Headset heresy
 

I run my 1972 Raleigh Professional without fenders and have a Super Record headset. It is beautiful but due to the lack of seals it requires regular maintenance because it lets bits of grime in, especially the bottom cup. I am not that thrilled about having to reset my bars and front brake every time. My other NR/SR headset bikes have fenders.

I have considered a couple options.

One is a set of Wald 80 shorty fenders. They are chromed steel and cannot be lightweight but should serve the purpose.

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The other is a new Record threaded headset. It has much better lower seals but at 36.5mm the stack height is much shorter. Crown race diameter is 26.4. Fairly sure that will work. Also, that top nut... It also doesn't have the styling and panache of the old one.

http://media.chainreactioncycles.com...id=250&hei=255

Lastly is to suck it up and keep repacking headsets. What are your thoughts?

It depends a bit on your riding. Summer? Winter?

Another option is the new Stronglight headset with sealed cartridge bearings.

Can you use the Record bottom cups with your Super Record top cup and nut?

Worry about it less. Unless you have some specially horrible local grit there's no reason to service a headset frequently. Will assume that this bike does not see a lot of rain, that you use the fender bikes on rain days. Will assume a '72 Pro does not see trail riding. Headsets die from brinelling. Brinell is primarily caused by too tight bearings, not ordinary wear. Or they die from long miles with completely dry/absent grease.

Perhaps installing a less dear headset would still your fears. The shop I worked at took all the variant/oddball/non-catalog Raleighs and Carltons that showed up at Raleigh Midwest. Pros and Flyers did come with every imaginable headset. None of them were wrong. Even Hattas and Tanges showed up in early 70s. Brampton frequently. Plain Raleigh headsets. If you want to do the shorty fender at least get Bluemels.

Cut a 1" length of inner tube and stretch it over the bottom cup during your next overhaul. Basically, it acts as external seal. It's not pretty but it does keep out the grit, allowing you run your SR headset without less attractive (IMO) shorty fenders.

Just checked stock. I have a Bluemels if you want it.

I was going to say the same thing. I've heard this works well. In fact, I ought to do this on my bikes that don't have fenders.

This. BITD I did this on a non-sealed headset on my year-round MTB in the PNW (rain, rain and more rain). Went several years without having to repack.

I'm not sure I understand why you have to reset your bars and front brake every time you repack the headset. Normally you can simply loosen the stem nut, and pull the whole handlebar assembly off without disconnecting anything. Then loosen the headset nut and top cone, and wiggle out the forks. The star nut on the campy calipers should keep the brake centered. A piece of masking tape on the stem can be used to indicate the depth, so the only reset needed after the repack is getting the stem on straight and aligned with the front wheel.

A modern headset on a 72 Raleigh Pro wouldn't be my first choice. I prefer the suggestion of the tube sleeve over the bottom cup. Lots of people did that BITD.

I don't agree with the first paragraph. Without trail riding, I've had several Record lower bearing parts wear and become indented due to insufficient lubrication. I've stopped looking for reasonably-priced replacements. These vintage Campagnolo parts are not that common and are collectibles. If one wants to keep using them one should do what it takes to protect them from premature wear out. As beutiful as they both to look at and to feel as they help the bike function, Campy did not include decent sealing for the bottom bearing. Perhaps they assumed the dedicated or professional racers would regrease on a schedule, or perhaps after every outing. 20 years ago, perhaps, we could source replacement parts. Now we can only do so based on luck.

Narhay, if you want to keep using this fantastic frame, get yourself a replacement headset that has readily available replacement parts or excellent sealing. Put the Super Record on a wall hanger, or in a display case.

Constant maintenance does a headset no good. I too have trashed Campy headsets way before their time. OTOH the original HS on the Cinelli went 100k and was regreased maybe twice. And was still working smooth when I let that old warhorse go. To waste a headset all you have to do is turn down the toprace 5 degrees too far. If you service the bearing compulsively it doesn't matter how good you are, sooner or later the bearing will be too tight and that's the end.

The inner tube shield (not seal) works fine on commuters. It doesn't keep out water. Water will find a way. Then the rubber holds the water next to the metal. Rust. Peel the rubber off and be surprised by rust. Do that to a '94 Hardrock or something. Don't do it to a '72 Pro.

What [MENTION=362926]63rickert[/MENTION] says makes sense. These precise headsets are more sensitive about setup than the cheap ones.

