The little things which make life better....

[2manyoranges]

Disc brakes (Hope)
Decent forks (RS, Cane C)
Dropper posts (X Fusion, One Up)
Those are the big things...

But the small thing I guess for me is the press-in bearing.

I use to spend hours cleaning out a loose ball headset so that it was clean and ungrimy, and then hours of uncertainty in getting the thing set up with zero play and not over-tightened. And the same with hubs.

Now, I love my Hope hubs and headsets and BBs - worried about some play in the bearings? Dismantle, flush, knock out, press in, then re-assemble. Done.

 

[Dr Dremel]

So you want an early Merlin with GG bottom bracket, Bullseye hubs and King headset, is that what you´re saying? Because that´s what I´m reading, cleverly disguised as a post praising the innovation that is the press fit bearing

 

[minor_LEGEND]

Hours on servicing a headset? You're doing it wrong.

Now a modern headset, with swap-out replaceable cartridge bearings probably needs hours, due to the front brake hose needing removal & re-bleeding.........

 

[2manyoranges]

So you want an early Merlin with GG bottom bracket, Bullseye hubs and King headset, is that what you´re saying? Because that´s what I´m reading, cleverly disguised as a post praising the innovation that is the press fit bearing

er which early CK headset has user replaceable bearings? That one must have passed me by…
Early GG were cage not press fit….
Yes to Bullseye - was an early adopter of Beye and NukeProof hubs and liked it when Hope came along…

 

[2manyoranges]

Hours on servicing a headset? You're doing it wrong.

Now a modern headset, with swap-out replaceable cartridge bearings probably needs hours, due to the front brake hose needing removal & re-bleeding.........

No not doing it wrong, but certainly doing it with a lot of anxiety…is it too tight, it is too loose, is it just right? And with the added frisson of using campag headset spanners and doing that final little tighten which means the cup moves just a smidge…argh now it IS too loose….does no-one recognise that? Or maybe I WAS doing it wrong….

 

[Dr Dremel]

er which early CK headset has user replaceable bearings? That one must have passed me by…
Early GG were cage not press fit….
Yes to Bullseye - was an early adopter of Beye and NukeProof hubs and liked it when Hope came along…

Obviously I was pulling your leg, it was just meant as a funny way to say you´re not relegated to modern stuff to get rid of cone style bearings
But they do have their advantages. For one they are much more robust taking side loads (unless you go the $$ route installing press fit angular contact bearings). And you can adjust them to be nearly free of play. I must say though that I´m a fair weather rider, so service intervals are really not that bad for me.
(BTW ... I´ve knocked out the bearings of my CK no problem. Slammed onto a block of wood until they plopped out. And early Merlins had a press fit GG BB)

 

[2manyoranges]

Thanks....leg definitely extended...The side load issue is an interesting one. You can readily add too much sideload to crank bearings eg Hope and munch through bearings at a hell of a rate. Good reminder...

 

[2manyoranges]

Obviously I was pulling your leg, it was just meant as a funny way to say you´re not relegated to modern stuff to get to get rid of cone style bearings
But they do have their advantages. For one they are much more robust taking side loads (unless you go the $$ route installing press fit angular contact bearings). And you can adjust them to be nearly free of play. I must say though that I´m a fair weather rider, so service intervals are really not that bad for me.
(BTW ... I´ve knocked out the bearings of my CK no problem. Slammed onto a block of wood until they plopped out. And early Merlins had a press fit GG BB)

Ah .... that's interesting re CK - I read the 'not user serviceable' and looked hard at specific CK headsets I have had and have been tempted to dive in, but have worried about size of replacement bearing etc. You are more enterprising than me.

And interesting re Merlins - boy those must have creaked on occasion..I had a horrible creak in a Litespeed-built Marin and had to remove one thing at a time until I found what it was....turned out that even though the Shimano XT BB was slathered in anti-seize it still managed to creak, even when installed perfectly correctly. Grrrrrr.

 

[2manyoranges]

They live!

Nice narrow Q Factor I suppose...

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/1099544-merlin-pressed-pressfit-bottom-bracket.htl

and

https://www.reddit.com/r/bikewrench/comments/h92hmi/press_fit_bb_bearing_suggestions_91_merlin_ti_has

 

[2manyoranges]

Hours on servicing a headset? You're doing it wrong.

Now a modern headset, with swap-out replaceable cartridge bearings probably needs hours, due to the front brake hose needing removal & re-bleeding.........

Through-the-headset hydro routing? Mad. Ban it.