Originally Posted by
acrowder
I know people here just love saying this, but he said the LBS didn't really have time for it that day. Doesn't sound like they disassembled anything, just tried to make an adjustment. I'm sure they would have caught it if the bike had been left there.
I don't know if they would have found the problem. The mechanic seemed to be of the replace instead of fix mentality. Here's the key sentence from the OP.
Originally Posted by
swf8322
-I take it to my LBS, they fiddle with the headset for five minutes and agree that it seems "off", but don't have time to investigate that day and kind of imply that a new headset will be cheaper than them investing significant time into figuring out what's up.
Dry friction, such as the upside bearing would have caused is very characteristic, and any mechanic worth his salt should have felt it just by twitching the bar. Of course he might not have known the cause, but this isn't something that;s cured by replacing a headset. The sad irony is that they could have removed and replaced the headset without spotting the bearing, and the new one would have worked, validating their sloppy diagnosis.
The skills most lost in shops today relate to diagnostics. Mechanics cannot look at signs and translate those to possibilities. Also many mechanics are simply "component hangers" who can set up new equipment fine, but lack the fundamental skill and knowledge to solve problems and make stuff work.