Tange-Seiki Terious SRN headset

[UpWrong]

My new Spa Tourer frame has arrived with this headset. The lower cup has bearing (needle?) , retainer and seal ring/crown race all plugged together. Does it come apart? I've never seen anything like it. It feels rough when I rotate the bearing. Do I take it apart and grease it?

[Brucey]

yes why not? It ought to come apart like this?



cheers

[UpWrong]

Ok, I'll try to prise it apart with a screwdriver. Thanks.

[Brucey]

if you find yourself using any amount of force or the bits look different then it suggests that they have changed the design vs the photo I posted (which came from the Spa website BTW)

cheers

[Gattonero]

Ok, I'll try to prise it apart with a screwdriver. Thanks.

You can have two problems, alone or combined: the bearing being overloaded (the headset was set too tight), or being contaminated.
The former, may have marked the races so a replacement can cost nearly as much as a complete headset. In the second case, you may be lucky by cleaning and repacking.
Try with a penkinfe or stanley blade, remove the seal and inspect the races.

[UpWrong]

Well the lower assembly came apart with a bit of a push from a screwdriver. I think it will be fine when installed with a generous amount of grease on the races.It's quite heavy but it's been a while since I've dealt with standard cups rather than integrated headsets.