mkauffman

I was packing my bike into the box for my trip starting on Wednesday. As I lowered it in, i heard a plick plick kind of sound and looked down and saw what I thought to be BB's. Needless to say, I was confused. I figured out that my headset opened up and started dropping the ball bearings. I packed all that I could find back into it. It looked decently full, but a few more could have fit in there. How should I handle this as I am leaving Wednesday morning for my Northern Tier trip.

Thanks

Matt

Revtor

you can ride with a headset thats missing a few balls.. but you want to get it filled up asap. keep one handy and when you pass a bike shop get some, put 'em in.

valygrl

wednesday? sounds like you have enough time to take it to your local shop.

embowel

dont mix bearings from different sets..

bearings are ground down in sets so their fault (how much out of spec to the larger or smaller side) is all the same, thereby giving you much more consistency for your buck.

uneven bearings not so good for your headset.

when you replace bearings, do it all in one shot, they are cheap.

this is something that was stressed (no pun intended) to me when i was in a similar situation.

kyledr

If the headset came loose and you don't know why, it's time you take it to someone more qualified, don't you think? That's how I understand the situation anyway. Did you change anything on the headset recently, or did it just loosen up on its own? Have you ridden it a long way or not? Anyway, I would take it to a shop and have them replace the bearings (cheap), make sure it's installed correctly and not damaged, and then tighten it up properly so this doesn't happen again.

mkauffman

No worries, it all worked out. My buddy who works at the LBS is stopping by tomorrow with new bearings. He said he'll get it taken care of before I head out.