Moisture

After doing some research, im getting some mixed opinions . Some are saying to do after a certain period of time, others say it's good for the life of the bike.

after bouncing the front wheel on the ground, im pretty sure I can hear the bearings rattling about in there. I think it's time to see whats going on in there. Bike is a 1980 Norco.

alcjphil

If you bought your bike second hand and have never serviced the headset, it's time, since you have no idea how long it has been. In general, cartridge bearing headsets need to be serviced when the bearings wear out. Loose bearing headsets should be serviced every year or two, more often if you frequently ride in wet weather conditions. Most often it is the lower bearing that will fail since the bike's weight rests on it and it is exposed to road grit and water thrown off the front wheel. A set of mudguards can greatly extend the life of a headset on a bike ridden in the wet. I used to commute about 9000 km per year and I never replaced the headset on that bike in many years of riding it. However I did service it on a yearly basis

pdlamb

40 year old bike, it might be time to open it up, clean it up, and grease it up. I think that's like a 30 year old house -- it's pretty much reached its "don't touch anything that ain't broke" service life.

HillRider

Most better quality current headsets use sealed cartridge bearings and require very little maintenance. I remove and wipe the bearings and cups clean of dirt and old grease and regrease them, mostly as a water seal. I do this with my general overhauls at 7000-8000 mile intervals. My Chris King headset has 55,000 miles and is still in fine condition with this rather haphazard schedule. I also have Cane Creek and Velo-Orange cartridge bearing headsets that are nearly as durable and get the same maintenance schedule.

Older loose ball or caged ball headsets should be disassembled and regreased more frequently as their seals and dirt/water protection are far less effective. Your 1980 Norco almost certainly came with this type of headset and they are not set-and-forget components.

Put your bike on the ground and lock the front brake. Then try to rock the bike forward and back and see if there is any play in the headset. Also turn the bars and see if there is any "notchiness" as the headset rotates. If there is play, adjust the clearance. If there is notchiness the lower race and/or crown race is probably pockmarked (aks "brineling" ) and the headset should be replaced.

deacon mark

I had lower bearings go bad on my Ritchey External Bearing Headset. The bike has about 20000 miles and 3.5 years on it seemed getting bit of water coming up from the front wheels. The headset still worked but I could feel it not smooth. Rather than get new bearing I just got a whole new headset same one for almost the price of the bearings. For me easier I just pressed the new cups in and bearings are all sealed. I did use marine grease and save the old upper bearing. Headset can go almost forever depending but good to look at them at some time. That said my BB is still spinning fine now with 21000 miles but of course it is the gold standard threaded BSA type. I think I will just leave it alone till and feel or hear anything different.

Andrew R Stewart 

I always "like" these types of questions. The answers are always shades of gray ones. But if we change the question to another topic the answers are so obvious and ones that nearly all would agree on. "How often should I bathe?" Often enough to not smell and offend those who you want to hang with is what I think we all would agree to

My idea of bike maintenance is do do the service BEFORE it's a must (or a "repair"). After doing a specific service on your bike a few times it usually becomes easy to discern how frequently that service is best done for your conditions. So I guess my short answer is to service your headset now and start your discovery process.

BTW I don't look forward to those who feel their headset is set for life coming into where I work for service. It's seems to me that they lack an understanding of things mechanical used in real world conditions and/or the chemistry and contamination of lubes. It's well known in the LBS service world that grease is not meant to be "good" after a number of years regardless of use. Phil Wood use to suggest 5 years for their grease. Andy

Koyote

How about a headset with sealed cartridge bearings? Is it just a matter of time before they fail, too?

Andrew R Stewart 

I wouldn't say wearing out of a bearing is the same as it's failing. But any sliding set of parts will at some point see wear and at some point that wear will be enough to matter. Seals, as found on most all bike bearings of any type, are for keeping out the bits of grit more then water. Water will have dissolved chemicals and/or VERY fine grit it it. This year at work I probably replaced a half dozen headsets/bearings due to rusted out condition, and most were cartridge types not loose balls. Andy

70sSanO

If everything is smooth with no play, but you can’t remember when you last did any maintenance, it’s time to do it.

