I’m sorry but this isn’t about ‘servicing’ your headset. This is how to clean and degrease you stem and sealed bearings. Age of a bearing has no bearing on its condition. Describe how the bearing feels. Is it smooth or a bit gritty? Does it flow and spin like butter? If it’s not smooth, if it has a crunchy or gritty feel, they are shot. Replace them. If you have an older bike with anything other than modern sealed bearings, recommend taking it to the LBS for repair, and at least show images of other types of headsets. Point out the differences between tapered and straight headsets. Make sure you point out the direction the bearings need to go on. This is not a good video on this type of maintenance. Sorry but I have to call them as I see them.
Just done mine which had become notchy. Effectively the same set up as here. The last time I serviced a headset was on one of my old bikes. They were so much easier! And they had races and bearings that just looked better quality, albeit with heavier steel. Despite the awkardness of wrestlng with the cable routing, I seem to have done a decent job and it's much smoother with plenty of fresh grease (there didn't appear to be any when I took it apart!). Good video.
I'm a bit confused. I thought this was a video about servicing headset bearings. Doesn't that first involve removing the bearings and then removing the seals so that the bearing can be cleaned out and regreased before putting it all back together again. All GCN have done here is drop the fork tube and given it a bit of a clean, or am I missing something?
I wondered the same. I drop the fork regularly and clean it out but I was really looking forward to seeing how to clean and grease the actual bearings rather than this. But maybe they're suggesting this is all you need to do and that if you still have problems, your headset needs replacing? It's always a tricky one when they do guides on potentially complicated things that affect safety. They're obviously assuming a level of very basic competence rather than hoping we're already keen home mechanics looking for extra tips and tricks.
They'd never do that because you're not "supposed" to do take the seals off and overhaul them. You can though and I do it, indeed. Usual recommendation is to buy new bearings and replace. But I do the prior with my headset and my BB, I save some money honestly.
I am unsubscibing from GCN. I like the presenters but most of the recent videos are sponsored and IMO are aimed at beginner riders. Our am I turning into a grumpy old man?
I think there have been a few missed opportunities recently. I think show a full job or don't do the video. I've not really learnt anything about a job I'd like to do myself. Things like buying the correct replacement, how to remove stubborn forks, how to remove the brake hose, what the different types of grease are for different jobs - a full how-to.
I suppose that if you can afford an expensive bike like the one used here, you afford to pay for others to do jobs like this, especially if headset bearings need to be replaced.
That's again, true. But it is a huge hassle. Arrange an appointment with your shop, take the bike there, if it is not done right away, you need to arrange a pickup... The job if done by yourself takes 20 minutes at most. Unless it's a heavily integrated aero beast..
It might be worth considering the range of bikes viewers own for these maintenance demos videos. So many of these videos are well done and enjoyable, but always represent elite level bikes and components. I suspect more riders own bikes with traditional non-integrated cockpits and mechanical gears. Many of us actually don’t even ride a carbon frame 🥸
HI Alex you talked about removing front brake hose to replace bottom bearing will there be a video on this my Orbea gain bottom bearing could require changing.
Always forget if I'm supposed to grease the bearing seats or not. I think I remember someone telling me not too. Clearly Alex hasn't got any issue with that! Maybe the extra grease helps with their wet climate. One thing I do to help with re-assembly is add a thin film of carbon gripper compound on the stem clamp to help eliminate the need to over-torque.
This bike was really easy to assemble th-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.
#askgcntech Hi Alex and Ollie. Im wondering if you can help me solve a disc brake problem. Since the last time i cleaned my bike the brakes squeal. I already used discbrake cleaner + light sandpaper on the pads. None of it seems to work, do you have any more tips?
#AskGCNTech after my rides lately while cleaning (as I do this after every ride) I have noticed that there is more black brake dust on my rims than before. Is this a sign that I may need to think about replacing the brake pads? Thanks a lot.
Newb question - what’s wrong with riding with bad headset bearings? Since I don’t often make big turns with the handlebars, and my puny arms are still strong enough to turn the bars despite gritty bearings, am I damaging the carbon forks or frame? And once it feels gritty, how much longer can I ride before servicing or replacing them?
