The single biggest forward leap in technology incorporated into my vintage 1974 (?) bike is sealed bearings. They are the only non-original equipment on the bike.

They are in my Phil Wood bottom bracket (installed circa 1978) and in the hubs of my Performance Bike wheels (pre-built replacement wheels from about 1984).

These bearings have performed flawlessly and been 100% maintenance free since purchase (30-40 years ago).

Where I do not (yet) have sealed bearings is in my head set. I have gone through several headsets over that span of time, due to "brinelling" as opposed to lack of maintanence. The headset I currently have in the bike indexes quite a bit but not so much as to interfere with steering. It does have an o-ring seal, so maintenance is not as troublesome as an unsealed bearing. It just lacks the adjustment finesse of a factory-assembled bearing set.

I'm looking forward to installing some sort of sealed bearing headset.

You want a Stronglight A9.

My first sealed bearings were in the Bullseye derailleur pulleys. The advantage was mostly that I didn't have to mess around with them, which was a big improvement over the plain bushings on the SunTour pulleys. This was important for the upper pulley on the SunTour Cyclone GT derailleur, which took some significant work to remove the pulley.

some quick photos...





As for headsets... is the modern A9 built with sealed bearings?
I'm only familiar with the old/original version with roller bearings.. which is a really robust design!

Steve in Peoria

Are you looking for recommendations? Off the top of my head, Chris King comes to mind first, but they're expensive. At the opposite end is FSA; inexpensive and not as bling, but should last for quite a while.

Lambert/Viscount used sealed bearing hubs and bottom brackets starting around 1974. My brother still has Viscount hubs from that era in use. The bottom brackets haven't fared as well, not so much because of the cartridge bearings, but rather design deficiencies in the spindle.

Concur on the A9 as offering good longevity but its not a sealed cartridge type. Rather a tapered roller (needle) bearing. Its also finicky on setup and if just a slight loose, lateral movement in the headstock is very apparent.

Longtime used the Bullseye but would never buy the new ones today. For this brand always on ebay new-- fifty rip-off dollars per pair in a baggy---- using chinese bearings. You can identical in various tooth count made in China of course for $15 pair.

For those seeking sealed cartridge bearing bottom brackets, there's so many excellent choices for all price ranges and weights. Campy NOS have been offered from multiple suppliers $9. - $15! That's if the size meets your applications.

The heavy but robust Shimano UN-xx for $20-25.

Ultra trick and light OmniRacer titanium $100.

And for those whom need or converting to Campy triples / vintage taper, suggest seeking the German brand F. A. G. sealed bottom bracket assembly ((why is this forum censoring F _ G?)) Kind of an oddity but they occasionally are found on ebay. NOS for $15-25. Stock up when you find them. Absolutely beautiful rollers with precise tolerance. Forewarned if it bothers one, they have Delrin threaded cups for the cartridge bearings. But, no corrosion or seized issues.

chain_whipped modern Stronglight A9 headsets have sealed cartridge bearings. From Peter White's website: "For traditional bikes with 1" threaded steerer tubes, they make the A9, now with sealed cartridge bearings."

Agree, but are super easy to change and budget friendly. Cross ref bearing I.D. and Amazon is $6 pair. Front and rear hubs use different sized bearings.

The bottom bracket spindle changed through the years but used the same bearings. They too are budget friendly. I forget all the details though sort of remember the later years had a proper second groove for the snap ring, others didn't. Sometimes required a washer to make up the end tolerance and keep the spindle from sliding. That company wasn't without such few dumb things and unfortunate rushed out of the factory, but once sorted are really neat British bargain. For the pittance price back then, too.

Well that's good to know, and thanks. I would think its a much easier setup.

I was thinking of the earlier A9 headset. Spidel branding tapered roller was made Stronglight too.

For a headset with sealed bearings, the Tange Falcon is much cheaper than the Chris King and looks more vintage. I just installed one on my Mercian a couple of months ago. I can't speak to long term durability but for the two weeks that I had ot in the stand waiting for parts I couldn't walk by it without turning the fork and marveling at how smooth it is.

