nubike

I have a 1" threaded headset that I'm installing but having a difficult time figuring out the direction the bearings should be installed. The research i've done so far has the lower bearing facing up(towards the frame tube) and the top bearing facing down(again, towards the frame tube). In other words, the bearings facing eachother. These bearings are your typical round bearings held together by bearing cages. Also, by bearings facing up, I mean that the ball bearings face the frame tube, as opposed to the bearing housing cage. I hope thats makes sense. Any pictures will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

JiveTurkey

On either end of the headset (top and bottom), the bearings contact at a cup and a race. The cup really holds the balls whereas the race keeps the balls in the cup.

Look at this pic:

As pictured, the top goes into the cup.

For the bottom of the headset, the race is always on the bottom (the fork crown race that slides onto the steerer tube) and the cup on top (pressed into the bottom of the head tube).

At the top of the headset, it could be either-or; that is, either the race or the cup could be pressed into the upper part of the head tube. You should be able to tell by looking at the two pieces for the top of the headset and comparing it to the lower race and cup.

The retainer will only really fit in one way. If you put it in both ways, it should be easy to tell which way is correct. The bearings will only contact the cup when the retainer is in the correct orientation; you should be able to spin the retainer in the cup and see/feel the balls spinning. If you put it in upside-down, the retainer itself will contact the cup's surface instead.

nubike

Thanks for the thread, jive turkey. It took me several reads but I think I got it. The bottom bearing I got correct, since the crown race is pressed to the fork and the cup pressed to to the frame, then the bearing face up (toward the cup). The top bearing I installed incorrect. The crown race is pressed to the frame, therefor the bearing retainer should sit on the race and the bearing side facing up, towards the cup.

JiveTurkey

Sounds good. FYI, the upper race shouldn't be called a "crown" race; only the lower one is called that since it fits on the fork's crown.

cny-bikeman

For future reference it's easiest to see if a caged bearing is in correctly by placing it on the cone, as you can see the contact between the balls and the bearing surface. Your headset will last much, much longer with a full complement of loose balls, and headsets are not loaded the way bearings are designed and as a result have very high stress on each bearing. Put in ball bearings until one won't fit, then remove that last one. Installing with loose balls is trickier - loose a viscous grease, put the top bearing together and then screw on without turning the fork.

furballi

I use lose BBs, which can also cure lightly "pitted" races.

BCRider

Nubike, I've never seen a caged bearing on a bike where if you put it in the wrong way around that it'll still work. They'll jam up and not roll if they are in wrong way around. And it's easy enough to figure out which way they need to go together if you fit the cup, cage and cone together while dry and not installed on the bike.

Dan The Man

I rode around for a month with my headset bearings upside down. I took my bike to the shop one day and the guy said that my headset was terrible. He showed me how the fork would wobble forward and back with the brakes locked. At home I opened it up and flipped the bearing (and maybe the race too) over and it worked better. I never noticed any difference in handling while I was riding it that way.