I went with the SKS bottom bracket from Compass .. expensive but not to bad. I just put a Chris King Headset on my Bombadil. Since it was just back from paint I went ahead and faced it before pressing it in. The headset press wasn't big enough for my bike but managed.
I can't say much as after 3 years non of the relatively cheap headsets I have are even close to going bad. (knock on wood) I ride in rain and mud etc only wiping off the outside of the bike. I went to the SKS as I was going through bottom brackets on my Tour bike more often than I liked. I figure I usually have the bike down to frame once every 2 years anyway.. so it really doesn't matter .. most everything last two years except cables and tape. Kelly Kelly On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:07:03 PM UTC-5, jinxed wrote: > > Things have a way of snowballing. > > The headset in my AR had been feeling ratchety for a while and then the > bottom bracket started giving me the grit so I decided to give in and tear > it down for some TLC. The good ol shimano UN53 had pooped out after > countless miles serving umpteen bikes and the headset cup was notched as I > expected. Since I had the frame all torn down I decided to send it off for > a makeover while I pondered the replacement parts. > > My initial thought was to add a little chi-chi and spring for a Phil BB > and a King headset. These are often the exemplary put them in and forget > about it items, though they will make an initial dent (cavern) in the > wallet. > > On the bottom bracket, I have not quite mentally committed to the Phil > since a UN53 is less than a 4 pack of Duvel and will last 10 years like the > last one....but for something that is completely hidden from view that Phil > sure does have some allure! I suppose it's fair to include the weight > savings and MUSA in the price all things considered. > > I was pretty settled on the King headset, but then decided to dig around > in my parts bin thinking I had some 1" sets floating around. I knew I had a > bunch of random HS parts, but wasnt sure if any were complete till I found > this! A basically NOS Dura Ace > HP-7400<http://www.flickr.com/photos/42027576@N00/8695512917/in/photostream/lightbox/> > . > > OK so now I have perfectly usable and honestly period correct HS I could > use on the AR, but it will obviously need more attention than a modern > sealed setup. I have to admit I'm a bit lazy when it comes to routine caged > bearing maintenance and I never avoid getting the bike sloppy. > > I'm curious what you guys think on the matter of old school caged bearings > vs sealed, and boat anchor shimano BB's. And also, for those who have gone > the full monty with a phil TI spindle...do you have any creaking issues? > -- 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?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
