Any good reason to use a plastic headset race?

Diamant_Don

Retro Guru
Hi guys,

Commuting in this morning on my lovely restored Diamant racer I noticed a serious judder coming from the front end when I used my front brakes. The culprit? A cracked headset race... which, now it's broken, I notice is made of plastic. What the hell? Is there any good reason to replace a (presumably knackered) headset with plastic pieces?

Also - whilst I'm on the subject - what do you restorer gurus do about paint chip? I have four tiny white marks on my red forks and they're starting to get me down... It's powder coated... Enamel? How do you match colour?

Ta,
Don
 
Diamant_Don":1exjnek9 said:
Also - whilst I'm on the subject - what do you restorer gurus do about paint chip? I have four tiny white marks on my red forks and they're starting to get me down... It's powder coated... Enamel? How do you match colour?

I pop into boots when it looks quiet and hang around the nail varnish displays trying to look disinterested but secretly looking for the best colour match. There's a huge range of colours so almost anything can be matched. Once you've found your colour, you've just got to brave the super model checkout girl, (I've learnt to ignore the sniggers and giggles). Get home find a fine brush and get yourself touched up :p
 
Ah nail varnish! I'll go with Mrs Don then! Cheers Robbied196! ;)

Anyone else ever seen plastic headset parts? I had no idea they were even available... :(
 
Not the race, but there was a plastic cover/shield on the old one on my Raleigh. That cracked up and exposed the bearings which was a bit rubbish. Replace it with an all-metal one.
 
Jonny69":1xn7ufm8 said:
Not the race, but there was a plastic cover/shield on the old one on my Raleigh. That cracked up and exposed the bearings which was a bit rubbish. Replace it with an all-metal one.

Ah, my terminology fail! It's the cover/shield that's knackered. Bearings are showing through the cracks. Where do I get an all-metal one? Are they sold as individual parts, or am I looking at getting a new headset unit?

Cheers!
 
I seriously doubt if you get spares. Even with top-end headsets the spare bearings are so dear it's barely worth it.
 
Re:

stronglight used to do a plastic headset. Traditional cups but made of plastic with taper roller bearings running on a metal plate inserted into the cups. I had one on a colnago mexico as it was the lightest headset at that time.
 
Cheers hamster and pigman - this is a modern set, I'm fairly sure of that, and the plastic is thin and pretty pathetic. Wish I'd known that when I bought the bike. :(
 
Re:

If this takes a conventional 1” threaded headset then I would suggest replacing it with a Tange Passage or something similar which are good quality and reasonably inexpensive. Another type I have used is Genetic Cranium which is alloy (with steel races) rather than the Tange’s steel and cost around a tenner; they’re excellent imo. I’d just select something that looks in keeping, it will probably be better than the original by the sound of it.

There are probably tutorials on Youtube about headset replacement if you haven’t tackled it before.
 
It's typically an area (along with BBs) where brands cut corners and costs. A Campag Record or Stronglight will last you at least 10 years, more with care and/or mudguards.
 
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