I have a Stronglight 1" threaded tapered roller bearing headset (1st two photos), not sure of the precise model. I found it very hard to adjust it precisely to turn lightly without any for and aft fork play. I think the problem is that whereas ball bearings offer some adjustment compliance, cylindrical bearings do not. Also, I believe that precise facing of the frame head tube is critical with these headsets as compared to conventional ball bearings. My favorite old school headset is a Specialized (last photo), which is a copy of the Campy Nuovo Record, but also has o-ring seals.

Precise facing of the head tube is less critical with the roller bearing headsets because the races float. A roller bearing headset will feel too tight on the stand when it is adjusted correctly.

So how come roller bearing headsets are so rare!?

TejanoTrackie, your bikes are gorgeous.

Folks, what's NJS?

+1.

Here's what Jan Hein had to say about the A9 in a recent Bicycle Quarterly article:

Bicycle Quarterly, Volume 6, Number 3

Curing Shimmy on a Bike

by Jan Heine and Mark Vande Kamp

Some bikes shimmy, others don’t, even if they are made from the same tubes. Some believe that poor frame alignment is the cause for shimmy, but we have ridden modern custom frames from very reputable builders that shimmied, even though they appeared to be aligned very well. Yet many older frames with unknown histories do not shimmy, despite being obviously misaligned.

Looking at the variables involved, Jan noticed that he never had ridden a bike with a Stronglight needle-bearing headset that shimmied, yet similar bikes (from the same maker, with the same tubing and geometry) with ball bearing headsets often shimmied.

Stronglight headsets are different from all others in that the bearings align automatically, and thus compensate for imperfections in the facing of the head tube (emphasis mine - SC). On a standard headset, the balls on one side tend to run looser than those on the other, because the top and bottom edges of the head tube never are perfectly parallel. Furthermore, the needle bearings of the Stronglight headset may add a little resistance to the headset, perhaps enough to dampen shimmy, but not enough to change the steering characteristics of the bike.

To see whether a different headset could make a difference in shimmy behavior, we replaced the Chris King headset on Mark’s Ti Cycles, a bike with a very strong shimmy under certain conditions, with a Stronglight needle-bearing headset. Mark rode the bike to the workshop with a load in the handlebar bag, and it was easy to provoke shimmy.

After we replaced the headset, Mark tried to induce shimmy as he had before, but the bike no longer shimmied. After numerous attempts, he finally got the bike to shimmy briefly, but instead of continuing until Mark put his knee on the top tube, the shimmy now attenuated on its own within a few oscillations. We then loaded the handlebar bag with about 4 kg (8.8 lbs.). Still, the bike’s shimmy was gone in most speed ranges. Only when coasting downhill no hands at 40 km/h (25 mph), a violent shimmy occurred that was beyond the capacity of the headset’s dampening. Placing one hand on the handlebars immediately stopped the shimmy. Mark rarely rides no-hands at speeds this high, so the shimmy problem on this bike has been mostly eliminated with a simple headset change.

In conclusion, we still do not know what causes shimmy on a bike. From Mark’s and my experience, it is unrelated to top tube diameter. A handlebar bag does increase the likelihood of shimmy on Mark’s Ti Cycles, but many other bikes with handlebar bags do not shimmy. We found that we could eliminate most of the shimmy on one of the worst bikes we experienced, by replacing the Chris King headset with a needle-bearing Stronglight model. If your bike shimmies, it is worth a try.

New JerSey!



NJS is Nihon Jitensha Shinkokai aka the Japanese Keirin Association. They set the allowed specifications for Keirin racing. Something that is NJS certified simply means it conforms to their specifications...doesn't necessarily denote quality.

I've used Stronglight "Delta" headsets and hated them. I was constantly adjusting them. My favorite is the American Classic Tri-lock. Unfortunately, they are no longer made and finding an NOS one is difficult.

But it does take track parts from already-inflated prices to nigh-on-astronomical with the addition of an NJS stamp.

I'm not in the habit of buying $50 parts to throw in a box indefinitely, but y'all have made me feel good about the French A9 I bought a while back from VO to keep as a spare. So thanks.

Just go with the Tange Levin

I was looking for a headset for my recent project and was talking to a guy who builds some pretty high end bikes. I was lamenting that I couldn't find something better with a JIS crown race (I could find some 105 headsets but only in 26.4). To my surprise he told me just to go with the tange passage. I upgraded to the Levin (~$20 instead of ~$10) because in all the pictures, it looked like it had a better chrome job with about the same internals. The thing seems pretty smooth and I've got no complaints although a needle bearing would be cool in the long run.

It's a hell of a headset for ~$20. I have one on my Palo Alto.

I took a second look at my Stronglight headset, and it says "Delta" on the top of the hex nut. I've also had a lot of problems adjusting it as I posted above, however, some others here are saying that it's OK the way I've got it set up (tight in the stand). I suppose since I don't have any steering problems with the bike, maybe it's OK. One thing for sure, it has not worn out after 26 years of use.

Thanks. Those are 2 of my favorites. The first frame is a custom built Mark Nobilette and the second is an off-the-rack Ron Cooper. I ride them both regularly.

I've been running the same Tange Levin on my vintage PUCH for over 25 years. Aside from a yearly overhaul - it hasn't needed a thing. Smooth and efficient.

Is a retainer ring a bad thing?

+1!!!!

I'm still running the Galli Tapered Roller Bearing (aka needle bearing) headset that I put on my road bike in 1983, it's never been adjusted and still turns smoothly with no detents and has no up/down play in it.

They were very highly regarded at the time but I can barely find a mention of them on the net these days so I assume they went toes up a very long time ago.

Galli parts are rare, at least in the US.

When I was at Trek, I could buy them at Trek's cost + 10%, which worked out to $6.00/each. I wish I had bought more...

The original "Delta" headset was essentially identical to the A9, but with O-ring seals on the cups. The cups were shaped slightly differently (leading to the "Delta" moniker) but in all other respects it was identical to the A9.

I put one on my tandem back in late 1984. It's still going strong today.

I wish I had bought a campy toolkit and a big pile of tubes.

I've heard that Cane Creek makes a threaded headset. Should be pretty good.

Velo Orange Grand Cru 1", sealed

I wish they had seals at the top nut/stem seam on threaded headsets. Jillions of cases of seized stems (including mine) could have been avoided if only someone thought of adding an o-ring seal at the top nut. Maybe I'll put in a little bit of clear silicone in that area to seal the seam (in addition to a little bit of grease on the stem itself) when I reinstall the stem on my Vitus Carbone 7. It will be invisible to the eye anyway.

Chombi
84 Peugeot PSV
85(?) Vitus Carbone 7 Plus

The "Delta" headset has this:

Oooo!, that's good, what's bad is, I just lost out on a nice NOS Delta that just finished it's auction at eBay, but I think it sold for more than I personally was willing to pay for anyway, so Idon't feel too bad about losing out on it. Still could have been a fantastic headset for my restoration project.
BTW, there's a big seller from the UK that still have a few NOS Stronglight A9s for sale at ebay right now for, IMO, a super fantastic price. Bought one already tonight for a spare or maybe my restoration project. So I still get to experience another of Stronglight's best ever headsets ( I already have an A9 on my PSV, and it has performed flawlessly since I bought the bike in 1984. I remember only adjusting it once after it bedded in and It's still smooth and with zero bearing play.

Chombi
84 Peugeot PSV
85(?) Vitus Carbone 7 Plus

am i missing something? this is the $10 tange passage: