Anyone know how to service a headset?

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Comments

  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Hammer and screwdriver, lodge against lip of cup inside frame and smack it one.....if it tilts, rotate the screwdriver round to level it up, simple, I have done 'more than a lot but less than a hundred' like that, no issue.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,866
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    Is that you on the left?
    No, I'm second from the right. The guy on the left had pinched my glasses though.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    So the star nut is buggered...

    Anyone know how to fit one without buying the park tools thing?
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    So the star nut is buggered...

    Anyone know how to fit one without buying the park tools thing?
    How the hell did you manage that??

    They're designed to be non-removable, but you can just knock a new one down and push the old one further down.
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    UndercoverElephant wrote:
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    So the star nut is buggered...

    Anyone know how to fit one without buying the park tools thing?
    How the hell did you manage that??

    They're designed to be non-removable, but you can just knock a new one down and push the old one further down.

    It's a gift I have. Just accept I did it and move on...
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    UndercoverElephant wrote:
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    So the star nut is buggered...

    Anyone know how to fit one without buying the park tools thing?
    How the hell did you manage that??

    They're designed to be non-removable, but you can just knock a new one down and push the old one further down.

    It's a gift I have. Just accept I did it and move on...
    Fair enough. I've managed to set them with a long bolt and a mallet, probably not as good as the proper tool, obviously.
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    Jesus H people think of the extra weight :shock:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    itboffin wrote:
    Jesus H people think of the extra weight :shock:

    That's the great thing about caged bearings. You can re-coup the weight gain by omitting alternate bearings from the cages.

    As an aside, I once went to refit a bearing cage and discovered one bearing had escaped. Not having any spares I just left it out. Some time later I noticed a bearing in a crack in the floorboards in the toilet. After a few more months, I retrieved it and put the bearing back into the headset. How it got where it got, I will never know.....
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Friendly LBS will fit a new one for me :)
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    They must love you as a customer!

    All this hassle and cost for the sake of a few balls that could have gone straight into the original cups!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    The Rookie wrote:
    They must love you as a customer!

    All this hassle and cost for the sake of a few balls that could have gone straight into the original cups!

    The top cage disintegrated when I took it out and the bottom one was barely viable. I prefer to have a long term solution and it's all a learning experience :D
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    The Rookie wrote:
    They must love you as a customer!

    All this hassle and cost for the sake of a few balls that could have gone straight into the original cups!

    The top cage disintegrated when I took it out and the bottom one was barely viable. I prefer to have a long term solution and it's all a learning experience :D

    And what you've learned is to take headsets to the LBS?
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    The cage can fall apart, you just replace it or use balls only as previously indicated.....it has ever been thus (Did my first headset on my Puch near enough 40 years ago - loose ball headsets haven't changed since they were first used over 100 years ago)
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    The Rookie wrote:
    The cage can fall apart, you just replace it or use balls only as previously indicated.....it has ever been thus (Did my first headset on my Puch near enough 40 years ago - loose ball headsets haven't changed since they were first used over 100 years ago)
    If the ball cage has completely disintegrated, I'd be pretty sure that the races would be shot too. Happened to my Record headset, tried replacing just the bearings but they were gone again in only a few months, as the races had killed them.

    Sealed bearings do make a lot more sense, so long as you get something that you can be sure of getting parts for down the line.
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    UndercoverElephant wrote:
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    The Rookie wrote:
    They must love you as a customer!

    All this hassle and cost for the sake of a few balls that could have gone straight into the original cups!

    The top cage disintegrated when I took it out and the bottom one was barely viable. I prefer to have a long term solution and it's all a learning experience :D

    And what you've learned is to take headsets to the LBS?

    No, just the star nut. That's the only piece of work I'm getting them to do. I could buy the tool I guess but this gets it sorted properly.
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    There are people on here who would make their own ballbearings if they had a tower and a bucket, I swear.

    The LBS exists for stuff like like. It's what it's there for. There's no shame in using it!
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,866
    I was just thinking this is almost G66 level fettling, but with less ranting.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:
    There are people on here who would make their own ballbearings if they had a tower and a bucket, I swear.
    Fine for shot, but would it be good enough for ball bearings?
    Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:
    The LBS exists for stuff like like. It's what it's there for. There's no shame in using it!
    Yes there is. It is admitting you are weak and stupid. Who are you, DDD?
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
    FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Hoi!

    Is this the point I mention that I killed the old star nut by the judicious use of a 8mm masonary bit and a hammer? No? Okay I won't then.
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    UndercoverElephant wrote:
    If the ball cage has completely disintegrated, I'd be pretty sure that the races would be shot too. .
    Usually they are fine, the cage is just a tiny flimsy POS bit of tin and the races are hardened steel. For £2 for some balls and a few pence for some grease it's silly to do anything but swap them. Of course making a mess of a star nut takes 'special' levels of ability when fixing a headset.

    No shame in using the LBS from where the job started? I'd say yes there was, lots of it, more than you can cover with a cape!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.

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