Newbie with bike fix issue

jamesrowe1980

Hi, hope I’ve posted this is the right category! Like many other I’m new to road cycling due to the pandemic. So far have been really enjoying it, mainly to the quieter roads!
Anyway I got my hands on a old boardman team road bike- lucky enough for free but I was made aware it was pretty beat up and would prob need some work going forward. I’ve got it booked in to be overhauled but every bike shop is snowed under at the moment.
I’ve been riding pretty much everyday until last week when the head set completely stiffened up. After much reading I decided to take a look. The top bearing looks fine if a little bare of grease. The bottom bearing however was shot, crown race broken and only a few ball bearings in the cage.
I’ve sourced the top bearing but I’m struggling with the bottom one. I’ve attached some pics if anyone has any experience of these boardman bikes.





much appreciated

Joshlangley92

Scrap it pal get a new one

masjer

The upper/lower bearings could be identical. Have you tried the upper bearing in the lower position to see if it fits?

lesfirth

Welcome to this forum James. Dont waste much time wondering why someone thinks you should scrap the bike and I have yet to see a bike with identical headset bearings.
You should be able to find a part number on the bearing to search for or if you can accurately measure the bearing you could be able to identify it that way.
Try https://www.airevelobearings.com/product-category/headset-bearings/.

cruff

Agreed. If you can take the headset apart and have found the bearing is broken, you can replace it. Certainly likely to be a better option for you than trying to source a replacement bike - especially at the moment as even crummy bikes worth about 30 quid are going for double that right now.

Might be worth talking to Halfords (a sentence I thought I'd never utter!) depending on how old the bike is as they should have a manual they can lay their hands on. It would really help if you could find out exactly what model it is, because you should then be able to find the specific bearing you need. It's likely to be an FSA headset, but can't be more specific than that without a model number

masjer

lesfirth said:

I have yet to see a bike with identical headset bearings

You need to look at more bikes! If the steerer isn't tapered, the bearings (top/bottom) are very likely to be identical.
Is the top race of the bearing still stuck inside the headtube?

Darius_Jedburgh

Not wishing to teach granny how to suck eggs but I've just Googled Boardman Team headset bearings and have been swamped with replies. From ebay to dedicated bearing suppliers; many sources of bearings.

The YouTube is full of videos showing what to do.

Methinks someone is too lazy to find out for himself.

(Someone else whose bike will soon be dust covered and forgotten at the back of the shed?)

Joshlangley92

Why u always putting people down Darius, he’s only asking for some help. Sort yourself out

50x11

Darius_Jedburgh said:

Not wishing to teach granny how to suck eggs but I've just Googled Boardman Team headset bearings and have been swamped with replies. From ebay to dedicated bearing suppliers; many sources of bearings.

The YouTube is full of videos showing what to do.

Methinks someone is too lazy to find out for himself.

(Someone else whose bike will soon be dust covered and forgotten at the back of the shed?)

Suppose we should just close down the forum because google?

Joshlangley92

Exactly 50x11 he needs to stop picking on people on here behind his computer