Bearing the shame

[Jayjay]

Due to a long period of negative maintenance, Saphira's head bearings needed some work. Well, I was long used to inch threaded forks, which only seemed to need attention about once per decade when they went lumpy. These threadless thingies don't appear have the same stamina - or maybe the tolerance to neglect and winter. They ought to look like this, from Gearmechhanger. com (bps-distribution.co.uk):

Trike headrace by John Jackson, on Flickr

Sad to say the ones coming out weren't quite so pristine:

Trike headrace by John Jackson, on Flickr

I promise to keep the new ones in slightly better order, and check them more often than once every 5 years.

[Ian H]

I understand that some trikes can benefit from a modicum of steerer damping.

[Polar Bear]

Blimey.  What headset was that installed in?

I have been using FSA and Chris King headsets since 1998 and not even looked at the cartridges as they just keep on going.

[Torslanda]

I swapped out something similar a couple of days ago. It occurred to me at the time that manufacturers are fitting 'sealed' bearings to speed up the production process but none of them are making any attempt at sealing the weather out. All the bearings I fit are seated on grease and a liberal coating is applied on top of them in an attempt to kep the British weather at bay for as long as possible.

[Jayjay]

Quite horrific, weren't they? I hope nobody was too traumatised by the image.
Well, the "friction dampers" weren't greatly effective, in fact the steering didn't feel too unusual. A side effect of indirect steering and fat tyres, possibly.
I theorise that minimal greasing hasn't helped them, nor the suspension hub design which collects water around the lower race. The new races have lubrication and silicon grease around to repel the wet. I will ask the manufacturers what they think about making a drain hole in the casting.
Orbit X, PB.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Time Team discover incredible Iron Age artefacts in local man's shed!

[Jayjay]

Update - I emailed Ice about the drainage of the casting, Neil pointed out that there is in fact a drain hole at the bottom of the bearings, which can get clogged, as Saphira's had indeed. In the inverted "V" near the top. I never noticed it, even when dismantling the suspension. So remember to poke your holes, FS owners! This is an Important Little Place.

Trike suspension drain hole by John Jackson, on Flickr