I just took the Cane Creek headset apart (came on the bike as stock) – cleaned it all up and noticed that one bearing race didn’t look good – bearings were slightly pitted and didn’t clean up presumably because the surfaces weren’t smooth. The other race looked like new.

It looks like this one http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=2222 but I can’t find a Cane Creek race one after googling.

Would this one fit do you think – its a standard ahead 1 1/8 headset for a straight steerer ??

Damn – just noticed that on the CRC link, there is an UPPER race and a LOWER race !! Hope I put them back in the right way round. Does it matter – I am a rank amateur and did not know this. Is it the case on all headsets, even cheap ones (which mine probably is) ?

If I can’t get the replacement race, whats a good budget headset for XC riding ? Cheers

what cane creek is it?

just use loose balls the same size as fitted and don’t bother with the cage.

Unfortunately it doesn’t say which Cane Creek it is – must be very basic model as it came on a cheap bike. But if I can put just loose bearings in thats cool.

No need for the cage then ??

And whats the thing about upper and lower race ? Is that for all headsets ?

I have a cane creek that came on my Genesis io. I need new ball bearings, but I have no idea what size they are??