Originally Posted by
fiataccompli
well, no...I know it didn't mar itself on its own. The previous owner offered to "tighten it up" for me to see how good it feels (in actuality, it's barely noticeable...but, that should be enough to create some harsh stresses on bearing surfaces, i would think) and I declined having seen the product of his previous attempts.
So, is 'stronglight' good stuff? if i wanted to play with chainring sizes, will i be looking for Stronglight only or do others interchange?
The overtightening should not have damaged those bearings. These headsets are based on roller bearings. The friction is slightly higher, but the contact area is many times higher. Any forces are spread out over a much much larger area. way more robust than ball bearing headsets, including cartridge bearings. This is one of th really elegant things about this design.
In general Stronglight is extremely good stuff. I really couldn't tell you too much about ring compatibility. If I'm indexing that's one thing. If not, I'd think you mainly have to investigate bolt circle diameter and seating diameter, and the chainline. but some Stronglight BBs had adjustable chainline, so maybe that makes for a lot of flexibility in choosing 'rings.
France lead the bike industry back in teh day, at least in terms of engineering . Stronglight is probably the main survivor of that legacy, perhaps along with TA. Stronglight has a modern line of components, too.
Road Fan