Dont trust my lbs. He said on-one were cheap and shit. Based on this I have concluded that his knowledge of bikes and manufacturing processes is limited and he thinks he’s a know it all nigel.

Took my headset in the other day for fitting and I watched as he did it. I had to tell him to grease it. He said we dont normally unless the customer asks.

On-One are cheap but certainly not sh@t, why not have a go at building it yourself or find a better LBS.

Wot he /\ said.

If I build one up using my fork will this suffice for accuracy?

Yes, it can be done. Zip ties give a good indication. Turn the wheel around to check the dish.

The Wheelpro book even includes instructions for making your own jig.

Is it much cheaper building them yourself rather than getting them built or buying factory wheels?

I just built a bike, but didn’t have the guts to build the wheels

Where are you based?

Who told you on one are not poor? 😆 He may be right 8)

If you haven’t built a wheel before there’s plenty of on-line stuff.

It’s not rocket science, but it is a skill.

I recommend getting your hands on an old wheel. Mark where each spoke goes on the rim, take it apart and reassemble. Once you’ve done this a few times you’ll be ok to build a new wheel. If you’re shite at it you’ll discover that on the old wheel, so no loss.

Building the wheel in the frame it’s going into is the way it used to be done by clubmen riders. Gets correct alignment even if there’s a certain amount of misalignment in the frame. 🙂

BTW On-Ones may be cheap, but they’re generally not shit.

+1 for the Wheelpro book.

Took my headset in the other day for fitting and I watched as he did it. I had to tell him to grease it. He said we dont normally unless the customer asks.

Does he grease square taper cranks?

On-one are cheap and (I’m not going to say it but yeah). The only headset you should grease is something with open bearings …

The only headset you should grease is something with open bearings …

You fit the cups without grease?

I do. Use a bit of light oil.

bike people seem to obsess with greasing things before assembly.. seems not to be the case industrial and automotive circles..

rootes1 – Member
bike people seem to obsess with greasing things before assembly.. seems not to be the case industrial and automotive circles..

Could be something to do with the bike person being the same person who has to remove the item later.

The auto industry like it if things seize on, that’s where they make money.

bike people seem to obsess with greasing things before assembly.. seems not to be the case industrial and automotive circles..

Really?, i did motor vehicle engineering at college for 4 years back in the early 90’s followed by 3 yrs at uni doing a mech engineering bsc wi a bit o’ electronic/cad design and i tend to go by the theory that if it has a thread i grease it, if it has an interference fit i grease it, if it has a push fit i grease it, if i ever wish to remove it i grease it, if no one is looking i grease it – whether or not it is grease i use or anti-seize assembly paste is dependant upon application and my judgement at the time.

I’ve worked in various engineering disciplines from north sea engineering to onshore engineering with a very decent smattering of race/rally car prep in-between and it’s good to know i’ve been doing it wrong for the last 20 odd years….cheers for the heads up eh.

I just re-built my commuter today. I did’nt think to slide the cups in with grease at the time. Its also an On-One so could be fatal..

Which bit are we talking about greasing here? The cups when pressed into the frame?

Yeah, greasing them is weird.

I always grease my nipples……..

Hang on wrong forum!

I was taught when I was a lad that greasing the cups when pressed into a frame was a bad idea.

Also love a smart alec like the OP. He is such an authority on mechanics, he can’t even build his own wheels. So much for the mechanic not knowing nigel about greasing cups: http://chrisking.com/tech/tech_headsets

I’m not a mechanic. I’m a mechanical engineering student. If you know anything about mechanical engineering you would understand that i’m time restricted.

I’ll just stick to designing your components because evidently i’m far too thick because i cant build a wheel! Where did i go wrong in life.

Now back to Newtonian mechanics and integrating some fluffy functions.

When I have time i’m pretty sure I can build a machine that will build a wheel and that will require substantially more thought than how to tension a bloody spoke.

I’m also with samofunk regarding grease and when i get the time prove it mathematically you ape.

Cane creek also recommend greasing. They have propper mechanical design engineers working for them too. Imagine that. Not all applications require grease but many do.

Tbh can’t remember the last time I had to fit a headset with press in cups , but was always taught to grease the cup / head tube.
You should have a go at wheel building its stil my fav job after nearly 20 years , but don’t ever think building good wheels is instantly easy

One of the worst things about being a student in 2013 is that with the internet being so huge and its content so thoroughly archived, your embarrassing lack of self-awareness will be set in silicon for the foreseeable future. At least when I was a mechanical engineering student in the late ’90s there were no forums to argue on, just email digests and message boards so dialogue was much more difficult and thus less prone to letting you make a fool of yourself. Google this thread in 5 years time and cringe… 😛

That’s the whole point of the Internet, really – so people can argue about stuff indefinitely instead of actually doing an experiment to see what happens. This place is nothing compared to some framebuilding forums.

Headset cups: grease ’em if you like. It won’t make any difference, but if it makes you happier knock yourself out.

I’m not a mechanic. I’m a mechanical engineering student.

Please tell me you told this to the lbs guy?

Are you guys arguing about greasing headset cups ‘cos you can’t really have one about sq tapers anymore?

I think they are, yes 😉

An I’m a physicist, I’ve got a degree and everything, so nar nar nee nar nar.

chiefgrooveguru – Member
One of the worst things about being a student in 2013 is that with the internet being so huge and its content so thoroughly archived, your embarrassing lack of self-awareness will be set in silicon for the foreseeable future. At least when I was a mechanical engineering student in the late ’90s there were no forums to argue on, just email digests and message boards so dialogue was much more difficult and thus less prone to letting you make a fool of yourself. Google this thread in 5 years time and cringe…

😆

I’m not a mechanic. I’m a mechanical engineering student. If you know anything about mechanical engineering you would understand that i’m time restricted.

In 5 years when you have a job you may look back at the simpler student life….

It never fails to surprise me how some threads can just disintegrate into a bitch fight.

Oh that & you started it!!

bencooper – Member
I think they are, yes

An I’m a physicist, I’ve got a degree and everything, so nar nar nee nar nar

Ah, the grease fight again.

I’m with somafunk, I like things to come apart again when I undo them.

I’ve never not been able to get headset cups out with a simple tap from the remover. What is going to happen to them to make them seize on more tightly than they were?

catalytic corrosion?

Like about 20% of all the users on here I’ve also got a degree in mechanical engineering and if I’m honest it doesn’t help me answer whether or not to grease a headset cup on insertion.

I’ve personally never greased them as they are an interference fit.. but I’m not claiming that is 100% the right thing to do.

I’ve never had a headset cup that has got stuck and can’t remove with a sharp tap of a hammer on a cup removal tool so I’m going to stick to not greasing them.

Can’t prove it “mathematically” but I’d be inclined to think greasing headset cups would make your bike more prone to headset ovalisation as it’s going to aid any micro movements between the cup and frame… I’ve got no evidence of this and it may make no difference, but just a thought. You really want as rigid an interface as possible. It’s not like its a part that gets changed regularly and is at risk of wearing from the fitting and removal, I’d imagine most frames see an average of about 2 headsets in the life of the frame (bearings obviously get changed more).

P.S. There are some good youtube videos that show you how to lace a wheel. That’s the easy bit though, tensioning so you get no egg is the difficult but. Lateral truing is also a piece of cake.

What is going to happen to them to make them seize on more tightly than they were?

Corrosion perhaps? hence my preference to smear a bit of grease in there when fitting, no harm done

I grease everything but only because I bought a pot of grease from the lbs for £6 and at the rate i’m going it is going to take me about 10 years to use it all 🙂

I grease my headset cups and I have a GCSE in Welsh.