Do I need new cups?

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slogfester
Posts: 413
Joined: 10 Oct 2009 13:12
Real Name: Barry Evans
Location: Birmingham

Do I need new cups?

Post by slogfester » 18 Nov 2015 07:06

It always ends in tears. Hard to believe I come from 3 generations of engineers, including a bicycle maker great grandfather and a award-wining motorcycle and car engineer grandfather.
So, I was dismantling my bike, as you do. I don't think the headset has ever been replaced. The bearing were stuck inside in the cups, so I decided to try and prize them out with a screw driver!! I have made a couple of nicks in the surface. Significant? Mitigate with copious quantities of grease? Smooth with emery cloth? (I don't have any, but at least know what it is!). Replace? If so, how do I get the cup(s) out of the frane? They look like they are just pushed in, but feel VERY tight? Replacement parts? Steerer measured as 1 1/8
I should stick to riding the flipin thing.
Thanks

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petemarshall
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Real Name: Pete Marshall
Location: Stourbridge

Post by petemarshall » 18 Nov 2015 08:36

Most of what you need to know here
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html
To remove the top race put it in a vise and twist, or use a drift from the other end and tap gently from the other end.
Reverse for the bottom race.
Most contemporary frames have integrated races and use cartridge headset bearings so don't have the problem. Sometimes it is possible to replace at least the upper headset bearing with a cartridge bearing even with a none integrated race this means you don't have to remove the race and a bit of pitting isn't a problem.
If you do replace the races you will need a setting tool. When replacing make sure you use copper slip or similar to make removal easy. If you get a bike shop to do this make sure they use copper slip rather than grease. But it's not that difficult a job to do yourself if you have the tools.
I can lend you anything you need.

slogfester
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Joined: 10 Oct 2009 13:12
Real Name: Barry Evans
Location: Birmingham

Post by slogfester » 19 Nov 2015 03:15

Thanks, Pete.

My set up does have the cartridge bearings, hence my ham-fisted attempts to prize them out and just spend the $ replacing them. In the process I fear I'm up for the cost of whole headset assembly.
(Interestingly the upper bearings is much more degraded than the lower, which from what I read is the opposite of what is expected?).

And then there is the job of removing and replacing the crown race, which definitely looks knackered. My last attempts at that resulted in a trip to A&E!

Thanks for offer of tools, but its a long way from Australia :)

I think I'm going to throw this in the too-hard basket and hand over to the LBS who I'll buy the new headset off as a sweetner.

BTW, all this mucking around with the road bike (some like to call it 'maintenance' :) ) is due to me giving up trying to find a new bike that I liked, being unsure of future 'standards', in particular disc brakes and wireless derailleurs (which make a lot of sense in my books), and being unable to ride road bikes at the moment due to lower back issues.
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John Sanderson
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Post by John Sanderson » 01 Dec 2015 10:40

slogfester wrote:Thanks, Pete.

My set up does have the cartridge bearings.
I would have thought that - as the cartridge bearing has all the movement contained within its assembly - it is not a problem if the place it sits on is pitted - as long as you can get it to sit squarely (which you should with only a couple of nicks out of it). You might need to clean up the nicks if there's anything sitting proud where you've dug into it.


Now you've got the top bearing out - can you somehow punch the bottom one out - e.g. by putting a piece of tubing or a long socket down the inside so that it sits on the inner race of the bottom bearing?

To refit - it's usual to use the old bearing (or a socket from a socket set of the right size) to drift them in... If they're too tight - put them in the freezer - it should shrink them enough to get them in.
It's all about the bike.

Yosser
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Joined: 13 Jul 2009 13:33
Real Name: Dave Hughes

Post by Yosser » 03 Dec 2015 16:41

Hi Barry, how's it going?
Headset eh. Hmmmmmm. There could be trouble at mill (race). Headsets are notoriously difficult to fit if the frame is an old one. Not the technical aspect but the sizing. So many variations and the differences are subtle. Most of your gear was up to date (as I recall), so it could be straightforward for you. The Sheldon Brown site linked above has a lot of the detail and the crown race may just pop off. But then again…

I would look to replace myself but I have ballsed this up myself on old frames . The LBS is a safe bet, and for this job, should be reasonably priced.

Dave

slogfester
Posts: 413
Joined: 10 Oct 2009 13:12
Real Name: Barry Evans
Location: Birmingham

Post by slogfester » 06 Dec 2015 04:14

Thanks for comments guys.
I handed it over to the LBS who said, 'nah, she'll be rite, mate. we'll just emery cloth the races and replace (with new) cartridges'
I could have told em that :lol:
Belt up, we're going for a ride

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