Headset Maintenance 101 | How To Overhaul Your Headset Bearings
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- If your headset is grinding, gritty and mucky, your bearings might not be in the best shape. Doddy's got a full run through on how to strip your headset, degrease and clean your bearings, re-grease them properly and re-assemble the whole unit!
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Ever thought that creaking noise could be dirt making it's way under your crown race? Did you realise that by over-greasing your bearings in the wrong places you could be attracting dirt and preventing the bearing from spinning as fast and free as it should? Check out this handy guide to all things headset!
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Okay, this is why we need a GMBN Tech Channel! :-) Really love those step by step explanations. Good to know that in most cases I can do maintenance/repair stuff myself.
I really like how you say the exact materials needed in the beginning. Keep it up
I'm just getting into off-road riding, and have been watching / enjoying GMBN immensely. I think your GMBN Tech channel has the best "How To" videos. Thanks!
Over the last few days, I've been looking at loads of headset service videos on TH-cam. This is one of the very best, if not the best! Nice work Doddy!
as a mechanic this is an excellent video👍
i can't thank you guys enough for videos like these. They are so straght forward and easy to follow along, and over the last couple of years i have maintained my bikes at home wich has given me more trail time thanks to these videos!
Super helpful!! The pro tip about arranging all the parts in reverse order (and right side up!) on the bench was essential. Thanks for making the opaque clear! My headset is nicely clean, greased, tight and QUIET.
Super helpful - panicked when doing my fork service to find my headset bearings were running rough - a quick look here gave me a way to clean them up. Thanks!
I’ve learned a ton from u guys! Great vid. The one thing I caught was that you aren’t packing the bearings correctly. You need to place a blob on the palm of your hand and “smush” the bearing into it in a dragging motion, until you see the grease poke out the other side. This action is done quite forcefully👍🏻
GMBN How to... videos are the first place I start when doing bike maintenance. Doddy is the man 🤘
Never did it before...watched Doddy...job done in 20mins. Cheers mate!
Nice video with good advice. For grease I have recently switched to a marine grade used on boat trailer bearings because it’s water proof. Lasts for ages and way cheap. When repacking the bearings I was taught to push the grease thru from one side till it comes out on the other rather than just smear it around. This ensures it is in the middle where the bearings are an not just sitting on the outside of the race.
I use Fuchs Polyplex 2 Lithium grease. It's washout resistance is 2nd to none. Extreme pressure and temp range. Been using it for years. I always strip and clean all the slow speed bearings of my bikes and replace the factory grease with it. A forklift mechanic buddy put me on to it.
@Flatslide Checked my tub of Starbrite wheel bearing grease and it has Lithium in it also so I think the water resistance properties stem from that additive. We are on the right track with the re-greasing of new bearings with better grease technique. Another tip I was told when popping the seals off new bearings is to only lever them out from the outside race, not the inside one because there is less chance of damaging the seal. I have a nice narrow rounded pick I use and it seams to work nicely. Bearing life increases 10 fold. Cheers.
Lucas Red-n-Tacky. Absolutely right that the grease should be worked into the bearing, not just smeared on. Its not a wheel bearing that spins at high revolutions. It has a very small range of movement.
Very thorough! Great job on this channel everyone.
Brilliant video, will be doing this very task today on my Mega. Was bleeding the brakes last night and noticed the headset was very rough. Hopefully a clean out like this will bring it back to life, if not then new bearings required.
Thanks Doddy, this easy to follow and consice video gave me the confidence to overhaul my headset..👍👍👍
One month riding my MTB on the cost. I needed to perform this by myself. This video was very helpful!!!
Such great content, guys! I'm new to all of this stuff, but love to do things myself. Cheers.
Doddy deserves a raise. Love the channel!
Lately I've started to hear creeking sounds from the headtube of my Mega 275 and thanks to this video I was able to solve my problem. Thanks Doddy, maybe going for some linkage maintenance next!
This channel is just the best! great job guys! Keep those videos coming!
Very good show mate! Finding your video after I finally used the correct key word search or tags was a relief to see I found in your viddy the exact info demonstrated quite well and concise! 👍👍
Carry on!
Great video ;)
These fully integrated headsets are a bliss to service ;) i remember dropping a semi integrated one after taking the out the security ring..
After a short two hour search i had it back together :D
Thank you very much for the video!!! Helped me while I was doing my Fork service!
Just followed this video and done me great. Cheers GMBN most useful.
Excellent tutorial. Many Thanks.
Great job. Video gives you the confidence to take on the task. Headset sorted
thank you very much. this is really a part of the bike i paid no attention to until it started creaking!
