headset woes

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:27:38 +1100, coelcanth

may have said:

i have an old bike with a campagnolo nuovo record headset..
everytime i repack it it gets invaded with grit incredibly fast..
dirt and grit from the front wheel seems to jump right through the
clearance between the crown race and lower cup and get embedded in the
grease..
what am i doing wrong?
did i pack it with too much grease?
i know a fender will probably solve my problem but i am reluctant to go
that route right away....

Cut a piece from an old mountain bike innertube and make a boot for
the lower bearing.

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coelcanth said:

i have an old bike with a campagnolo nuovo record headset..
everytime i repack it it gets invaded with grit incredibly fast..
dirt and grit from the front wheel seems to jump right through the
clearance between the crown race and lower cup and get embedded in the
grease..
what am i doing wrong?
did i pack it with too much grease?
i know a fender will probably solve my problem but i am reluctant to go
that route right away....

Nothing. It's winter. Sanded and salted roads suck.

1. Remove fork from bicycle.

2. Cut a section of old tube so you get a ring of rubber 1 inch long.
Lightly grease the inside of the ring.

3. Slide the ring of rubber above the bottom half of the headset on the
frame. Fold it up if you have to.

4. Reinsert fork, and assemble as you would normally.

5. Slide rubber down over lower half of headset, covering the lower
race completely.

Total time: 10-15 minutes. 5 if you've done it before. Difficulty: novice.

It's ugly. It works.

You could do the same for the upper half of the headset, but it's the
lower half that gets the crud.

There's something called Gator Skins that do the same thing, and come in
colors, but have no real advantage over a section of (free) used tube.

--
BMO

Lizard Skins work fine for me, and have a Velcro closure so you don't have to
remove the fork. I used to do the tube bit, though, and (if anything) it works
better.

Mike Yankee

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To reply, delete everything after "com".)

coel-<< i have an old bike with a campagnolo nuovo record headset..
everytime i repack it it gets invaded with grit incredibly fast..
dirt and grit from the front wheel seems to jump right through the
clearance between the crown race and lower cup and get embedded in the
grease..
what am i doing wrong?
did i pack it with too much grease?
i know a fender will probably solve my problem but i am reluctant to go
that route right away....

I say-yer doing nothing wrong. Not much sealing in these. You also can't use
too much grease. Pack it in there, when some ooozzzes out, don't wipe it off,
it is a great seal.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

I say-yer doing nothing wrong. Not much sealing in these. You also can't use
too much grease. Pack it in there, when some ooozzzes out, don't wipe it off,
it is a great seal.

thanks for the ideas so far..
well i must say i'm a littel surprised;
i hadn't realized there was this inherent failure in traditional headsets...
especially since i had never heard of these user modifications
i guess i've been a bit insulated riding bikes that came with fenders...
i was always a fan of the easy serviceability and less disposable parts of loose ball bearing designs
perhaps there really is a superiority in sealed cartridge bearing styles

coelcanth said:

i have an old bike with a campagnolo nuovo record headset..
everytime i repack it it gets invaded with grit incredibly fast..
what am i doing wrong?

Probably nothing. There is a very good chance, however, that your
crown race is NOT a campagnolo nuovo record crown race. These races
are usually the first thing to fail in a headset, and they are often
replaced by inferior parts that don't seal as well as a real campy
crown race.

I bought a used headset a few months ago and the gap between race and
cup was like, 2mm on all sides. So I went on line to renaissance
cycles (www.renaissanc-cycles.com) and bought a triomphe crown race
(identical to nuovo record in the mid 1980's). The gap is like 0.25
mm. Big difference.

Email them ([email hidden]) for details about stock on
this item.

If you know for sure that your crown race is original, and you don't
care too much about aesthetics, then i would try putting some silicone
on the seals and then pivot the fork every few moments for 20 mins or
so until the silicone partially dries. It won't be a labyrinth seal,
but it might work almost as well ...

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA