Help – Loose bearing in lower cup of integrated headset

I recently noticed that the lower bearing in the bottom cup of my integrated headset sits a bit loose, i.e. it does not fit snugly, but there is a little bit of play between the bearing and the frame.

After greasing the cup and correctly torquing the top cap and stem, the headset begins to creak after riding just a few rough sections of trail, or slamming on the front brake hard.

The frame is a 2015 Cube Stereo 140 Super HPC TM 27.5 (carbon frame) and the headset is from Hope.

Possible solutions that I can think of are:

a) Making a shim out of a Coke can – could this damage the frame?

b) Trying to find a bearing that is slightly larger in diameter, though this would probably require a lot of trial and error.

What do you think?

It’s sitting against a taper? V odd if so.

You’ve definitely got the fully integrated bearings ?

locktite bearing fit is the answer if the outer bearing race is loose in the headtube

Yes, the bearing sits directly in the taper in the frame.

Is Loctite safe to use on carbon?

I’d get it looked at. Something odd is up.

You say it creaks, but is it demonstrably loose? And are you 100% that it is creaking there?

Yup, I’m 99% sure it’s the cause of the creaking. When I pack the lower cup full of grease, the creaking temporarily goes away. The creaking is most prominent when I brake hard and then when I compress the fork after breaking, indicating that the bearing is moving forwards and backwards in the cup under load. I’d say that the bearing has around 0.5mm of play inside the frame when I move it with my hand.

The play you are feeling with the fork removed is of little relevance, the bearing should be pushed into the taper during normal operation.

Does the carbon bearing seat have any worn sections, i.e. that are different than the surrounding areas?

As otsdr sayd – any irregularities on the bearing face?

All good with the stem/steerer interface and clamping? More torque needed perhaps?

I couldn’t see any irregularities or cracks last time I checked. My understanding was always that the bearing is meant to fit into the lower cup very snugly. I’ve even heard of people having to put the bearing into a freezer overnight in order to shrink it a bit so that it’s easier to insert.

FWIW, I have an integrated headset on my Ridley (i.e. the cups are moulded into the carbon frame and the cartridge bearings sit directly into tapered seats within the frame headtube).

Mine is exactly the same, with the lower bearing being only just tight enough to remain in the frame without the fork, and the upper bearing even less so. I have had some issues with creaking, but loading them headset up to 11 with grease seems to keep this at bay.

Hmm, I wonder if some brands of bearings are smaller than others. I have Hope/Enduro bearings at the moment, but perhaps a different brand would have a slightly wider diameter.

The 1.5” bearings should be exactly the same across the board (40x52x7 45/45), but I may be wrong.

The reality is the integrated system is a bit pants, the bearing cups will never have the same tolerances as a regular EC/ZS headset.

Unfortunately you get different sizes of 1.5 ” bearings.

52mm and 51.8 OD are the most common, you also get 51mm and possibly some other weird ones I have not seen yet. They also come in 6.5, 7 and 8mm H.

I get service bikes in all the time with the wrong size jammed in or flopping about.

Umm, I guess that I should double-check the size.

As far as I can tell, this was the original headset that the bike came with.

So I guess that I need to make sure that the Hope bottom bearing sitting in the frame right now is a 36°x45°, 52mm OD, 8mm H, i.e. like this one.

Hope bearings have the dimensions I mentioned, according to their documentation. If the crown race is from a different headset, it is possible that the angle mismatch between it and the inner bearing race is what’s causing your problems.

Probably as OTSDR has said.

Cube seem to use FSA headsets out of the factory that could have 36/45 degree angles, where Hopes are 45/45 degree.

Might simply be a case of getting a Hope crown race if you’ve left the stock one on.

Thanks, I will get in contact with Cube to double-check the exact bearing specs required and check again the Hope bearing in there now

Hahahahahaha, response from Cube:

Thanks for the reply, the measurements are unfortunately unknown to us.

But since you have got them right there you could measure it yourself, they’ll need an inner size and outer size in millimiters.

Bike Discount have the Ritchey WCS integrated headset parts available separately if it helps @ £20. Detailed dimensions are on the Ritchey website. The WCS have stainless bearings.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/search?q=ritchey+wcs+integrated

https://eu.ritcheylogic.com/eu_en/wcs-drop-in-integrated-lower-headset

https://eu.ritcheylogic.com/media/itm/magb1/Productfiles/33055008004/1521191866_HS-WCS-DI-Integrated-Lower.pdf

response from Cube

Awesome, couldn’t be bothered to go and find out! Measure it yerself 😆

People are still missing the point that the fit of the bearing in the race is irrelevant as it’s tapered seat.

It’s not meant stay in there by itself.