#askGCN Hi GCN! I Recently build up my new bike, I noticed that after installing everything and tightened everything to required torque, my handlebar feels too tight but loosening the top cap screw abit seems to solve it but there's too much play and tightening the screw even just abit again repeats the same issue. What could be the problem causing this issue. Thank you in advance! Cheers!
Really? You show a partial service of a high-end bike headset, that likely has little relevance to the vast majority of your viewers. I'd call this video a pure miss. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the bikes on the road today are NOT the newest carbon-fiber, sealed-bearing, hydraulic disc braked iterations. Just because you guys parade around on the newest/most expensive technology doesn't mean the rest of us do. Swing and a miss. Steve
Considering this is the ‘tech’ channel, I’d think it’d be worth spending more than 9 minutes explaining how to service your headset properly. The majority of this video was spent explaining how to deal with integrated cabling. 🤷♂️ I seriously doubt anyone who has never serviced a headset before would find this detailed enough. I dread to think how many peoples expensive carbon forks have ended up slamming the floor! Absolutely crazy ‘advice’. 🤦♂️ I’m a big fan of GCN and appreciate the quality content you put out (for free), but this video is terrible.
#AskGCN, Hi Alex, is there any reason why the bottom bearing and frame was cleaned before the top? In general with cleaning I've always started on the top amd worked down.
I think it is more that if you disconnect at the caliper you need to crimp it, and that won't be able to pass through the fork, or let the fluid run out and then set it up again. Doing it the stated way you only need to remove from the lever, do your stuff, and then put the hose back in and remove any air if it got in. That being said, if you are replacing a bearing it would be probably time for a cable and fluid change.
When you are teaching viewer something always remember to eliminate back ground music when you are speaking . This way someone like myself can focus on what you are saying especially when I am using a head phone If I want music I can subscribe to music channel.
I don't understand why people pack so much grease around their sealed bearings. Yes, a tiny amount can help it slide into place and possibly prevent surface corrosion. But packing that much in will create a large amount of squeeze out that will attract dirt and is hard to clean.
Good point, I had a brand new bike where the headset came loose after a couple of hours riding, it turned out it was the excess grease being squeezed out to leave it loose!
As in disconnecting the hydraulic hose from the shifter? When you disconnect your hoses, it's always safe to do a quick bleed since you introduce some air into the system when you disconnect and reconnect your hoses into the caliper or shifter
@@istillhavetenfingers8150 Yea but when i remove the hose from the shifter - lets say to change handlebar for example - will i need to put anything into the end of the hose to prevent any oil spilling out?
@@thekingofleon7 Ah I see, either put a toothpick in or just be very careful. As long as you don't detach both ends then capillary action will do its job and not spill out a lot
#AskGCN When is a torque setting just a "guide line" or recommendation and when as you more often say is it exactly what you should use? Seems odd that in this use case its just a guide line not just what you should do.
Because torque doesn’t work like that It is dependent on if the screw has been used before, how good your tools are, if you’re using grease or not etc etc
For the top bolt, it needs to be tightened until there's no play in the headset,, and the bars steer smoothly. I.e the guideline torque may not be exactly correct.
Helpful video - but not for me. I have a Specialized Diverge with a "Future shock". Even more complex than the integrated brake hose and a different preload mechanism than a top-cap. More happy to let my LBS service the headset when the bike gets its periodic service - especially as I don't want to accidently invalidate the warranty for the Future Shock...
I usually like the GCN how to videos, but this one was poor. An integrated cockpit is very much not the norm and was a poor choice, for the video example. Having to dismantle brakes and gear cables in order to remove the forks and bearings is not the norm, and only applies on ultra expensive, elite bikes. Also it is not advisable, to remove the stem and top cap and expect friction to keep the fork in place, whilst you do other things. The forks will most likely fall out and make you cry. Please remake the video using a bike that mere mortals ride.
I think in the video they did on wheel truing, they said if you don't have a stand, which you're right, most of us don't, you can just use either your brakes or another hack using a pen, cable tie anything else that can be attached to the frame for a guide. There's plenty of videos with truing hacks.
I've tried about 3 times and I can't get the forks out. They're not feeling lose or crusty and even with blunt force hammer they won't budge down and out. So I just left it. 🙃
In this instance rim brake beats disc brake.
