bearings help

Icyseanfitz

well lads, i am replacing the headset bearings in this fine piece of mtbing equipment and i am just wondering are the bearings 1 1/8" or 1.5"

this is what the specs say regarding the headset (FSA Orbit E 1.5R, alloy cups, 1.5“ Reducer to 1 1/8“,semi-integrated)

id presume 1 1/8th but i better ask just in case :pac:

CheGuedara

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

well lads, i am replacing the headset bearings in this fine piece of mtbing equipment and i am just wondering are the bearings 1 1/8" or 1.5"

this is what the specs say regarding the headset (FSA Orbit E 1.5R, alloy cups, 1.5“ Reducer to 1 1/8“,semi-integrated)

id presume 1 1/8th but i better ask just in case :pac:

It's to take a 1 1/8in steerer on a frame with a 1.5in compatible headtube but its not a sealed bearing unit so you're looking at new 5/32" bearings if replacing old ones. Should be a quick and cheap fix.

Icyseanfitz

would those bearings be a common thing to find in a lbs? if so il just run into one instead of trying to get them online

CheGuedara

A good LBS that does a bit of servicing should have bearings of common sizes around but if having difficulty tracking some down you could venture into your nearest Halfrauds for these. Looks like they should do fine.

Icyseanfitz

good man, halfords it is so

Eamonnator

Jeez, you've REALLY gone over to the dark side.

Icyseanfitz

im on all sides damn it :pac:

Icyseanfitz

well those halfords bearings failed miserably :pac: this bike is wrecking my flipen head, i removed the new shiny bearings from the cages and put them into the old bearing cages...didnt work, ok said i, lets try the bearings from my xc bike (which looked very similar)....no buenno, feck it last ditch effort put the 5/32 bearings in loose this will surely work....:mad: NOPE

when putting in bearings loose should i be putting in slightly bigger bearings than what where in the caged ones?

if this was my bike id either set it on fire or put in a nice sealed bearing headset

CheGuedara

That makes no sense. If the head set is the model you said then the bearings going in should be 5/32" diameter and be the same as those going out (albeit in better nick). A glance at the data sheet for that headset suggests it should reassemble easily too.

If you can't get it to work then the headset has a 'Z' variant that is a sealed bearing version that should be a more hassle free option (once you've knocked the old cups out of the head tube and pressed the new ones in....)

Icyseanfitz

CheGuedara wrote: »

That makes no sense. If the head set is the model you said then the bearings going in should be 5/32" diameter and be the same as those going out (albeit in better nick). A glance at the data sheet for that headset suggests it should reassemble easily too.

If you can't get it to work then the headset has a 'Z' variant that is a sealed bearing version that should be a more hassle free option (once you've knocked the old cups out of the head tube and pressed the new ones in....)

tell me about it the old bearing/cage was 5/32, the halfords bearing cage was 5/32 albeit it seemed to house fewer bearings and the cage itself wasnt as thick as the old one, and then my xc bike also had 5/32 bearings.....none of these worked which is why i tried to put them in loose.

the second i have every thing reassembled (which is a bit of a task with these double crown forks) i either have to over tighten the top cap so that i get no play or have the top cap loose enough so that the steerer can turn (none of these options have really given me what i would deem acceptable turning either, it still feels to heavy even when ive the top cap loosened) and have a ton of play

and i know i have the bearings in the right way ive pretty much exhausted all the options that would jump at me straight away (top cap, steerer length, bearings, cleaned everything, greased everything, headset and crown race seem to be installed properly, im all out of ideas

Icyseanfitz

turns out the fork crown race was a bit kackered, and thats where all my problems where coming from :pac: