Yes. Why? The creak caused by the headset rubbing against carbon will drive you nuts. You’ll think it’s the BB or crankset because it seems like it’s tied to pedal movement, but it’s not. You’ll even disassemble, reassemble, lube and torque the entire crankset three times to no avail, but nothing works. It’s because you didn’t lube the headset.
karlzhao314 on
Yes.
* Grease helps prevent galvanic corrosion between the steel bearing races and the carbon frame and fork.
* Grease provides an additional moisture seal to prevent water from getting into the headset bearings.
* A coating of grease on the outside of the steel races will prevent the races themselves from rusting.
* I worked with someone who had a persistent creaky headset once, even after proper preload and torque. When I disassembled his headset, it was bone dry. My best theory as to what was happening was that without the additional “lubrication” factor of grease, even after preloading the headset, the bearing was getting “stuck” in a position that was just minutely off from the deepest, properly seated position in the taper of the headset bearing seat. That gave the headset bearing room to slightly move around while riding, causing the creak. Greasing the headset seats fixed it, possibly because it acted as lubricant to allow the headset to fully slide and seat into the taper of the frame.
* No reason not to.
dangit541 on
Grease
tbl_help on
You should not ask Reddit and instead check the manual for the frame and headset.
BarkleEngine on
Grease prevents water infiltration. Pack those grooves and wipe clean the excess.
Yeah-Yeah-Yeah-Yea on
So grease it is!
But what is best to use? Im assuming it has to be something in spray form, or can you just put a drop of chain lube on there?
6 Comments
Yes. Why? The creak caused by the headset rubbing against carbon will drive you nuts. You’ll think it’s the BB or crankset because it seems like it’s tied to pedal movement, but it’s not. You’ll even disassemble, reassemble, lube and torque the entire crankset three times to no avail, but nothing works. It’s because you didn’t lube the headset.
Yes.
* Grease helps prevent galvanic corrosion between the steel bearing races and the carbon frame and fork.
* Grease provides an additional moisture seal to prevent water from getting into the headset bearings.
* A coating of grease on the outside of the steel races will prevent the races themselves from rusting.
* I worked with someone who had a persistent creaky headset once, even after proper preload and torque. When I disassembled his headset, it was bone dry. My best theory as to what was happening was that without the additional “lubrication” factor of grease, even after preloading the headset, the bearing was getting “stuck” in a position that was just minutely off from the deepest, properly seated position in the taper of the headset bearing seat. That gave the headset bearing room to slightly move around while riding, causing the creak. Greasing the headset seats fixed it, possibly because it acted as lubricant to allow the headset to fully slide and seat into the taper of the frame.
* No reason not to.
Grease
You should not ask Reddit and instead check the manual for the frame and headset.
Grease prevents water infiltration. Pack those grooves and wipe clean the excess.
So grease it is!
But what is best to use? Im assuming it has to be something in spray form, or can you just put a drop of chain lube on there?