John

veganbikes

Generally there is nothing on a bike that doesn't need to be serviced once and a while. I guess aside from a dynamo hub (SON is very clear in saying don't open 'er up) most everything else could be pulled and reinstalled with fresh grease and such.

Moisture

As for bottom bracket .. mine seemed to feel fine soinning the cranks with the chain off after 40 years of what I am sure was the original grease and bearings... taking it apart didn't look too good in there. New bearings and grease as well as a shorter spindle helped make a difference with smoothness, although nothing major. I suspect the situation with my headset will be the same after all these years.

Jeff Neese

I usually do all the bearings (wheels, headset, and bottom bracket) at the same time. An argument can be made that the headset doesn't need it as often, but it's easy enough that I just do it along with the rest. It is definitely NOT "good for the life of the bike". The actual frequency depends on which bike, and how I have been using it.

With a 41-year-old bike, it would be a good idea to service the wheels and bottom bracket as well as the headset.

Moisture

The bottom bracket has been overhauled already, as well as the hub in the rear wheel when I was using it. I've got a new wheelset now. The headset is the last piece of equipment left which still needs to be refreshed on this bike, other than the paint finish. Will get around to doing the headset soon.

easyupbug 

I come from an industrial maintenance background, preventative maintenance is important to me and I have 18 bikes. Some might only get out 3 or 4 times a year, so I can't used a calendar based preventative maintenance schedule. Also I have given up on trying to keep accurate milage records for a usage based preventative maintenance schedule. While predictive maintenance practices like checking for chain elongation work well, some like locking front brake and rocking to check the headset or feeling for crank loosening or removing chain and spinning the crank often tell me I am late and may have done damage to the parts, but at least usually prevent component loss or breakdown. So I do things like from the rack to the spot for filling tires I very often check the headset and when lubing the chain in a stand feel the crank, try to wiggle the rim to check hubs, etc..

Pop N Wood

I just pulled the headset out of my 38 year old Bianchi for the first time to paint the rusting frame.

The bike has countless miles and was exposed to significant beach salt when I lived in LA. Have had zero issues, headset was working flawlessly.

Will go ahead and replace it due to some surface rust on the visible parts of the chrome.

Moisture

There isn't really any play coming from the headset, and it feels 99% smooth when trying to turn while applying some weight to the bearings. Is it totally necessary for me to open the headset up? Probably not. But still should be done as i've been riding in quite a lot of rain and snow lately

Andrew R Stewart 

A bearing is not only about metal and it's ear or loading but also about the lubricant and the systems ability to work well with future conditions. Since replacing this component (the grease) is so easy why not do it, independent of actually opening up the bearings could tell you more then you assume. Andy

Koyote

You are my hero.

Moisture

I got around to taking apart my headset a few days ago. It looked to be in remarkably good condition for its age. I am certain this was the first time its ever been serviced since leaving the factory.

I didn't look too closely at the bearings, but they seemed to be in good condition. There was barely any of the original grease left, which was sticky and did little to alleviate friction. A bjt of dirt hear and there inside the cups/cones but remarkably clean and smooth for its age. The headset feels more or less the same after putting it back together, although it does feel a bit tighter and the rattling has now subsided

3alarmer 

...the term "sealed cartridge bearing" get used in a lot of different contexts. Some of them (probably the best ones) are roller bearings in cartridges, and they do have pretty good seals. The bulk of what I see for sale now are cartridges made from ball bearings. I'm kind or "meh" on those. They do not seem all that well sealed to me. The bulk of the headsets I've replaced in my lifetime have been victims of false brinelling, and short of opening them up every now and then and smearing new grease around, there's not much more you can do to prevent that IME.

I miss the good ol' days, when you could buy a Stronglight A-9 relatively cheaply, install it, and just not worry about it much after that.

Moisture

I was surprised how little dirt managed to make its way into my bearings, even with practically zero grease left behind.

pdlamb

I'm not familiar with that term. What does "false brinelling" mean?

3alarmer 

https://www.midpointbearing.com/wp-co...e-Issue-18.pdf

3alarmer 

https://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/indexed-steering.html

Moisture

Is leaving the bearings ungreased a bad idea?