Hey guys!

I've finally started my build, and I was putting the fork back on today. After tightening the headset, I moved the fork round and headset sounded scratchy. So I took everything apart and cleaned it out to find a bunch of grit in there.

I cleaned it up and repacked it, but the same thing happened 5 times! I pack it full of grease, move it around and it comes out black! I have no idea where the stuff is coming from since I've already cleaned everything else a few times...

Any help here?

Also, I've read the park tool site and the book, and I'm just wondering how I know that the headset is good to go. I'm having trouble finding that sweet spot and I was hoping one of you awesome C&V'ers would help me out!

(An annoying side note, I don't have a bb tool for the veloce bb so I had to hand tighten it. Now I have to go to the lbs to get them to tighten it. Hopefully they'll just let me use the tool without paying anything like they've done in the past. They're really cool because I buy things from them off and on, hopefully that won't change during my build haha.)

Did you replace the dirty old bearing cages with fresh, new ball bearings? do that if you haven't. Grime is very difficult to clean out of cages and your probably not getting it all. As far as whether or not your headset is any good, look at where the balls contact the race. Is there any pitting or deformity in the race? if yes, then you may want to consider getting a new headset if you plan on having the bike for a long time. You might as well do it now if that IS the case. otherwise your good to go. If your having trouble finding that sweet spot while adjusting, make sure your steerer tube is not bent by holding a straight edge against it. A bent steerer won't allow you to adjust it properly.

If you already did clean everything well AND replace the cages with balls, but you STILL are getting grime in there, its probally coming from inside the frame somehow. I have cleaned out dirty head tubes by blasting it with water, letting it dry, then putting frame saver in.
best of luck
Tim

Sorry, I should have specified that the headset is a stronglight hinault and it uses roller pins and not 'ball bearings'. It might be the fork inside the frame, I sprayed frame saver in but didn't spray it with water first, though I did put a rag in and move that in there to get gunk out.

The rollers are in cages, too. Try real hard to clean those, and start looking on the web for replacement rollers

I've used the Stronglight A9 and Delta, which also use the roller bearings. They have a conical washer on the top and bottom of the bearings. Big washer on top; little washer on the bottom. You should apply some grease between the washers and the "cup and cone" portions.

Was the headset already installed, or did you just put it in? They are just made of aluminum, and require some care during installation.

And for what it's worth, these are tricky to adjust correctly. You'll never hit that sweet spot as with a conventional headset. Just check for when the play goes away. With care, you'll get a lot of miles from the headset. I've got one bike with over 45,000 miles on the Stronglight Delta.

Steve K.

So I should just adjust till there's no play?

Is there a rule of thumb as to how far into the fork threads the 'cap' should be?

I think I adjusted it till the play went away. I'll probably take it apart again tomorrow to clean it one last time and then put grease between everything and then hope for the best.

Thanks for all the help!

Bump!

if you need replacement roller bearings and "races", they are sold by xxcycles.com in France, but a set almost cost as much as a new Stronglight HS. Still, gotta love the fact that replacement PARTS are still available (three cheers!), and these guys also have parts for Zefal pumps (used to be something every LBS carried, but no more).

The locknut should engage the fork threads a minimum of 3 full turns.

I think I'll spray WD40 on the stuff to clean it out next time. Wipe it dry, then grease it.

I'll call it a day after that. I'm not going to spend 2 hours to try and clean it out.

WD 40 gets abused all the time, but this is a great use for it. Put the bearings and cages in a baggy and spray in a bunch of it. Seal it up and let it sit for day, and it will have disolved all the filthy grease trapped in there.

jim

I replaced a Shimano 600 6207 (with wavy nuts) with an A9 recently. I couldn't adjust the Stronglight correctly at first - I found the point where play disappeared and tightened it, but then it bound when the fork was turned 180 degrees. In careful installations with Campy Record and Chorus headsets I get a smooth turn all around, so I took it to the local shop, since I don't have aligning and facign tools.

Local shop aligned and faced the head tube and reinstalled it ($20.00 labor), resulting in a smooth turn all the way around. The head tech wasn't real pleased with the smoothness, but he didn't see Stronglights often, and they are thought to not be quite as free as a ball-bearing HS.

For me the test for free-turning is to install the front wheel and the bars with brifters, then lift the bike with the front wheel lower than the rear so the front hangs in a straight ahead position. Tilt the bike back and forth a little at a time and notice how the front wheel turns freely due to gravity. It should turn very freely and readily, limited only by its own inertia, not by friction or sticking.

Road Fan

I was going to go the WD40 route, but I decided not to after I put the front wheel and stem on.

The headset allowed everything to just move around due to gravity, so smoothly that it smacked against the top tube nice and hard.

It's really smooth with the bars on there now. I'm content with it. Next time I take it apart, I'll clean stuff out with WD40, but I'm good with the repacking for now!

Thanks for the help everyone.

The Veloce BB tool is only $9 or so. Hopefully your LBS will charge less.

They did it for free. I'll buy it from them when I need to replace the bb. Veloce is cheaper and for a 40 gram drop I don't want to go to the more expensive ones...

That being said, I bought a campy cable set from my lbs today for 60 bucks! Are you kidding me! I really wish I had bought the pbk set online when I ordered a cassette and chain for them. That one is like 15 bucks.

That being said, the lbs did help me a lot with providing tools when I showed up there and wanted to fix something on my bike. Plus, I didn't want to wait for a week because I NEED to have my build done by tomorrow.

All that was left was the cables. I think it's a fair trade

Semi-related question: where can you buy replacement roller bearings for an A9 headset? I don't need any right now, but just curious. I'm new to the roller bearing thing...

I wonder if the 30 year old Delrin material is breaking down, and releasing pigmentation into the bearing area?

Ride, if you are ever so inclined, I'd suggest disassembling again, cleaning the plastics really well with soap and water and a toothbrush, looking at the inner surfaces of the black plastic parts under the biggest available magnifying glass under REALLY good light, and see if you see any evidence of surface erosion or cracking. If so, old Bernard is toast, and you would need to get an A9 to replace it. A9s are pretty cheap at Bicycle Classics.

Road Fan

My swing test is based on SMALL tilts of the frame, not big enough to get the 'bars to dent the top tube. If it doesn't respond smoothly to thise little deflections it's still not right. The way I do it the BB doesn't move more than say 5" relative to the top tube. I also move it pretty slowly, a few second cycle back and forth.

Plus, I'm concerned, did you really get all the dirt out?

I got out as much as I could, and yes, I'm referring to your tilt test. It spins really really smoothly with the handlebars and ergo levers on.

I think there's an infinite amount of dust in there. I greased it, put it together and then cleaned it out atleast 4-5 times without getting it sparkly clean. I'll go the wd-40 route next time I take it apart.