Saracen Kili-Team Ritchey Needle Bearing Headset Lower Race Replacement

[Alembic 42]

Hi All,

Is there a simple cartridge bearing replacement for the needle bearing lowe race Ritchey headset on a 1997 Saracen Team-Kili with a 1 1.8 threadless steam?

The race measures 43.3mm but a drop in 45 x45 41.8mm diameter I had in my spares box fits the crown race and lower cup, but not sure if it'd move when the pre-load is set. Can't seem to find a 43.3 cartridge bearing.

The top race is ball bearings which is fine.

 

[Bobmac892]

Sorry if this is a daft question but what's stopping you cleaning that one up, regreasing and re-using it? I thought the whole point of needle bearings was to better distribute loads so the race doesn't get pitted as with ball bearings.

 

[bikeworkshop]

The cups are designed to take the caged needles- there's no reason why a cartridge bearings should match the overall dimensions - although in turn there's no reason why not.
If you measure the i+o widths and stack of race- bearing-race and get the angles, you could look on the Web for a close match.

Happy to bet against it though.

As @Bobmac892 suggests, use what you've got.
If it's no good, you just replace the headset.