Ticking headset part II

I had this problem with the headset on my 'cross bike recently. The
headset in question is a Cane Creek S2 that has cartridge bearings.
In my case, removing the bearings, then cleaning and lubricating the
inside surface of the cups before reassembly quieted things down. I
think the bearings rock slightly in the cups when in use and can creak
when dry or dirty. I'm not terribly impressed with this particular
headset, but for now it is quiet.

I forgot to mention that my headset is a Cane Creek S2 also (I did mention
it in previous posts)

I've tried taking it apart, cleaning and regreasing and this doesn't quieten
the slight ticking noise when rocking the bike. Cranking up the preload a
bit extra does solve the problem but I'm not sure whether putting extra load
on the lower bearings for the sake of the upper is a good idea.

The ticking's not distracting and hard to hear, I just tend to worry about
things moving in the cup.

According to Cane Creek support as long as there's no play and no binding
things should be fine, this does seem to give a range of opportunity (I've
never been able to bind the cartridge bearings in the S2 anyway).

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I had this problem with the headset on my 'cross bike recently. The
headset in question is a Cane Creek S2 that has cartridge bearings.
In my case, removing the bearings, then cleaning and lubricating the
inside surface of the cups before reassembly quieted things down. I
think the bearings rock slightly in the cups when in use and can creak
when dry or dirty. I'm not terribly impressed with this particular
headset, but for now it is quiet.

I've dialed in just enough preload to remove the ticking (still somewhat
over the minimum needed to remove all play) so I'll see have that works.

"PJay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

A while ago I posted about a slightly ticking headset when rocking the
bike, I've played around a bit and found that extra preload does help but
I'm not sure whether this helps or not.

Tightening up the preload some more does seem to remove the ticking noise
but I worry about excess load on the bearings and cups.

The tick is slight but I worry that it's a sign of movement. With the top
cap off it seems that it might be slight movement in the steerer moving
the compression ring slightly (the ticking may even be suction of the
grease). The hole in the centre of the bearing cartridge is wider than the
steerer tube and the angled surface of the compression ring engages the
cartridge, sort of an upside down crown race I suppose. My guess is that
although I can preload the bearings to a point where I can not longer feel
any movement at the cronw race, there might be a small amount of movement
in the compression ring in the top cup, presumably extra preload pushes
the top cover down harder and holds the ring in place. It's just that this
point appears to require significantly higher preload that it needs to
remove place from the crown race and presumably places extra load on the
lower bearings and cup.

The installation isn't new, I've been riding it for 2 1/2 years and am
still on the same set of bearings so things must be pretty good.

I've had the ticking noise once before when the bike was set up in the
bike shop (I'm guessing that they stopped preloading the headset when play
dissapeared from the crown race) but later when the headset was cleaned
and grease at the shop and readjusted the ticking noise wasn't there.

I'd moved my stem and cleaned and regrease the headset and now find myself
unsure whether to leave the headset at a point where I can't feel any
movement but can hear the slight ticking or to tighten it all up so
there's no ticking at all.

The bearings are in sealed cartridges an so presumably more difficult to
bind that loose balls or balls in retainers. I'm I safe running extra
preload if the steering is still smooth (which it is) will I risk damaging
the headset cups or frame, should I use less preload (but still no sign of
play) or, am I being pointlessly concerned and fussy about nothing?