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Had my zesty for about 3 months now and the headset has become very gritty so decided to give it a clean, however I have no experience with integrated headsets before so a little unsure of things...
I have taken off the stem, spacers and the bearing cover, but I'm a little unsure now on how to actually free the whole thing so I can pull out the forks? I thought it would be worth quickly asking on here before trying to go down the brute force method 🙂
Also, obviously the stock zesty headsets are useless, has anyone here changed them for something more up to the job?
The forks should just come out with the stem off so I guess things have got a bit gummed up on yours.
I swapped the headset on my zesty for a Hope Integral but there are plenty of other options - you need to look for semi-intergrated or zero stack depending on manufacturer.
[url= http://www.hopetech.com/webtop/modules/_repository/documents/HopeTechnologyHeadsetguide.pdf ]This pdf[/url] is quite helpful in describing the differences between headset types.
Same as tiimys here, changed for a Hope Integral and it's been faultless. Had to give the forks one hell of a whack to free them from the old headset too, don't be afraid to give it some with a mallet haha.
cheers pal, there seems to be a split ring around the steerer that may be stopping it, does that have to come out? if it does I'm in a pickle as it looks well wedged in there!
Is the Hope replacement a huge improvement? Have you had maintenance issues whilst you have had it on?
I've swapped out headsets on both my bikes for hope.versions. Excellent, no maintenance problems so far. Headset was getting gritty on my hard tail after only 3 months, hope has now had over 3 years on the bike and still smooth as day 1.
Yeah that split ring has to come out, if you are going to replace it then the Hope headset will come with its own shims and inserts so you can go at the Lapierre one without any worries.
You can feel the difference in smoothness straight away and I've not touched it in 6 months simply because its as smooth today as the day I installed it.
[url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/FSA_Orbit_Z_-_No_9_Mcup-CC_Aheadset/5360038629/ ]null[/url]
Fired an FSA headset on my 314 6 months ago, no issues so far.
Alright dude.
1. Stem and spacers off the steerer tube.
2. Get a rubber mallet.
3. Lift the front end up.
4. Whack the steerer with said rubber mallet.
5. The whole system should be loose then.
6. Put some kitchen towel down and place the bits in order of how they came off until you've got everything off.
7. Get a razor blade / scalpel (get an adult if necessary) to lift the seals on the bearings.
8. lift the seals from the inside out. (so when spinning the grease doesn't "fall" out.
9. De-grease the bearings totally. Use a brush to help.
10. Dry them out!!!!
11. Fill the buggers with grease.
12. Replace the seals.
13. Put everything back how it came out.
14. Drop the front end of the bike.
15. Put the spacers on.
16. Then the stem.
17. Then the top cap and compression bolt.
18. Tighten it up till everything is snug, then back off half a turn then back on a quarter.
19. You've got "pinch bolts" on the stem. Tighten them. Normally its 5NM but if you've not got a Torque Wrench, get them tight.
20. Do a paranoia check. (Wheel between your legs and hands on the bars, can you move the bars? Yeah? Re-align and tighen the stem again. No? Move to "21."
21. Grab a Brew you legend, you've just done a headset service.
HTH!
Ellis.
Hitting the exposed steerer gently on the side (rather than just thumping it on top) is a much more effective method of releasing the split ring.
Try both dude!