FreddyV

I've been hearing the squeaky sound a few weeks now. Have refitted the dropbar and stem with use of anti-squeak/montage paste (what's it called?) but that didn't give me a solution.
I thought about my cables sliding along the bar tape or something, but when I pull/push my cables in a different direction so that they don't hit anything anymore the squeak is still there.

Yesterday night I found out that I've probably been looking around the wrong parts, and I'm thinking it may be the bearings in the headset that are squeaking. Could be some mud that somehow got in there, or improper maintenance by the previous owner of the bike.
Is it worth unmounting steerer and fork, and clean the bearings and regrease them?

Or could it be something else I didnt mention yet?

trail-rider

When does it squeak ... when you turn the handlebars, go over bumps, etc.?

bkaapcke

Could be that the grease dried out after several years of sitting. It's definitely time to disassemble the front end and clean things up. If you have balls in cages type bearings, you may want to take them to the LBS and get new ones. They are cheap and it makes the whole job easier. It's a relatively easy job anyway. bk

FreddyV

It squeaks when I turn the handlebar, hit some bumps. Though, when I'm riding on a long stretch without bumps she's as quiet as death itself.

trail-rider

+1 Just be careful to put it back together exactly the way you took it apart. Use a degreaser and then apply fresh grease to moving parts. Like bk said, probably a good idea to get new bearings.

sd790

After I rebuilt my headset, I found that my saddle rails needed some lubrication. It's amazing how much sounds travel around a bike so that noises come from areas that are not making them. Just sayin'...

MD45

You didn't file off the lawyer tabs on the fork did you?

FreddyV

Did a quick check what exactly lawyer tabs are Though, my bike still has them.

mzeffex 

yeah check headset - I have an integrated with rubber seals on it. Just put a little tri flow on them and now it is silent.

joejack951

Keep in mind that headsets aren't as simple as reinstalling the parts in the order you took them apart. Read up on headset adjustment (whether threaded or threadless) and ask questions here if something isn't clear.

FreddyV

Thanks a lot guys... Thanks to you I know have one messed up headset with two trashed bearings...



Just messing with you guys

You've been a great help (again)! I've taken the front side a part and regreased all bits. Now the squeak seems to be gone. If it somehow seems to return though, I'll be sure to lubricate the saddle rails

FreddyV

Though, a quick series of questions to finish off my headset quest.

Is it possible to replace the current threaded headset with an unthreaded headset?
I've tried figuring a few things out, but I think replacing by unthreaded means having to buy a new fork/steerer as well, right?

Would it be smart to get a semi-integrated headset, as it seals off the bottom a bit better right above the fork?

joejack951

Going to threadless requires a new stem as well.

Semi-integrated requires a new frame, but I don't think you are referring to the same semi-integrated as I am. What are you referring to?

FreddyV

I was referring to this. At the moment I have a threaded headset something like this. Though, the bottom of my headset is inside the headtube, which makes it an integrated threaded headset (right?).

joejack951

I never paid much attention but previously I had only seen that style of headset referred to as zero stack (ZS). Now that I look a little, some companies do call it semi-integrated while other also call it integrated. Regardless, it won't fit your bike as it requires a specific headtube size. Your best bet for an upgrade, IMO, is to find a cartridge bearing threaded standard headset. Otherwise, you are looking at an escalating amount of money.

FreddyV

I've tried looking for a brand on my headset, but can't find who the manufacturer was.

Are there any manufacturers that make threaded headsets? I've noticed Chris King has one, but the bottom doesn't seem to be integrated, whereas my bike does have an integrated headset bottom. Same goes for BBB. Besides these two manufacturers there hardly seem to be any threaded headsets with an integrated bottom around.

joejack951

The picture of your bike shows a threadless headset (appears to be a 1" and zero stack or fully integrated). If the grease in the bearings is dried out, you should be able to find just the bearings to use as replacements. No need to go replacing the cups too.

FreddyV

You say it's threadless, but I do have to 'screw on' the top part, it's a bit hard to see on this picture.
In the picture it looks as if there's a cup on top of the headtube directly, but what is actually there is a couple of 'nuts' with a ring in between. On top of that are a few spacers....

I might take a clearer picture tomorrow to show you.

FreddyV

I'm a bit tired now, but have thought up a new theory on my bike's front end.

I know that I have to unscrew the top part of my steerer with an allen key. Seems to give the whole a bit of extra length. Now could it be that this is not the original fork/steerer (which actually is the rumor) and that this steerer was actually too short?
How possible is it that the original headset is still in the bottom of the headtube, and that the top of a different (threaded) headset has been slapped on?

Looking at this image, it somehow does confirm the theory above... :/

Just thinking. *yawn* Off to bed now.

Al1943

Used bike? You should probably clean and grease the headset, both hubs, bottom bracket, and pedals, replacing the bearings where possible.

Al

joejack951

There is definitely a threadless stem on your bike which means you either have a threadless fork or a threaded fork with a threadless adapter. However, there is about 0.00001% chance that Giant built a bike with what appears to be Ultegra shifters and 105 components and put old school tech like a threaded fork on it. Make that 0%.

The allen screw you see at the top of your fork is for the bearing preload adjustment. On a threadless system, bearing preload is set by clamping the stem onto the upper race of the headset by pulling the fork up through the stem. See www.parktool.com for more details. Under the stem are often times spacers used to put the stem high on the steerer tube. Because the stem needs to clamp on the upper race of the headset, you cannot just move the stem up on the steerer tube. You must fill that space with something. It's possible that in place of a standard spacer, someone inserted some non-round object with a hole through it to get a little more height. Unlikely, but possible.

The other picture you linked to must be a later model which uses a fully integrated headset. That headset differs from your zero stack headset in that instead of using cups pressed into the headtube of the frame, the headtube is internally machined to mimmick bearing cups.

FreddyV

If I remove the threadless adapter the steerer is just too short to even fit a stem. So basically I have a threadless headset with a threaded fork/steerer, combined with a threadless adapter.

I did a bunch of searches on the 2002 OCR, but just can't find one with a threaded headset, leading me to the conclusion that mine is just not original...

FreddyV

Finally I found one OCR with the exact same fork. Turns out it originally was an OCR fork, but from a different (earlier) year. The 2001 OCR still came with a threaded headset, along with a stem. I'm pretty annoyed by that, as I actually want a new fork now >_<

joejack951

I'd believe it more with pics but I must admit that I'm really surprised to here that your bike does have a threaded headset with a threadless adapter. There's nothing inherently wrong with a threaded fork but a threadless fork will save you a decent amount of weight.

FreddyV

It's just a stupid combo the previous owner put on apparently...

And yesterday I thought the squeak was gone, but it returned this morning.

What is the cheapest way to get rid of the squeak? Take it to the bike shop and let them put on some new bearings?