This might be a good time for a testimonial for the IRD needle bearing headset Riv sells. The Shimano headset on my Rambouillet indexed about 4 years ago so I started looking for replacements. I like the Chris King products, but thought I'd give the IRD a shot, since Grant "sold" the idea of needle bearings for the lower race. So far it's worked flawlessly and I do not detect any of the sluggishness that Grant described on the Riv web page. So I'd say give it a try if you want to go in that direction. Tightening the headset was tricky; I had to re-tighten it once or twice after riding for a while because it doesn't seem to have the "feel" of the bearing movement that ordinary ball-types do. But once I got it dialed-in it was OK.
Installation was a different matter, however. First of all, it comes packed in a light corrosion inhibitor of some sort. Opening everything up and looking at the lower race components made me think of a miniature version of an automobile front axle tapered bearing set. So I had to decide what kind of grease to use on everything. I wound up just using the regular Phil grease and it's worked fine. Pressing the upper and lower races into the head tube was one of the most difficult operations. I had everything well greased both inside the head tube as well as around the races, but it went in with much greater difficulty than any headset I can recall installing. Not sure why this was. In fact, some of the chrome stripped off of the lower race during the process. But I finally got it in there OK. I would definitely not recommend installing this (or any headset, for that matter) without a decent installation tool, either like the one Park makes or an improvised equivalent. Then, getting the old crown "race" off of the fork was a major challenge. Whoever installed it needs to think hard and long about how to do things - it was very un-Riv-like. Instead of sanding off the paint and primer and then greasing the steering tube, they just hammered on there over paint and everything, sans grease. Never do that. It took lots of hammering with a drift punch. I'm not sure that even a bone fide crown race puller would've budged it. But that's all a different matter, unrelated to the IRD itself. On Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 10:44:27 AM UTC-5, Darin G. wrote: > > I've managed to notch the Shimano 105 headset on my Rom. My shop says he > can't find the cartridge bearings for this headset, so we switched the > bottom cartridge to the top for now, but I'm researching a new one. This > is the second headset I've had that was worn out by the 3500 mile mark, the > other being the original Tange on my Hillborne, and I'm searching for a > replacement that will last. I've considered the CK headsets in the past > but they seem mighty expensive and while most reviews are positive there > are some reviews suggesting they are not worth the money. Also considering > the IRD needle roller bearing headset on the Riv site. Other ideas would > be appreciated! . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