I can think of many instances were rim brakes beat discs. 👍
@@Macm73 weight for one, then cost, ease of maintenance, wheel compatibility, ...
The list is endless
I’m sorry but this isn’t about ‘servicing’ your headset. This is how to clean and degrease you stem and sealed bearings. Age of a bearing has no bearing on its condition. Describe how the bearing feels. Is it smooth or a bit gritty? Does it flow and spin like butter? If it’s not smooth, if it has a crunchy or gritty feel, they are shot. Replace them. If you have an older bike with anything other than modern sealed bearings, recommend taking it to the LBS for repair, and at least show images of other types of headsets. Point out the differences between tapered and straight headsets. Make sure you point out the direction the bearings need to go on. This is not a good video on this type of maintenance. Sorry but I have to call them as I see them.
Just done mine which had become notchy. Effectively the same set up as here. The last time I serviced a headset was on one of my old bikes. They were so much easier! And they had races and bearings that just looked better quality, albeit with heavier steel. Despite the awkardness of wrestlng with the cable routing, I seem to have done a decent job and it's much smoother with plenty of fresh grease (there didn't appear to be any when I took it apart!). Good video.
I will get my bike on April...I am watching atleast 10 gcn videos per day just to make me aware about cycling0
Did the same when I was waiting for my own bike :D Cheers!
Be safe on the road bro😉
Thank you very much. This probably helped me resolve the annoying sqeaks in my headset.
I'm a bit confused. I thought this was a video about servicing headset bearings. Doesn't that first involve removing the bearings and then removing the seals so that the bearing can be cleaned out and regreased before putting it all back together again. All GCN have done here is drop the fork tube and given it a bit of a clean, or am I missing something?
I wondered the same. I drop the fork regularly and clean it out but I was really looking forward to seeing how to clean and grease the actual bearings rather than this. But maybe they're suggesting this is all you need to do and that if you still have problems, your headset needs replacing? It's always a tricky one when they do guides on potentially complicated things that affect safety. They're obviously assuming a level of very basic competence rather than hoping we're already keen home mechanics looking for extra tips and tricks.
They'd never do that because you're not "supposed" to do take the seals off and overhaul them. You can though and I do it, indeed. Usual recommendation is to buy new bearings and replace. But I do the prior with my headset and my BB, I save some money honestly.
yeah this was a flop/
I am unsubscibing from GCN. I like the presenters but most of the recent videos are sponsored and IMO are aimed at beginner riders. Our am I turning into a grumpy old man?
I think there have been a few missed opportunities recently. I think show a full job or don't do the video. I've not really learnt anything about a job I'd like to do myself. Things like buying the correct replacement, how to remove stubborn forks, how to remove the brake hose, what the different types of grease are for different jobs - a full how-to.
External cable routing rules!
Im not sure greasing the outside of the bearings is a good idea. It doesnt prevent water getting in and just seems to attract dirt.
I suppose that if you can afford an expensive bike like the one used here, you afford to pay for others to do jobs like this, especially if headset bearings need to be replaced.
That's again, true. But it is a huge hassle. Arrange an appointment with your shop, take the bike there, if it is not done right away, you need to arrange a pickup...
The job if done by yourself takes 20 minutes at most. Unless it's a heavily integrated aero beast..
Even though they look good if ever there was an advert for a bike without integrated cables this is it. What a faff just to get at the bearings.
You guys need to set up timing segments for this, so we can skip to the parts we need without having to watch the bits we don't.
"Chapters"
@@BeeRich33 thanks, my mind was clearly in Strava 😂.
It might be worth considering the range of bikes viewers own for these maintenance demos videos. So many of these videos are well done and enjoyable, but always represent elite level bikes and components. I suspect more riders own bikes with traditional non-integrated cockpits and mechanical gears. Many of us actually don’t even ride a carbon frame 🥸
7:16 6nm seems pretty tight for a preload. I usually find my bikes don't take much preload. What about everyone else?
Literally no one is loving disc brakes at this point
HI Alex you talked about removing front brake hose to replace bottom bearing will there be a video on this my Orbea gain bottom bearing could require changing.
Magnifique! Many thanks for this help. Hope more videos of maintenance will come.
