Bicycle Mechanics - Dragging head set

Hey guys,

I'm building up a new bike and have a bit of an issue with my old headset. It's a Ritchey WCS mointain headset about 1.5 years old. Broke my frame so I'm transferring all my old parts on to the new frame. Bearings were clean and smooth and though sealed seemed to have plenty of grease in them. Headset doesn't have many miles on it at all - I don't get out as much as I should!

Took the two frames down to the LBS and had them swap the cups into the new frame. They didn't mark the cups and the bottom cup went in at 90deg from where it was (I can tell by the logo position), top cup no way to tell. Didn't reckon it would make any difference.

Took it home, installed my fork and stem. The problem now is that when I turn the bars to the left (which would've been backwards on the bottom cup the way it was positioned before) it drags a bit. Not the grinding feel you get with bad bearings but like something is rubbing. When I turn the bars to the right (which would've been forward with the old lower cup position) they're free and smooth.

I checked to make sure everything was seating correctly, lined up, played with the preload, etc. Everything looks good. Visually looks like everything is lining up well and the cups appear to be fully and evenly seated.

Anybody see anything like this before? Any ideas what's going on with this thing?

Thanks,

Chris

Bump - anybody? Could this be a symptom of the cups not being parallel?

Placement of the bottom cup and properly installed bottom race shouldn't theoretically make a difference if it has not been damaged. Are you feeling a sort of resistance to one side (read rubbing)? Have you installed the cables already? If so your cables may be causing tension or interference in the form of resistance due to improper length while you rotate the steerer. Other than that,???

top and bottom bearings seem to be different sizes and cup shapes,
could be a problem with the top bearing cap rubbing?

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/web/Ritchey~Logic/Ritchey~Site/Templates/eproducts_single.aspx?id=17415&live=true#

: Logic = Small upper angular cartridge bearing saves weight,
larger lower angular cartridge bearing bosts strength and durability

Pretty sure bearings are in the right place. I'm always very careful when removing headsets to keep everything in the right order - I transfer everything right off the bike onto a piece of wire and vice-versa. That being said there's not a lot of difference between the bearings visually.....everything looks correct as far as clearances, etc......


Placement of the bottom cup and properly installed bottom race shouldn't theoretically make a difference if it has not been damaged. Are you feeling a sort of resistance to one side (read rubbing)? Have you installed the cables already? If so your cables may be causing tension or interference in the form of resistance due to improper length while you rotate the steerer. Other than that,???

That's the only thing I can figure - somehow the cup is slightly warped or something. No, no cables yet.......I'm just moving my old fork to my new frame so I haven't touched the bottom race.

Yeah, it is some sort of rubbing on one side. I had the cup moved 90deg and the steering direction that has the rub moved the other way 90deg......LOL - that just has me completely mystified. Rubbing was while turning the bars to the left - so I had the lower cup moved 90 deg to the left. I expected that to put the rubbing to the rear, but instead it "moved" to straight ahead......