...I know I'll end up hating myself for asking this, but how do you " waste a headset" by "turn down the toprace 5 degrees too far" ?
I honestly don't get this, but I'm all about not compulsively servicing bearings that don't really need it before they do. For the record, I run my headsets pretty tight.

It's more or less a stationary bearing (for all practical purposes, IMO). So with hardened races and bearings, my assumption has been (for quite a while now) that if the front wheel will flop under its own weight, that's about how tight I want it in operation. There's no way I can do that without the occasional overly tight headset (front wheel won't do that). Which I then back off. What am I missing in all of this ? How exactly am I damaging anything ?

I too was going to endorse the inner tube method, however, after reading what 63rickert said, I have to admit that he may have a valid point. What about getting only a small piece of aluminum and bending it into a "U" shape so attaches to the brake bolt, in front of and behind the fork crown and this will then act as a mini fender for only the headset?

Anyone who'd put Wald shorty fenders on a Raleigh Pro...




...deserves to have the headset go bad anyway.

Stem is too long to pull out without disconnecting front brake. That is another issue altogether I will eventually resolve by getting new bar and stem but I am thinking of the whole front end for now.

This. Except for the "replace when it brinnels" part. I've had an indexed Super Record headset in my Colnago Mexico for the past 10 years or more and have experienced no ill-effects while riding. As long as it's not loose enough to cause a shimmy at speed, it's been my experience that a headset can take a lot of abuse and still provide capable function.

DD

...useless as they are, those shorty fenders were the bomb for a few years there. I honestly don't know why, but they showed up on a lot of stuff. NOt those Wald steel ones, but aluminum equivalents.

Oh, the Walds were definitely a thing in the early '80s among a certain slice of the populace. Normal-sized dudes walked in to buy the tallest frame available (in our shop that would have been a 27" Fuji or Puch, or a 27" or 28" Panasonic depending on the model), swapped out the gumwalls for whitewalls, got Grab On grips ("sponges") to replace the handlebar tape, got chrome rectangular mirrors (one on each side of the bar), shorty Wald fenders, and several "stretchers" (bungee cords), Vise Grips clamped to the seat post, and as many "flettahs" (reflectors) as we could fit into the spokes. They then walked out pushing the bikes that were too tall for them to straddle and ride. Paid good money for that.

You think I'm kidding.

I've got alloy shorty fenders. Nice and lightweight. essential for a commuter. Function over form is sometimes vital.

I've commuted and toured. For function give me full length ones. Never could abide the looks of the shorties.

I have to disagree. Proper maintenance does no harm. Conversely, riding a HS with washed out grease and/ or grit will prematurely wear it out. It is true that riding a HS that has been adjusted too tight or too loose can damage it prematurely, but this is not the same thing as maintenance. Adjusting a headset properly is somewhat tricky it's true.


The old ROT was, if you were an every day rider/racer, repack your headset once a year, plus whenever you got caught in a rainstorm. In practice this usually meant 2 or 3 times a year. I'm lazy and won't repack more than necessary, even though as an ex mechanic, it only takes me 5 minutes. The lazy person's method was to listen to the HS (or other loose bearings) with your ear right against it. If you can hear grit, repack. If not, don't bother. Also, with campy white grease, if it was turning grey, it was time to repack.


If you are a once a week recreational rider who only rides when it isn't raining, yeah, you can easily go a few years or more without touching a campy record headset.



Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah that would be annoying. If you don't need the tall stem obviously replacing it would make repacks easier.


OTOH if your conditions are such that you are infecting your bearings enough that a repack is warranted more than a couple times a year, I'd probably be looking at a sealed HS too. Have you thought about finding some old semi period 1970s sealed HS? Stronglight, EDCOR, Ofmega, etc? There were a few others. That's what I would suggest.

A better example. My wife has a 1975 RRB she has owned since new. It has its original Campy headset. The bike has been in continuous service. For most of those years it was her only bike and some of those years it was her only transportation. Figure it was used 200 days a year most years and 300 days a year some years. The bike has been repainted twice. Five or six years ago Ron built a new fork. Until a year ago the RRB did not have fenders. Only times the headset has ever been serviced was at repaint or re-fork. Still works perfectly. Consider that through the winter she has always ridden in snow and Chicago salt slush. That is hard service. Campy was not in the business of selling beautiful fetish objects. They were in the business of selling tough bike parts that worked.