# Head Set Bearings ...... life span



## gelfy666 (13 Jul 2016)

ive a friend who bought a Carrera Kracken 5 months ago, and he rides it every day to work.... its just for commuting.
anyway the bottom set of bearing have completely failed, and making an awful noise.... now Halfrauds say its a wear part and not under warranty etc..... no i know its not an expensive fix, but surely they should last more than 5 months/300 miles?? ive got a Diamond Back Sorrento thats 20 years old plus , with no problems lol.


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## fossyant (13 Jul 2016)

Every day, all weather, no mudguards, unknown 'cleaning frequency'. How long is a piece of string. Replace with quality bearings, grease them up with waterproof grease and they should last longer.


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## gelfy666 (13 Jul 2016)

cleans his bike weekly... no hoses or pressure washer used, just seem a very short life in my opinion.


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## Drago (13 Jul 2016)

I got a hard ridden 9 year old Kraken still on it's originals, albeit they've been greased twice yearly and kept properly tensioned.


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## raleighnut (13 Jul 2016)

Probably not that much grease in there when the bike was built,


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## fossyant (13 Jul 2016)

Crap happens, or get's in.  

MTB's chew bearings, but this one hasn't had a hard life. 

I'd just get new ones that are better, like Cane Creek. So long as you know the size and fitment angles, then go get better ones. PS there is usually all the information printed on the bearing side.


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## Levo-Lon (13 Jul 2016)

As @Drago says..keep em clean and re-grease regularly.
i do mine every few mth or as soon as the steering feels a bit stiff.
its a wear and tear item that could be ruined in one shot from a washer..or a favorite is the washing upside down..as the water gets in ..

superstar bearings are good for 100 yards btw


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## Jody (14 Jul 2016)

Are they cartridge or caged bearings?


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## Levo-Lon (14 Jul 2016)

Jody said:


> Swap the headset for one with sealed cartridge bearings. You can probably pick one up for £20ish, no need to service and they will last a lot longer.



mine are sealed @Jody 
sealed is a lose term i find when talking bearings..
i pop out the seal,then seperate the races..clean everything, put it back togeather re-grease and pop the seal back in..it takes about 20,30 mins with dropping the fork..
i find the top bearing seems to be unaffected as a rule


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## Jody (14 Jul 2016)

^ You're too quick to quote before I edited @meta lon 

I don't bother with servicing as its that cheap to replace the bearings or the complete headset. Last replacement was a complete Giant headset (in anodised blue ) which J E James were giving away for reduced from £49.99 to sub £20


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## Levo-Lon (14 Jul 2016)

Jody said:


> ^ You're too quick to quote before I edited @meta lon
> 
> I don't bother with servicing as its that cheap to replace the bearings or the complete headset. Last replacement was a complete Giant headset (in anodised blue ) which J E James were giving away for reduced from £49.99 to sub £20



Lol ,its usually me that gets quoted before ive finished spell checking and re wrighting posts @Jody
@User13710 picked up on one of my spellings.. i wrote luters instead of looters..the reply was excelent, "a gang of mdieval luters on the rampage was the theam" but thers been many more..


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## User16625 (19 Aug 2016)

My headset on my Giant Revolt started creaking after a similar amount of time. Upon checking it out I found absolutely no grease and some corrosion. It looked like Mars in there and was shocked that it would have to go this bad before manifesting any symptoms. Anyway a thorough clean and regrease and its good as now, altho less shiny.
I guess that they didnt put enough grease inside there at the factory.


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## Blue Hills (20 Aug 2016)

Jody said:


> ^ You're too quick to quote before I edited @meta lon
> 
> I don't bother with servicing as its that cheap to replace the bearings or the complete headset. Last replacement was a complete Giant headset (in anodised blue ) which J E James were giving away for reduced from £49.99 to sub £20



You replace headsets as a consumable?

I knew cycling had gone mad the last few years but that takes the biscuit.

(My dahon speed pro DOES have consumable headsets but that's another matter)


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## Jody (20 Aug 2016)

Blue Hills said:


> You replace headsets as a consumable? I knew cycling had gone mad the last few years but that takes the biscuit.



I would just replace the bearings when needed and would class a sealed bearing as consumable (especially as my riding buddy works for a bearing company) . Swapped the headset as I wanted to change colour and it was only a few quid more expensive than changing the bearings.


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## Blue Hills (21 Aug 2016)

Yes, bearings are consumable - whether cartridge, caged balls or loose balls. Did you swap the headset yourself or get a bike shop to do it? If the latter, how much did they charge you?


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## Jody (21 Aug 2016)

DIY and about 30 minutes to swap the headset. You only really need a small hammer, screwdriver or similar flat drift and a block if wood (or a long bolt and some washers). The only bit you need to be careful of is getting the cups out of and back in the frame straight.


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## Blue Hills (21 Aug 2016)

OK - thanks for the reply - headset insertion is about the one thing I have never tackled on a bike, apart from wheel true-ing/building.


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## Phaeton (13 Sep 2016)

I took my 6 week old Cube back for a retailer safety check, they asked was everything okay, I replied that wasn't really happy with the brakes they didn't seem as good as my last bike & occasionally there was a bit of a creaking noise. hilst wandering around the store the manager came over & asked how I cleaned the bike, my reply was "You've seen the state of it, you think I clean it?, no seriously I just use a watering can why?" 
He went on to explain the bottom headset bearing already had rust on it & they wanted to know if I had used a pressure washer. They replaced the bearing & used a silicone grease.


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## mrbikerboy73 (15 Sep 2016)

I recently bought a one year old Giant Trance and the lower headset bearings were dried out and knackered. A victim of too many blasts with a hosepipe I don't doubt. The lower race in my 2 year old Anthem are as good as new. It's been hosed once or twice but with care to keep it away from the bearings. Hoses and especially jet washes are bad news for bikes. A clean bike is not necessarily a well looked after bike!


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## Motozulu (26 Sep 2016)

True - I use my garden hose but on a very light 'spray' setting - effectively it's like a light rain shower. The headset on my Chief is approaching 3 years old and still fine - I've had it apart once and re-greased - that was it! I'll do it again next spring when I also service the Pikes and decide then if they need replacing or not.

NEVER use a jet wash anywhere near bearings.


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## the_mikey (26 Sep 2016)

Headset on my 2010 Giant defy 2 gets a clean and re-grease about once every 2 years, still working without a problem in 2016.


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