Always forget if I'm supposed to grease the bearing seats or not. I think I remember someone telling me not too. Clearly Alex hasn't got any issue with that! Maybe the extra grease helps with their wet climate.
One thing I do to help with re-assembly is add a thin film of carbon gripper compound on the stem clamp to help eliminate the need to over-torque.
Alex, watch some of Doddy’s tech videos at GMBN...
Lucky owner of a rim brake TCR.
This bike was really easy to assemble th-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.
This is extremely well explained, thank you - though I can't say I'm looking forward to doing it myself!
Yes
#askgcntech Hi Alex and Ollie. Im wondering if you can help me solve a disc brake problem. Since the last time i cleaned my bike the brakes squeal. I already used discbrake cleaner + light sandpaper on the pads. None of it seems to work, do you have any more tips?
I know if I tried doing it this way on my bikes, I'd have ended up with ballbearings all over the floor ! Probably worth mentioning that.
I have an aluminium frame and a carbon fork. Should I use any particular grease for that?
#AskGCNTech after my rides lately while cleaning (as I do this after every ride) I have noticed that there is more black brake dust on my rims than before. Is this a sign that I may need to think about replacing the brake pads? Thanks a lot.
Integrated brake cables really worth the slight aerodynamic advantage?
Is it a European thing to have the front brake on the right hand?
It's certainly a UK thing. We get confused with front brake on left!
Ideally, how often we regrease our headset? Once a year?
Haha..I have done that yesterday on my Superprestige Cyclocross bike and my father had to hold everything for 20min.😁
Same thing happened with me 😂, luckily still have the box to hold the bikes
Newb question - what’s wrong with riding with bad headset bearings? Since I don’t often make big turns with the handlebars, and my puny arms are still strong enough to turn the bars despite gritty bearings, am I damaging the carbon forks or frame? And once it feels gritty, how much longer can I ride before servicing or replacing them?
Alex has been doing some great videos recently
Need help, even after maintenance, I can’t seem to get rid of the play with the headset tightened. Any advice?
#askGCN Hi GCN! I Recently build up my new bike, I noticed that after installing everything and tightened everything to required torque, my handlebar feels too tight but loosening the top cap screw abit seems to solve it but there's too much play and tightening the screw even just abit again repeats the same issue. What could be the problem causing this issue. Thank you in advance! Cheers!
Maybe undo the stem bolts before tightening top cap but you've probably solved it.
Really? You show a partial service of a high-end bike headset, that likely has little relevance to the vast majority of your viewers. I'd call this video a pure miss. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the bikes on the road today are NOT the newest carbon-fiber, sealed-bearing, hydraulic disc braked iterations. Just because you guys parade around on the newest/most expensive technology doesn't mean the rest of us do.
Swing and a miss.
Steve
Did I miss the bit where he serviced the top bearing? Or should this be renamed to 'how to remove your headset and do half the job"?
Is there ANY way i can cut my steerer tube safely without disconnecting the integrated brake lines???!!
Guessing no
#AskGCNTech, hi, my cube attain SL has a pressfit BB, can i replace it with a thread together BB. thanks
You know someone has mecanical skills when they don’t use gloves to spread grease around! Well done Alex!
I wonder why I wish roadbikes did not get so complicated 😐. Those XTR disk rotors look cool thou😎
Will this fit a 5'9" man?
Hey Alex. Do you ease back the torque on the end cap bolt after the stem is tightened?
Considering this is the ‘tech’ channel, I’d think it’d be worth spending more than 9 minutes explaining how to service your headset properly. The majority of this video was spent explaining how to deal with integrated cabling. 🤷♂️
I seriously doubt anyone who has never serviced a headset before would find this detailed enough. I dread to think how many peoples expensive carbon forks have ended up slamming the floor! Absolutely crazy ‘advice’. 🤦♂️
I’m a big fan of GCN and appreciate the quality content you put out (for free), but this video is terrible.
#AskGCN, Hi Alex, is there any reason why the bottom bearing and frame was cleaned before the top? In general with cleaning I've always started on the top amd worked down.
Manon's old bike?
Couldn't you disconnect brake hose from calliper instead of shifters?
