A few weeks ago I noticed some additional friction when turning the handlebars on my Specialized 2014. I'm trying to acquire some bicycles wrenching skills, so after watching a few YouTube videos I took the plunge and decided to do some headset maintenance.
When I took the headset apart I was kind of shocked that I did not find nicely packages, sealed bearings, but bearings in a retainer. To make things worse, it turns out my Allez (as well as many other Specialized bikes) has a tapered 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" head tube, which makes it incompatible with a lot of headsets/replacement parts out there.
I think I have two options moving forward:
- Have my LBS install a new Specialized headset. This is probably the easiest, short term option, but I think I'd prefer a headset which is easier to service myself.
- Install a different headset which has easy to service, sealed bearings. This seems to be quite a job for a home mechanic as it would probably require me to drive out the cups and find a headset which works with the 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" tapered headtube.
Is it worth going through the trouble of having a non-Specialized headset installed? What alternative headsets should I be looking into? Can a more standard 1-1/8" headset be fitted in my headtube?
Pain is temporary.
When I took the headset apart I was kind of shocked that I did not find nicely packages, sealed bearings, but bearings in a retainer. To make things worse, it turns out my Allez (as well as many other Specialized bikes) has a tapered 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" head tube, which makes it incompatible with a lot of headsets/replacement parts out there.
I think I have two options moving forward:
- Have my LBS install a new Specialized headset. This is probably the easiest, short term option, but I think I'd prefer a headset which is easier to service myself.
- Install a different headset which has easy to service, sealed bearings. This seems to be quite a job for a home mechanic as it would probably require me to drive out the cups and find a headset which works with the 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" tapered headtube.
Is it worth going through the trouble of having a non-Specialized headset installed? What alternative headsets should I be looking into? Can a more standard 1-1/8" headset be fitted in my headtube?
Pain is temporary.