bike, (Pinarello are rubbish) and buy something else with the money that won't break in the rain!

Dellsinho

Have you checked it's not melted carbon fibre getting into the headset? If it's been ridden in the rain, it might be.

I can't say I'd be over the moon if my headset failed after that length of time/number of miles.

cougie

nicklouse wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

Exactly 1 to 2 years not 3 to 5 months.

when did you last have it seviced?

Who services their bike that often ?

I've the old style headset on my trusty winter bike - must be about 10 years of foul weather and not had to touch it at all.

ugo.santalucia

The problem is that you can spend a fortune in a top of the range integrated headset, but if the frame tolerances are not right, it will last the same as a 10 pounds job... that is annoying and frankly even between 2 identical frames there might be a massive difference, so it's down to luck as well.
The only way out is to service the headset frequently and get one which has ready available and reasonable priced spare bearing cartridges

nicklouse

cougie wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

Exactly 1 to 2 years not 3 to 5 months.

when did you last have it seviced?

Who services their bike that often ?

I've the old style headset on my trusty winter bike - must be about 10 years of foul weather and not had to touch it at all.

exactly old stuff lasts forever but as no one wants to pay that much now you get stuff that HAS to be serviced of it fails.

integreated headset bearings are cheap and easy to replace anyway. (unless you have a bike from a maker that want to make up silly "standards".

Hoopdriver

Buy cheap and buy often.

I kind of like the pricey but enduring Chris King on my old style bikes.

stickman

I don't know why people invent this stuff and the industry and customers fall for it. All my bikes are quill stem and i've never had a problem with them, except one bike started indexing after about 5 yrs, so I replaced the cages with some loose
ball bearings I had around, then it worked better than new, cost = zero pence.

ugo.santalucia

stickman wrote:

I don't know why people invent this stuff and the industry and customers fall for it.

It's not a matter of falling for it... there is no alternative. If you want a race bike, you either buy a steel one or you get a hidden headset... there are no race specific steel bikes anymore, unless you go for expensive custom... hence the customer is left with no choice

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

hence the customer is left with no choice

Indeed - surprising how little choice we actually have. Eg we generally have the choice of about three different numbers of gears on the back (eg currently 10, 11 and 1) and no choice on the front. Eg I am at a loss how there can be a market for 11x2 speed bikes and single speed bikes yet no-one sells a multi geared bike with a single chainring (hub geared bikes aside).

stickman

The industry copies each in what they churn out because they are too scared not to, so they fell for it.

Yes, my road bike, I converted to single chainring, and i've got 7 gears which is plenty - I prefer singlespeed/fixed/hub gear though as my other bikes are. In mtb I remember DMR did the Trailstar with single chainring and 9 speed rear.

greasedscotsman

Maybe we should all go back to riding these then...



TBH, I've had bikes with a variety of headsets over the years and the only one that I've had any problems with was a traditional cup headset that hadn't been assembled with enough grease when they put the bike together in the factory.

ugo.santalucia

greasedscotsman wrote:

Maybe we should all go back to riding these then...



TBH, I've had bikes with a variety of headsets over the years and the only one that I've had any problems with was a traditional cup headset that hadn't been assembled with enough grease when they put the bike together in the factory.

A penny farthing in good conditions sells for thousands... See how much you get for your used carbon...

greasedscotsman

ugo.santalucia wrote:

A penny farthing in good conditions sells for thousands... See how much you get for your used carbon...

Hmm, I have a 21 year old Specialized Allez Epic. Anyone want to give me a few thousand for it?

ugo.santalucia

greasedscotsman wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

A penny farthing in good conditions sells for thousands... See how much you get for your used carbon...

Hmm, I have a 21 year old Specialized Allez Epic. Anyone want to give me a few thousand for it?

Seriously, not all vintage junk gets recognition... only quality stuff is appreciated. I have seen a few of those Penny Farthings at various Retro events and the engineering is superb... we think of them as surpassed, something to smile about, but the level of finish and machining of the metal parts is far superior to what we are used to these days. Surprisingly, some models were not far off in weight to modern bicycles at 10 Kg or just above. I wouldn't be surprised if a few members of this forum could not keep up with a decent cyclist on a Penny.
One area where over the past century we have gone backwards is bearings... how come my 30 years old Campagnolo hubs are way smoother than any modern sealed cartridge structure which has seen a few thousand miles?

You can laugh about old stuff, but having taken a few 60s and 70s antiques into parts has made me think, rather than laugh

NITR8s

Peed off, Bike shop not willing to do anything other than waive labour. They basically said to me if it ever rains I should be taking the headset out and cleaning and regreasing it the same with all the gear cables. Never had to do this with my old bike and non of my friends do this with their bikes and their headset and gear cables dont fail after 5 monthsI currently feel like selling this Pinarello and buying a cheap Claud Butler that I had before that had non of these problems.

greasedscotsman

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Seriously, not all vintage junk gets recognition... only quality stuff is appreciated. I have seen a few of those Penny Farthings at various Retro events and the engineering is superb... we think of them as surpassed, something to smile about, but the level of finish and machining of the metal parts is far superior to what we are used to these days. Surprisingly, some models were not far off in weight to modern bicycles at 10 Kg or just above. I wouldn't be surprised if a few members of this forum could not keep up with a decent cyclist on a Penny.
One area where over the past century we have gone backwards is bearings... how come my 30 years old Campagnolo hubs are way smoother than any modern sealed cartridge structure which has seen a few thousand miles?

You can laugh about old stuff, but having taken a few 60s and 70s antiques into parts has made me think, rather than laugh

I hope your not suggesting my Allez Epic is junk?

And I wasn't trying to have a go at old kit. My oldest bike is the Epic I bought in '91 which I still have and there is nothing wrong with it. But given a choice of doing a long ride on either that, the Cervelo that I bought this year, or even one of the steel bikes I have, I'd go for the Cervelo.

New bikes aren't all rubbish just because someone's headset failed after 5 months. Just buy a new one and get on with riding!