[quadricolour]

Cleaning my bike after a muddy ride, I noticed a strange sound coming from the headset area. Turning the bars, it sounds like there are a bunch of dry leaves stuffed up inside there, kind of a dry crackly sound. Is this just dirt & grit jammed up in between the seals, or what? The headset in question is a Cane Creek Zero-Stack 2 Aheadset. Thanks for any help.

 

[Repack]

I wouldn't be surprised if the noise was coming from you cable housing. Try pulling off a piece of housing, pull the ferruls (sp?) off, and see if the wires are sticking out.
If you are sure it is the headset, you may be able to use a pick tool to pull the seals out and pump a bunch of grease in. Just don't go too crazy on the seals. Most look like plastic (usually blue) but have a brass washer on the inside that can crease.

 

[quadricolour]

Sweet, thanks. I'm gonna check it out tonight. Hope it is just the cables!

 

[BikeGeek]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the headset. I've owned two Cane Creek "sealed" bearing headsets. The first one sounded gritty after a month of riding and the second after one semi-muddy ride. I've never attempted to clean and repack the bearings since I had other headsets around, but maybe I'll give it a shot. It kind of pisses me off that dirt can get into their "sealed" bearings, but I guess nothing's perfect.

 

[Matt D]

My first guess would be cables as well. The black plastic housing cover will settle in, exposing the metal casing of your shift cable housing. This exposed cable will rub on the cable feruls and cause a lot of noise.

If not, take your headset apart and clean it real good and inspect it for wear, then grease it up and reinstall.

 

[SSFRerAny?s]

What did it turn out to be? I am stuck having to get a ZS 2 and would like to know what you think of them.

 

[RhinofromWA]

Originally posted by BikeGeek
I wouldn't be surprised if it was the headset. I've owned two Cane Creek "sealed" bearing headsets. The first one sounded gritty after a month of riding and the second after one semi-muddy ride. I've never attempted to clean and repack the bearings since I had other headsets around, but maybe I'll give it a shot. It kind of pisses me off that dirt can get into their "sealed" bearings, but I guess nothing's perfect.

Sealed bearings just have a rubber/plastic/metal guard. They are not seald as in air tight or anything. they are sealed more than open bearings (think old rollerskates/skate boards)

I repacked "sealed" bearings all the time on my motorcycle. Even had a tool to push fresh grease thru them. Kinda cool, two saucers that clamp on the bearing then you plug a grease gun up to it and push teh grease through the bearing pushing grit and other crap out of it.

But these Motorcycle bearings were a little bigger than BB/headset(1 1/8 at least)/wheel bearings on my MTB.

 

[Toshi]

is it a chris king? :devil:

 

[gtbike]

I use a syringe attached to a grease gun fitting (zerk). THey can be had at many auto parts stores. You just use the tip to lift up the edge and squirt grease until all the nasty stuff is out and only clean is in! Make sure not to use water to wash your bikes too often. This kills any bearing!

 

[D_D]

Unfortunatly a lot of bike componants that use cartridge bearings are badly designed and only rely on the cartridge bearing seal to keep the bearing clean.

link that explains a bit why cartrige bearings can have such a short life in badly designed componants.

You can also prize the plastic seals out of the bearing with a small screwdriver. Then use something like wd40 to clean out the bearing before greasing it with your prefered grease. A grease gun is very usefull for forceing the grease into the bearing.