PapaGanoosh

I was removing a campagnolo headset from a donor bike to install on another vintage bike that I had and after removing it I'm not sure if the condition is that great. To me it looks ok - really just dried grease and some surface rust but wanted to get a second opinion as this is my first time trying to remove headsets. What is your opinion on the overall condition of this headset? Also any ideas which model headset this is? Seems to me like it is either vintage Chorus or Athena.

Any help would be much appreciated

https://imgur.com/a/zC15ZdN

*Scuba 

Don't know the exact make and model of this headset.

It is not in the best shape, from the pictures, it looks like there is just the beginning of some brindle/indexing starting to happen on the headset bearing races. But there are no pitting yet. This headset is still totally serviceable. If you want the best performance out of the headset, you could free pack new bearings instead of using caged bearings.

PapaGanoosh

Much appreciated for the response. Just for my own knowledge, how can you tell there is beginning on brinelling / indexing. What exactly am I looking for?

Road Fan

It still needs a better cleaning. It is a Campagnolo, usually a good thing in headsets. I think it's contemporary with the C-record, but there were a bunch of styles on the market in those days and after.

drlogik 

Hard to tell but may be a "Record" headset. I would let it soak in mineral spirits to get all of the old gunk out. Dig it out with a toothpick and/or Q-Tip...no metal or steel wool. Rinse it in in denatured alcohol, dry it and put it together in your hand and spin it. Spin it slowly and feel for any ticks. If it's smooth, you got yourself a survivor there! One thing you could do is lightly buff it with a BLUE 3M scrub pad...NOT a green one. The blue will polish-up the stainless steel races nicely. Did I say lightly?

That ball race may or may not be original. Quite frankly I can't recall from my days in bike shops in the 70's and 80's. I want to say it's maybe a replacement but if it works, it works. And, if it works, I would leave the ball race in there and not replace with individual balls.

Lube it with a good grease like Park or Phil's and enjoy your old Campy headset!

*Scuba 

In the picture of the bottom headset cup, on the bearing cup race, you can start to see discoloration that will match up to the bearings in the caged bearing. A shiny part, darker part and etc.,,

Andrew R Stewart 

It would have been nice to have done the cleaning (solvent and mechanical steel wool) before this headset was removed from the donner bike. Then one could test adjust, with no grease to shadow the rolling action, and find out in situ feel. IME the amount of wear on the ball tracks can have little effect but other times this wear can make visual assumptions hard to get right. Andy

Steelman54 

Can't tell if the crown race is shot or needs to be cleaned better, it could be dried grease on it, can't really tell. I would clean thoroughly and assess again.

Iride01 

If I had it and needed it, then I'd install it and see if it gave me any issues or not. I doubt I'd buy one like that unless it was a dollar with free shipping.

PapaGanoosh

So I've soaked the headset in mineral spirits for a good week now and finally had the chance to clean it up. Additional photos below with a full photo set on imgur. The top part after spinning them definitely feel smooth. The bottom parts can be spun as well and while does not feel that notchy there is definitely a bit more friction compared to the top. There is also some noticeable surface rust on the outer parts of the headset (which shouldn't affect how smooth the bearings run. What are your thoughts on the serviceability of this headset after a good cleaning? Curious if I should still switch out my current 105 headset for this.

Full Photos:
https://imgur.com/a/37a5q5u

Top:




Bottom:

Andrew R Stewart 

The 105 headsets I have dealt with are a lower stack height. They will fit (assuming crown seat diameter is the same) but will want more spacer/washers under the threaded top cap. As I said before it's hard to discern by eyes only how a fitted, greased and AGAP adjusted headset will feel. Either replace or get off the pot and reinstall to see what the old really feels like. Andy

Iride01 

No matter how bad the bearings and races looked, I always put them back together and judged replacement by whether or not I had real issues.

I've never replaced a bearing or race for wear or pitting. Though yours do seem to have some pitting in the part of the race that the bearing travels. I never had that. But still I'd put it back together and want to feel it before I arbitrarily considered it a problem.

The discoloration or etched looking of the races is no issue whatsoever IMO. Though the stuff that created that might be the same stuff that will cause pitting. Cleaning and new lube solves that.

Though if this is going to be the first bike on Mars, then maybe it does need to be perfect first. <grin>

JohnDThompson 

Headsets are not in constant rotation when in use, so a little roughness is seldom an issue, as long as it can rotate without "indexing." You've removed all the parts from the frame, so it's unlikely that you'll re-install them in exactly the same orientation they originally sat, and they won't "index" from the previous wear. This is an old-school way of getting some more mileage out of a fretted headset race. Running loose balls in the lower race can also help with this.