I was riding my 72 kessels molteni when I got a flat (tubulars).

A quick Uber to my house to grab that set of wheels that came with Weyless hubs.

Same NISI rims, same Vittoria tires. But….man, what a difference. No rolling resistance. None of that feeling that there must be a pit in the race. Just “forget-about-it” smooth.

and, they actually came off dad’s 72 colnago, so they are vintage appropriate.

Shimano's cartridge threaded headsets were bomb-proof for me, and I rarely came across one that wasn't still smooth.

+1 on the Falcon, looks good and performs very well

I don't think wearing ball bearings out is enough of a problem on any bike to proactively take old ones out and put in sealed bearings. There are lots of bikes fifty to a hundred years old running around with all of their original bearings. I like adjustable cones and cups because they are adjustable, they are classic, and they are mechanical things for mechanics to work on and are not dumbed down for consumerism.

The technology is as much about the seals as it it the bearings. I haven't had to do any maintenance on the hubs or bottom bracket in over 40 years.

In my opinion, it isn't "dumbed down", it is a genuine improvement.

There are many other technologies I have tried and rejected but this one stuck. I can offer a few examples - Ultra-6 freewheels, slant-parallelogram rear derailleurs, cyclometers and others all of which I have subsequently removed from the bike.

I'd forgotten, I also installed sealed bearing pulleys in my Nuovo Record derailleur.

P.S. - Thanks for the A9, Chris King recommendations. I do need a new headset. I have to work out the stack height before I buy.

I agree with all of that. But cup/cone bearings do require a certain feel and touch to adjust well. It is not for everyone (not meant as an insult). For me personally, it's a question of honor to adjust headset and hub bearings and see them run as light as possible.
But a bottom bracket, I very much prefer a cartridge without the fuss, due to the better tooling.

And yes, no need for maintenance is a very solid argument. Though I do think headset and hub maintenance is once every 10 thousand km or more. It doesn't bother me.

The first sealed bearing piece I recall having was the Suntour VX bottom bracket. I have one in use, and I think I might have a spare somewhere...I also have some of the Suntour/Sunshine touring hubs. Really cool stuff.

Then there's the Phil Wood stuff... wow.


IMG_0079 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


IMG_0091 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

these sealed cartridge bearing things are definitely both Classic and Vintage:

"The SKF company was founded on Sven Wingqvist's 1907 Swedish patent No. 25406, a multi-row self-aligning radial ball bearing. The Patent was granted on June 6 in Sweden coinciding with patents in 10 other countries. The new ball bearing was successful from the outset. By 1910, the company had 325 employees and a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Manufacturing operations were later established in multiple countries.

By 1912, SKF was represented in 32 countries and by 1930, a staff of over 21,000 were employed in 12 manufacturing facilities worldwide."

I have a Shimano 600 sealed bearing headset on my Merlin. The rest of the bike is DA7400 series, but the 600 headset, which came with the bike, looks nice and works so well I didn't see the point in changing it.

As for other period correct sealed bearing items I have on some bikes. the Mavic 500 series hubs, introduced in 1975. (Chef's kiss!)
https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...3-548b73a3d85b



Also a fan of the Bullseye pulleys shown above, introduced in '73.

Hi-E made some neat sealed bearing hubs, though not particularly robust.

O.M.A.S. "big sliding" bottom brackets with Ti spindles if you want to drop some grams.

I'll have to look into getting sealed bearings put into some Nuovo Record hubs. It seems very do-able.

Coincidentally, I just bought a Litespeed that came with a DA7410 headset. The bearing feel dry. I'm not overly impressed. It looks nice, but doesn't feel as smooth as I'd like.

tell me about that wrench: is it a Mavic tool or after-market?
I don't have to service those hubs often but that would be a game-changer (versus the 2-pin tools I have tried, and failed with, before)!

[MENTION=17926]unworthy1[/MENTION] The tool is an after-market item. I purchased it from forum member [MENTION=20876]hazetguy[/MENTION] along with some hubs. I don't know too much about it, other than it works like a charm. Next time your hubs need a service, you're welcome to borrow it if you want to cover shipping or take a trip across the bay.