A mate brought his bike to me for a service and asked me to look at the headset as it was a bit rough and there was some play front to back. It's a Carrera Vulcan frame and it was bought from a friend of his. The lad he bought it from has changed a fair few bits himself and from looking at the bike he didn't have a bleedin' clue what he was doing. When I took the headset apart I found a large gougue out of the alloy steerer tube where the headset had been moving.

The headset has been moving in the frame as the lad who fitted it didn't remove the old crown race when replacing the headset, and appears to have put a standard headset into an intergrated/semi-intergrated headset frame (the cup was just dropped in, not even a loose press fit) so the lower cup was moving every time the front brake was used. The forks are scrap due to the gouging on the steerer and the headset needs replacing.

I've never used intergrated/semi-intergrated headsets before so I don't know what type of headset the Carreras use. It looks like a standard headset (vertical bore inside the headtube then a step down in diameter at 90 deg) however the internal diameter of the headtube is larger than the outside diameter of my Enduro! A normal headset cup would just rattle around in there.

Anyone know what headsets the Carreras take?

I would step away…hope he doesn't blame you for knackered parts.

What year is it on? Halfords will have the replacement part on PC somewhere so you could get the info there.

Probably integrated but thats stupid of me guessing.

"Question
what headset do I need?
I have a small carrera vanquish frame and I need to know what size and type of headset that I need to fit this bike.
asked 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Anonymouson Carrera Vanquish Medium Road Bike1 answerAnswers
answer 1
It is a semi-integrated design, the same as an FSA No 11. We sell it in store on item code 265264.

answered 1 month, 2 weeks ago by HalfordsWebTeam" Ask them?!!

He's fine with it,I guess he's glad he found out before the steerer wore through and sent him into the ground face first. I told him to bin the forks and he agrees (only cheap RS pilots). I've already had to sort the rear disc mount as the lad he bought it off had fitted a universal AtoZ dropout adaptor with no bolts, only the QR axle holding it in place :-0

The frame looks OK, no damage visible, but Icould do with sourcing the correct headset. Worth giving Halfrauds a try I guess.

Halfors do the replacement headset on the shelf mate FSA have a look theres 3 or 4 to pick from go for the Integrated one…
think its this one my mate needed one for a 09 kraken

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_195251_langId_-1_categoryId_210157

With all the rattling about I might be bracing myself for a dodgy fit with the new headset and potentially a knackered frame. Then when it is all fine it will seem great! And if it is knackered then you are kind of expecting it.
Oh, and the Carrera Fury I have is a semi-integrated headset as well. Not changed it (yet) but spent ages trying to find out and that is what I finally settled on.

I changed one on a Carrera Kraken .It was a semi integrated one. I will have a look at it today and post back up if I can find out any info on it. BTW the quality of the original one was piss poor.

Thanks for the replies, I'll have a look for some semi-intergrated ones.

If the frame cups are only slightly worn I may just use some stud and bearing fixer on them 😉

andypaice, yep your right on the money there, semi integrated, and some bearing fit, should hold up… If it doesnt, its not dangerous as it cant just fall out anyhow..