Headset woes

John Tomlinson said:

I have just taken my headset apart and had a bit of a surprise. Rather than finding a ball/roller
races, I found cartridge bearings. The lower bearing is kn*****ed and the LBS have ordered me a
new one. No problem there really, but how am I meant to service the bearings if I cannot get them
apart to pack in the grease?

The bike is a Dawes Galaxy and the headset is a Deore LX.

Most of them are not supposed to be regreased - you just get new cartridges which are pregreased.
Some cartridges can be prised apart with a screwdriver, however, but there is a risk of damaging
the seals.

I find Stronglight O'Light ones work better without the seals!

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

Most of them are not supposed to be regreased - you just get new cartridges which are pregreased.
Some cartridges can be prised apart with a screwdriver, however, but there is a risk of damaging
the seals

Yep. I did try that very gently but would have caused too much damage; I needed to put the old unit
back to use the bike until Friday when the LBS say they will have some for me.

But looking at the old cartridge, it is not very well sealed. You can clearly see the balls through
a small gap in the housing. So the grease is bound to wash out.

I think it was the 150k audax I did in Norfolk the other weekend that washed the grease out of the
old unit :-(

Quoted message said:

I find Stronglight O'Light ones work better without the seals!

~PB

So, do you take off the seals so you can add your own grease as and when required?

JT Remove the singers of Spam before replying

John Tomlinson said:

Quoted message said:

Most of them are not supposed to be regreased - you just get new cartridges which are pregreased.
Some cartridges can be prised apart with a screwdriver, however, but there is a risk of damaging
the seals

Yep. I did try that very gently but would have caused too much damage; I needed to put the old
unit back to use the bike until Friday when the LBS say they will have some for me.

But looking at the old cartridge, it is not very well sealed. You can clearly see the balls
through a small gap in the housing. So the grease is bound to wash out.

I think it was the 150k audax I did in Norfolk the other weekend that washed the grease out of the
old unit :-(

You could perhaps try an external boot: Lizzard Skinz or a home made job.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I find Stronglight O'Light ones work better without the seals!

So, do you take off the seals so you can add your own grease as and when required?

From new, I found the headset was binding with the seals so I took them off and leave them off for
that reason. Weather protection is compromised but I can regrease when required. In fact I'm only
using the top half of the headset now and use an A9 lower. The O'Light has needle bearing
cartridges* instead of the ball type that Shimano use.

* Poor design IMO: has smaller rollers than A9's and seals are excessivley tight. Might be ok if
head tube faces are absolutely perfect.

~PB

John Tomlinson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I have just taken my headset apart and had a bit of a surprise. Rather than finding a ball/roller
: races, I found cartridge bearings. The lower bearing is kn*****ed and the LBS have ordered me a
: new one. No problem there really, but how am I meant to service the bearings if I cannot get them
: apart to pack in the grease?

For my money, I'd buy a Campag Record headset which has a grease port on the lower race so you can
grease it easily.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

John Tomlinson said:

I have just taken my headset apart and had a bit of a surprise. Rather than finding a ball/roller
races, I found cartridge bearings. The lower bearing is kn*****ed and the LBS have ordered me a new
one. No problem there really, but how am I meant to service the bearings if I cannot get them apart
to pack in the grease?

You're not. You're meant to replace them.