Shimano Arabesque headset bearing issue

davidof

Hi
I've got a strange problem with an Arabesque headset. The bike was brought to me with play while braking. I took the headset apart. The Arabesque is an old school unsealed 1" screwed headset. It looked in new condition with no pitting, I'm told the bike, despite being around 35 years old, has hardly been ridden. I checked the bearing sizes (3/16" top and bottom as spec). Repacked with grease and readjusted but impossible to get rid of the play.

I then changed the upper headset bearings from caged to individual balls, adding 2 ball bearings. Readjusted and play gone. Seems a bit odd as this headset would originally have had balls in cages.

Anyone got any thoughts? I'll probably change the lower race to individual balls too, a bit of a pain as getting ball bearings out of our local bikeshops is like asking for hen's teeth.

cycleclinic

Also the bearings you buy in most bike shop are rubbish weldite ones. those are fit nothing. Go to simply bearings and get grade 25 or grade 10 chrome balls (they pit less than stainless ones) and fit them with lashing of a persistant grease. I like Rock n Roll superweb grease for this but maybe other can sugest an alternative. Some greases get washed out more quickly than others.

davidof

Thanks for the headsup on the Weldite bearings.

I've discovered the problem. I only measured the top bearings the bottom ones were 5/32 - too small - hence the play. It seems that removing the bearings on the top from the cage and adding a few spares removed enough play.