Are headset parts interchangeable?

[pwa]

New bearings and plenty of grease might do for now, but with all that corrosion I'd get it to a shop for a complete new unit. Looks as though that needed grease a long time ago.

[Brucey]

Bristol is evidently a very damp place; have you by any chance been taking a short cut through the docks...?...

I've seen that kind of damage many times before. Unless it is a lot worse than it looks I'd expect that headset to be OK if it is assembled with loose balls, fresh grease, and adjusted correctly. A bit rumbly perhaps but it will probably soldier on OK. Try it and see, why not? Maybe the lower race is in the same (or worse) condition?

A headset like that benefits from being regreased regularly if the bike is used in all weathers. You were arguably lucky in that the steerer itself does not appear to have corroded wholesale.

cheers

[Phileas]

All fixed now. The lower race and balls were in much better condition but I replaced the balls anyway.

Obviously, as an all weather cycle commuter, I ought to do more maintenance but in the past (22 yrs), and several different bikes, I've never really had problems with headsets, even threadless ones.

[pwa]

Iif you do end up replacing the lot at some point I would recommend a design that has the bearings hidden in a sealed ring. I think they are a good idea for those of us who like to neglect our bikes.

[Phileas]

Well I'm planning on rebuilding the bike on a different frame so no doubt I'll put a higher spec unit in.

[pwa]

Well I'm planning on rebuilding the bike on a different frame so no doubt I'll put a higher spec unit in.

I don't lube headset bearings between bearing replacements and I get a lot of use out of them before I have to look at them. Ten years or so for the last one I had to look at. Used for commuting over many thousands of miles in all weathers. FSA Orbit SL. Simple bearing replacement when the time came, no races to worry about because they are part of the bearing unit.

The alternative is, as Brucey does, use a loose ball unit and periodically re-grease. Choice is yours really.

[willcee]

Re Last, you may be using mudguards either that or your local climate is not as severe or you perform a very regular and deep clean to experience this sort of last with modern lower headset sealed bearings, ime and its extensive, clubmen and any one who cycles all year with a modern race machine sans guards and in all weather will have lower headset rumbling in around a year or even less.. its got to the stage where even if they are ok when i service the machine i pull the fork, clean the area, pop the seals and press some good grease in and reset the seal .. will

[Brucey]

agreed. Also bikes that see a lot of weather and/or live outdoors tend to rot the headsets from the top downwards, even if a mudguard protects the lower race. A good part of the trouble is that the headset isn't greased much to start with and the grease they use is not in any way proof against the British weather. The slightest amount of road salt and the typical OEM grease turns into rusty chocolate almost instantly.

cheers

[Gattonero]

I.e., can I replace all the bits from one model (ahead type) except the cups with the bits from a different one?
...

If you use a Campagnolo, yes. I can swap forks&stem assembly from threaded to ahead (I've the same bars&levers with both threaded and threadless stems) by simply using a threaded or threadless top assembly of the headset

[gloomyandy]

I'm glad this thread came up. It reminded me that I really should check the headset on my Croix de Fer. Came apart easily enough, but it was showing the first signs of water getting in, so I stripped it all down gave it a good clean up and put in plenty of new grease. Should be OK for the rest of the winter I hope!

[gxaustin]

I bought a Falcon Olympic in 1978 and used it pretty much daily for ten years. There are no seals anywhere but everything still works. I've probably changed all the balls by now but those in the headset and pedals were only done for the l'Eroica a couple of years ago. I straightened the pedal spindles at the same time. I did have to get a better Normandie hub but everything else is original. Even the chrome is tolerable on the headset and Berthet pedals.
Now everything has seals/enclosed bearings but my Hollowtech BB still only lasted about 10k miles. The non drive side bearing had rusted red and My Shram BB lasted about 6k miles. I know someone who claims he changes BBs every 2,000 miles max.
Does anyone have any insights into these apparently counter intuitive results

[Gattonero]

I bought a Falcon Olympic in 1978 and used it pretty much daily for ten years. There are no seals anywhere but everything still works. I've probably changed all the balls by now but those in the headset and pedals were only done for the l'Eroica a couple of years ago. I straightened the pedal spindles at the same time. I did have to get a better Normandie hub but everything else is original. Even the chrome is tolerable on the headset and Berthet pedals.
Now everything has seals/enclosed bearings but my Hollowtech BB still only lasted about 10k miles. The non drive side bearing had rusted red and My Shram BB lasted about 6k miles. I know someone who claims he changes BBs every 2,000 miles max.
Does anyone have any insights into these apparently counter intuitive results

You would have to compare like per like with the same use, journeys and the way the bike is used.
I.e. my "daily" bike has got one of those headsets that are supposed to be the work of evil (threadless AND integrated), but the bike has mudguards, plus this headset was properly installed and greased. The result is, this headset that was already used on another bike, is now on its second year (>10k miles) of day-in-day-out use in all weather, never touched it after installation, and still has the grease as clean as day 1.
Same for the PowerTorque BB.
amazing what proper installation and regular wiping off the bike does

[gregoryoftours]

Incidentally it's a good idea when servicing a headset to thoroughly clean the steerer tube with wire wool if it's steel and give the whole steerer a good coating of grease, makes removal of threadless headsets much less likely to be problematic in the future, and any bearing cap seals will be more effective.

If all else fails when trying to remove a fork with a stuck threadless headset, tapping vertically downwards on the split wedge ring can free it up.

[Gattonero]

Incidentally it's a good idea when servicing a headset to thoroughly clean the steerer tube with wire wool if it's steel and give the whole steerer a good coating of grease, makes removal of threadless headsets much less likely to be problematic in the future, and any bearing cap seals will be more effective.

If all else fails when trying to remove a fork with a stuck threadless headset, tapping vertically downwards on the split wedge ring can free it up.

Despite what the usual suspects may say, the problem is not the headset per se, but the material: bare steel gets rust, no matter what.
Grease is a convenient way to reduce this, just as it's done with the quill stems so dear to some people. There is no reason to not grease some parts that aren't serviceable without complete removal, like the steerer of the forks.
The split wedges too do benefit from grease, to prevent possible noise and corrosion too. I've always found is better to open the split wedges by prising the open from the split, with a small flat screwdriver. Sometimes the more you hit the fork's steerer downwards, the more the split wedge gets tight

[Brucey]

Basically, if the water doesn't get in, the steel doesn't go rusty.

If it did, there wouldn't be a factory-spec steel frame that wasn't equally badly corroded on the inside, everywhere.

IME no amount of grease is 100% effective at stopping water ingress in every case; having got past the headset, it either rots out the lower headset race or even ends up in the BB, causing trouble there.

cheers