Hi

I'd like to replace the bearings in the headset of my 1984 specialized bike and was wondering if I could just walk into any old shop and ask for "headset bearings"? Or are these different enough between different bikes and vintages that I'd have to go to some particular shop and state the specific part model or number of the headset? Or would "bearings for a 1984 road bike" be a good enough query?

Thanks

Nothing in the cycling industry is standardized. If you're already headed to the LBS, I'd recommend you take the bike with you.

Given the vintage, I suspect that you don't mean bearings (the entire assembly of 2 races and a bunch of balls) but the balls themselves.

These aren't standard for all headsets, but the vast majority of better headsets use 3/16" balls, and most of the rest use 5/32". The shop will likely know if you tell them the brand and model of the headset, or you can carefully remove one and bring i to them to match.

If you go the remove a ball route, loosen the headset very slightly, flip the bike over and with gravity keep the fork home, loosen the (now) lower cup and use an ice pick to lift a ball out. Then tighten and readjust the headset.

I do think caged bearings are relatively standardized, with a few different common sizes, and should be able to be replaced. It is noted that lower headset races & perhaps cups tend to wear by developing little washboards, or "indexing". Replacing caged bearings with loose bearings can help alleviate some of the issues of the indexed headset.

There was a question earlier about headset caged bearing orientation, and I noticed that there were two different types of bearing cages.



The cages seem to be mounted in the opposite direction, and I'm not sure if they are interchangeable. But, it is always easiest to bring samples in with you when shopping.

Thanks for your replies. I guess there really can be some differences between manufacturers and parts so I will keep that in mind. Yes, I did mean the bearing balls, plus the little cage they are in. The rest of the headset looks fine (to my untrained eye). It was just the cage of the balls in the lower part was deformed somehow and it was a little rough when turning the handlebars. The bike was off craigslist and the headset was a little loose when I got it, so maybe that had something to do with it.

I'll take your advice and bring them to a couple of shops in the morning and see if they can help me out.

Bye

The retainers are very unstandard and brand specific, so finding the right one may not be easy. However, headsets work as well or even better with loose balls. The retainers are only there for the convenience of bicycle manufacturers who have to install headsets on the assembly line, and don't have the time to fool with loose balls.

NONE of my bikes have retainers after the first headset overhaul.

FBinNY that is very interesting. So if I were to use loose balls, then what I would be looking for is the same size and number of balls as what is in the cage? Pardon the newbie questions but well, that's exactly what I am...

Yes, the size has to match exactly, but that's very easy, since there are very few possibilities, and the difference is obvious. The number is the same and possibly another one or two. Just be sure not to overload the race, one too few is much better than one too many.

as FBinNY says, the balls must be the exact same size as what is in the headset now...

best to remove a bearing/cage, and take it in when you visit the shop.

as to bearing count if you go "loose"... put in as many as will properly fit, then remove one.
if there are too many, you will find no "sweet spot"... the headset will either be too loose, or will bind.

getting the correct ball/cage set will be easiest and best, IMO...

I took the deformed one to a coop and a bike shop. They didn't have the cage and balls at either place. The bike shop was going to suggest reusing the cage and just replace two balls that had fallen out but I wasn't too crazy about that idea. The coop had loose balls in a small jar, which was probably recycled, and the shop had loose ones as well.

I just went with the new loose balls same size plus a one or two more and I think it came out well. It's no longer rough and is smooth.

Thanks for the great advice guys.

FB's right: you don't need a retainer in headset bearings. It's probably there to make assembly easier. They also ensure that the balls don't all roll to one side of the bearing leaving the other side unsupported. If you have only one ball in the general area of a bearing and it takes a wallop that stresses that point, it's easier to distort the bearing or "Brinell" (dent) the race.

That said, the retainer takes up some space, and if you put loose balls in, in some setups you'll have a significant gap. Use additional balls to fill that gap (leaving only about 1 ball or less space*).

Clean out all the old dirt and grease, then use fresh grease and fill the recesses in "cups" (bearing races) with enough grease so that balls will "stick" and stay in place. Invert the bike, then put enough balls in the bottom such that you have less than one ball of space left. Carefully put in the fork (you should have a little grease on the "cone" on the fork. Invert the bike and put enough balls in to leave the <1 ball space. Screw the (lightly greased) cone onto the fork until the fork isn't loose anymore. Put the keyed washer onto the steerer tube. Tighten the locknut. Check to ensure that your steering is snug, but with very low friction. It may take a few trials to adjust the cone, then snug the lock ring (you may have to start with the cone very slightly loose). The key thing is: no wiggle. And a constraint is: not too tight. Good luck.

*You can get by with less, but they're cheap! Your headset bearings are called angular contact bearings, and they're the same type that are used on machine tools that must be very strong and rigid. Making sure that there is only a small gap in the ball bearings helps machine tools (and your bike) be very rigid and precise.

Okay so I went back and opened it up again, and yes, there was still a lot of space for more balls. So there was the original 20, and the extra 2 I'd added earlier, and enough space by eyeball for 4 more. That would bring it to 26 from the original 20 + cage. Seems to have come together okay, at least from the looks and feel of it.

I guess the worst that could happen is I put in too many and end up having to replace the headset ...

This was very educational. Thanks.