Thank you, Man, i fell of a bike and steering wheel started to bind, now i disassembled with your help. Great advice, bearings seem normal, probably some sand got into it :P. Time to clean rust and regrease
Really nice and clear explanation !
Great vid, I like all in your series, I'll do my headstock today. One habit in in from my motorbike background, as soon as the front wheel comes out I put a spacer between the brake pads. Its so easy to inadvertently grab the front brake which leads to a right bloody mess
Degreaser is expensive.......
Parktool wall costs about 10.000 euro 😂
Brake cleaner is a really good decreaser that costs 1.50 euro for a bottle. Just make sure you don't hit any rubbers with it as it will take out the flexibility.
Go Doddy. Love the show 👌🏻
CITRUS-SOLVENT!
Good no Bs video. Got mine done in about 20min although my bearings weren’t sealed units. Thanks
Good info. If only they had some suggestions on which make of tools to buy.
Thanks Mate.It was very helpful video for me👍
right vid to the right time,hehe. good job and thx,doddy.
Great information. Looking forward to some great hints and tips from this Channel
Thank you for this thorough video, albeit six years late😄Off to the garage I go!
Although the video came out 2 years ago I find it really helpful !
This is my favorite channel
+Matteus Quine thanks Matteus!
Awesome Doddy, appreciate the budget-conscious tip of using WD-40 as a cleaner.
Great vid! I like to replace my headset bearings yearly. It's cheap. About $35.00 for a new set of ceramic bearings keeps the handle bars spinning sweet! Also like to do the same with my Bb bearings. Not so adamant with my hub bearings 😂
Thank you. You make it soo simple
Love you guys. Helping me immensely...
Is it possible to make something so simple even simpler? According to Doddy, yes. Well in my dude. 👍👊
Cheers Doddy. You the Man.🙌
Thanks man! I'm doing this tomorrow to my Ex 7. She gotta creaky sound in the headset.
Production value level: Over 9000.
i just thought on how to do this yesterday. gmbn helped me
fantastic video. Great detail!
Awesome as always Doddy! Loving the channel, as I like to do all of my maintenance
+Israel Zenteno good stuff Israel - let us know if there's a maintenance subject you think we should cover
GMBN Tech all of them ;) but don't feel stressed by this, you guys are doing an awesome job! Thanks a lot
Nice one Doddy
as a guy learning to do my own maintenance, this channel is awesome. Great job Doddy on breaking down the steps so well. I would love to see a video on RockShox Pike fork teardown.
Your my go to guy Doddy for learning how to service my bike. However could you get a camera right up in the parts once in a while so we can see more detail?
Just the vid I needed cheers
Excellent video
Great video Doddy, very helpful indeed bro!!
+Dan Scotney thanks Dan!
Great video Doddy didn't really look that difficult , but then again I once said that when trying too hit a 🏌 golf ball Cheers 🍻. You Yangs Australia 👀
3:06 I did end up putting those back together improperly and ended with a loose and later almost broken headset. Which also led to my star nut fiasco and a trip to the local mechanic. It's amazing with how little effort a person can destroy a bike no matter what the material. You could make one out of Adamantium and I'd still find a way to wreck some part of it without even trying.
My son's bike has always had a loose headset and after watching this I wonder if the LBS assembled it wrong...... I can break anything too.....Every FS bike I have owned has had a warranty issue....I've sent two back
Good explanation of how grease works in the headset to keep water out.
Doddy, could you cover wheel/rim widths and what size tires for different conditions? I understand the difference and concept of the new WT tires. I’m on Race Face AR24 currently running 2.4 HighRoller 2 on the back. Want to upgrade to a DHF (up front) but unsure what size will play best with my 24mm wheel and fox 34 fork. Thank you for the help and greatly appreciate all you do.
Love the show, followed you from the beginning! I made a beginner's mistake when removing my headset bearings and wasn't taking a note of the orientation of the bearings. I have open kind bearings in my Kona Honzo and now I am not sure how they are reassembled correctly, which orientation the bearings are meant to be placed into the race in relation to the cup. I have assembled the headset multiple times and tried every combination with my bearings but I am not able to tell which is right since they all "feel" pretty much the same. I haven't ridden the bike per se, just feeling the handlebar rotation on the work stand and while the bike is on the ground. Can you make a video to show which side open bearings are meant to be assembled? Thanks.
I'm a highly train engineer dealing with lubricants you did it accidentally that's what you suggest and what you talked about was perfect and what's funny that it does apply for all applications 90%
I would just like to add something to this great video. If you do scratch any of the metal parts removing your headset you can take sandpaper and smooth it back out. That also goes for the plastic pieces.
