Very good demo, thanks very much. I have always feared opening the CK headset and have let the shop do it, but now I think i'd give it a go. Good video production values, too.
Great video, thank you. I tried this (felt quite straight forward), but the headset still feels a bit rough.I even went back and packed in some more grease. I didn't have an air-compressor so used a new microfibre cloth like you.
Hi James, In general, it's a good idea to flush the bearing repeatedly until it feels pretty smooth, for the sake of simplicity and brevity, we didn't do a bunch of flushes as we cleaned the headset, but in some cases you'll need to do more to really get it clean. Beyond that, when you reassemble the bearing, be very careful to not get the seal bunched up anywhere, and also make sure that the split ring is sitting completely evenly (just make sure that the two ends are flush with each other). If either the seal or the split ring aren't flat and in the right place, they can press on the bearing in ways that can make it feel rough. Hope this helps, but let us know how it goes!
Great video! Can you comment on how it would be different for a Dropset? Would it be preferable to just remove the bearing and service it off the bike in that case?
Great video, thanks for posting! For headset bearings, which essentially never really do a full revolution in their entire service life, I'm guessing one could use any type of good bike grease (e.g. Phil Wood), right?
Yep! Blue for headsets, which don't really spin around and around, and silver for the things that DO spin around and around like bottom brackets and hubs. Hope that helps!
Hi i wanted to replace my standard bearing to a sealed bearing is it possible? Or i will need to replace the whole headset? Rather than the bearing it self...
Hi Dexter, are you referring to a Chris King headset? All Chris King headsets have sealed bearings. If you can clarify your question, we'll try to help answer it better. Thanks!
We wanted to show that the headset could be serviced without too many special tools (headset cup remover, headset press, etc.); and this is really how Chris King recommends doing it (with, of course, the addition of compressed air). These headsets don't need to be taken apart completely to service them, and that's just one of the many nice things about them :).