I think it is more that if you disconnect at the caliper you need to crimp it, and that won't be able to pass through the fork, or let the fluid run out and then set it up again. Doing it the stated way you only need to remove from the lever, do your stuff, and then put the hose back in and remove any air if it got in.
That being said, if you are replacing a bearing it would be probably time for a cable and fluid change.
crown race its missing?
how many time you will do the same video i think gcn have more than 3 video how to service the headset
Next week it will be another bike was vid.
When you are teaching viewer something always remember to eliminate back ground music when you are speaking . This way someone
like myself can focus on what you are saying especially when I am using a head phone If I want music I can subscribe to music channel.
I don't understand why people pack so much grease around their sealed bearings. Yes, a tiny amount can help it slide into place and possibly prevent surface corrosion. But packing that much in will create a large amount of squeeze out that will attract dirt and is hard to clean.
Good point, I had a brand new bike where the headset came loose after a couple of hours riding, it turned out it was the excess grease being squeezed out to leave it loose!
When removing the brake hose from shifter, do you need to do anything to the end of the hose to prevent brake oil leaking everywhere?
stick a toothpick in.
As in disconnecting the hydraulic hose from the shifter?
When you disconnect your hoses, it's always safe to do a quick bleed since you introduce some air into the system when you disconnect and reconnect your hoses into the caliper or shifter
@@istillhavetenfingers8150 Yea but when i remove the hose from the shifter - lets say to change handlebar for example - will i need to put anything into the end of the hose to prevent any oil spilling out?
@@thekingofleon7 Ah I see, either put a toothpick in or just be very careful. As long as you don't detach both ends then capillary action will do its job and not spill out a lot
Good video
#AskGCN When is a torque setting just a "guide line" or recommendation and when as you more often say is it exactly what you should use? Seems odd that in this use case its just a guide line not just what you should do.
Because torque doesn’t work like that
It is dependent on if the screw has been used before, how good your tools are, if you’re using grease or not etc etc
Not sure I'd ever need to get to the max torque stated on the top cap to remove the play in the headset, I'd be worried if I did.
For the top bolt, it needs to be tightened until there's no play in the headset,, and the bars steer smoothly. I.e the guideline torque may not be exactly correct.
Helpful video - but not for me. I have a Specialized Diverge with a "Future shock". Even more complex than the integrated brake hose and a different preload mechanism than a top-cap. More happy to let my LBS service the headset when the bike gets its periodic service - especially as I don't want to accidently invalidate the warranty for the Future Shock...
Even though I know how to service my bike or build a bike, I still watch these vids because you know, it's GCN! 💪
This is partly why i ride breakless fixed gear...
integrated cables.... pain in the ***
I usually like the GCN how to videos, but this one was poor. An integrated cockpit is very much not the norm and was a poor choice, for the video example. Having to dismantle brakes and gear cables in order to remove the forks and bearings is not the norm, and only applies on ultra expensive, elite bikes. Also it is not advisable, to remove the stem and top cap and expect friction to keep the fork in place, whilst you do other things. The forks will most likely fall out and make you cry. Please remake the video using a bike that mere mortals ride.
Exactly!
Maybe think about it, it's not rocket science
The same concepts apply to non-integrated headsets, Einstein
Winter conditions??? No idea what that means 🇦🇺 mate.
Not much of that here on Atlanta, GA either 😎
That bike is a can of worms.
How about a video showing how to true a wheel WITHOUT using a truing stand (which I'm sure most people don't own)?
I think in the video they did on wheel truing, they said if you don't have a stand, which you're right, most of us don't, you can just use either your brakes or another hack using a pen, cable tie anything else that can be attached to the frame for a guide. There's plenty of videos with truing hacks.
The theory is still basically the same.
All the more reason to avoid a bike with full integration...nightmare!
I've tried about 3 times and I can't get the forks out. They're not feeling lose or crusty and even with blunt force hammer they won't budge down and out. So I just left it. 🙃
Hello
Nice t shirt.
Done that more than a couple of times on my Moto Guzzis and a Harley.
F##k that for a game of soldiers on a bicycle....
Thank you, but no, thank you... LBS it is...
I think I'll let my local bike shop handle that next time.
that grease wiping wasn't very succesful
Not quite happy with this one because you should have used a bike with bad bearings that needed servicing.
update...internal cables are a joke.