Nice video. It would be nice if you had a way to emphasize tightening the top cap bolt first before tightening the bar clamp bolts. I moved a spacer from below the bar to above the bar recently and tightened up the bar clamps first. That left a lot of slop in the headset and it took me hours and several videos to figure out that the top cap bolt was what actually pulled it all together. Thanks.
You will sleep better after you do this. Kick ass video!
Great video guys!
+Mxrider2stroke Braaap thanks!
Needed this sooooooo bad
Can you make a video how to replace the bearings in the frame
Can you make a video on how to service the Monarch air can?
Yehhhh, brilliant, and of course the blue logo tools really help...so much better than anything else out there...not....
My headset barley had any grease from factory (21' Vitus 27 VRS) and I heard popping even when all tight, not sure if a peice wasn't placed properly when they first assembled or if it was the lack of grease but the noise is gone now 👍
top stuff i didnt have a\ clue un til thi svideo cured my creaky headset top man
Very professional
Thank you so much for the guide!
+Aleš Fojtík cheers Ales - hope you like the video.
GMBN Tech Yes I do, it's great, as well as this new channel, so helpful!
today i did this task myself learned a lot of this videos and saved me 60 €
Awesome👍🏼
Good video. Can you cover the BB standards in mountain biking. I'm considering going from Shimano to Raceface cranks and the whole BB topic is confusing.
+Brian Vaughn definitely; we'll put together an explainer on that soon. BB standards can be confusing!
Nice, looking forward to that!
Brian Vaughn I just went through the same thing last season, I can relate to the confusion.
Brian Vaughn yes will probaly be a good idea
I have used Shimano, SRAM, Praxis, and Raceface cranks and by far I have had better luck with all of my RF cranks that I have used.
this channel is awesome, i need one of those thor cabinets in my workshop now!
Hi Doddy. Looking to install a dropper post to my bike but in researching it there is not a lot of choice in the 27.2 size i need and have found a lot of negative comments on that size compared to the other sizes. Can you tell me what you think on this subject..love the channel, cheers
Good video, so profesional.
Thanks Ross! :)
NICE!
I waited till the end for a demonstration about torquing the top cap but the video stopped short of that 😄
My spacers/stem/top cap crack horribly and I want to find out how to prevent it.
Thanks.
If I took out and cleaned the bottom bearing but it's crunching when I spin it do I need new ones?
I serviced it because it was clicking when I ride downhill, no crunching that I can feel when I steer or play in the steering, just clicking.
Hopefully it won't click now.
Also bought and used your grease.
Any special grease on carbon frames or usual grease is good? I mean is there any metal shaft between the fork and the headset ?
I know how to do most of the things in these videos but still find them entertaining, that says something. Keep up the good work.
Nice!
Brilliant video.Have learned something.BUT I was stupid enough to try to adust handlebar height on my mountain bike.The spacers and round thing now on the stem not in the right order.Not playing around with it anymore.Taking it to my local bike shop when his backlog gone.Love cyclying.Hate trying to do something and messing it up.I was not trained for the task.Lesson learned:if you don't know100% how to do something pay for a trained expert to do it!!
Doddy well done mate you never let me down!🤘
I really do love this channel! 😂
+Brandon Austin thanks Brandon - really appreciate it.
Brandon Austin me too.
With other channels I watch it for a month or two but gmbn is so addicting 😂
me too LoL !!
This video gave me the confidence to open up my headset. Also will i be able to change my current bearings to sealed bearings in the future and what do i need to know about when getting these new bearings?
Very helpful 😍
+FavouRick thanks Rick!
Good tech 👌🏻👌🏻
Thanks for the super nice vid! How about how to service suspension linkage next?
+Tomi Saaranen thanks for the comment Tomi! Great shout on the video idea, too.
Thank you! That really is something I would love to see.
Does this mean all maint videos will be on this channel, instead of the main one?
This is a great new channel. Please do a video of bottom bracket standards. I am currently upgrading my headset from caged to sealed bearings.
+Luke Morris we've had a few requests for the BB video. We'll be sure to make it soon.
Can't wait
One very important thing he maybe forgot: Degrease the Steerer Tube at the end before installing the Stem back on! Grease between the connection of the Stem and Tube can be very bad!
Great video
+Callum Gault thanks Callum
Just did mine brand knew e bike headset crackling they cut the fork steam uneven so when you tighten the top cap it creeks because the UN even level ! I filed and lubed fixed !
Very useful but with headset bolt fully tightened, with a bit of force I can pull the fork crown down a centimetre or two revealing the bearing.
I've tried making sure the fork is fully pushed up info the headset while assembling and tightening. I'm not sure if I need to saw the tube or what, it's going to the bike shop and needs new bearings, I did a decent job cleaning them but needs new ones. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong?
I only have chain cleaner and a general bike cleaner... are any of those suitable for cleaning the bearings?