Answered Headset creaking

[Beekeeper]

Lightly rotating handlebars left or right produces terrible creaking, really quite loud. Any ideas what could suddenly be causing this?

 

[Gary]

are you serious?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Arthritis ?

 

[Ripping g]

Is your rear wheel tight ?

 

[KennyB]

Helmet fastened properly?

 

[Beekeeper]

tried taking glucosamine for arthritis and just did a bit of yoga to make sure.
tightened helmet straps to the max and refitted rear wheel. Nope, handlebars still creaking.

 

[TheRealPoMo]

Did you grease the Cube headset bearings Beekeeper? For some reason they dont on assembly.

 

[urastus]

Did you grease the Cube headset bearings Beekeeper? For some reason they dont on assembly.

What is it with that? That is widespread through the motorcycle and bicycle industry.

 

[Jackware]

Time to get that jar of Manuka out

 

[Beekeeper]

Did you grease the Cube headset bearings Beekeeper? For some reason they dont on assembly.

what sort of bearings are they on the Cube? Cartridge?

 

[TheRealPoMo]

Old school non cartridge ones that do the job just fine but need a grease every 6 months or so - and when brand new unless LBS is exceptional.

 

[Beekeeper]

Old school non cartridge ones that do the job just fine but need a grease every 6 months or so - and when brand new unless LBS is exceptional.

what year is your cube?

 

[TheRealPoMo]

2019 Reaction Hybrid Eagle

 

[Beekeeper]

Finally removed headset and I noticed about 3 of the ball bearing are either cracked or completely crumbled (photo below). The bottom caged bearings look fine.
I’ve ordered a new top set of bearings.

these cage type bearings look rather cheap and nasty compared to the cartridge type. Am I stuck with these forever or is there an equivalent cartridge set I could swap in at some point in the future? Otherwise I’ll just stick up on a few of these cage types.

also, which type of grease should i use for my replacement caged bearings when they arrive?

Thanks

 

[Ripping g]

Finally removed headset and I noticed about 3 of the ball bearing are either cracked or completely crumbled (photo below). The bottom caged bearings look fine.
I’ve ordered a new top set of bearings.

these cage type bearings look rather cheap and nasty compared to the cartridge type. Am I stuck with these forever or is there an equivalent cartridge set I could swap in at some point in the future? Otherwise I’ll just stick up on a few of these cage types.

also, which type of grease should i use for my replacement caged bearings when they arrive?

Thanks

View attachment 64053

They out of a old bmx ?

 

[urastus]

My guess is that the headset was too tight. When you think you have it adjusted, hold the front brake on and try to move the bike back and forth; this is to check for any movement in the headset. If that is good, lift the front wheel off the ground and move the steering to the left and right; it should move freely without any tight spots. If you let the steering go while the front is in the air, it should just fall to one side or the other.

There is nothing wrong with loose bearings - like everything though, there are good quality and poor quality.

Because the bearings are horizontal you don't want any grease to run down over time. I imagine the ideal would be high temperature bearing grease if you have some of that for a front wheel drive car? Otherwise any grease - if you look over your bike regularly you should notice any grease starting to poke out from the bottom. I'm guessing that's why motorcycles and bikes under grease the headset; there's a minor chance that it might fall and hit the rotor while riding.

 

[Beekeeper]

New upper bearings arrived today via Amazon. I cleaned and regreased the whole headset. Made one mistake and put the bearing upside down initially so had to undo everything and rectify that.

I’ve tightened the headset to the point where the spacers still rotate but not too easily.
Hopefully all will be well now
Picture below shows the broken ball bearings which caused severe creaking.

 

[urastus]

That looks as though the grease is washed out - there's even rust. The other grease I use is waterproof (marine or boating) grease - it is reasonably cheap and used for boat trailer bearings etc. It holds up a lot better to water.

You might want to consider a good time frame to service them next. For example, if you've had the bike a year without servicing, consider doing them again in 6 months? Or go by km travelled; if you've done 6,000km, plan the next service at 9,000km.

 

[MrPeaski]

After a couple of rides, check the tightness on the headset again as the bearings may settle in.

Pull the front brake firmly and gently rock the bike forwards/backwards, hold around the top of the headset with your spare hand to feel for any movement. If there is any, slacken the stem bolts and gently tighten the top bolt a bit at a time and keep checking for movement. Tighten the stem bolts back up to torque

The bars should turn freely without any binding.

If the bearings go again, I'd consider swapping the whole thing out for one with cartridge bearings, they can be had quite reasonably from the like of Superstar components (around £35)