Hello everyone, my Trek FX 2 has started to make some by "crunching" sounds when turning like if sand was in the headset. I disassembled the head tube and found this. The upper ball cage is completely worn (img 1), while the lower one is relatively fine (img 2).
I searched the Trek website for replacements for these cages, and the only information I found was "FP-H825PL Headset, 1-1/8in threadless" (src) for the entire headset. Someone on a french subreddit told me to get this full headset (french website), and I did purchase it (img 3), thinking I could just use the caged bearings without replacing the cups (I don't have the tools to get them out, and press in the new ones).
Turns out the upper cage is slightly smaller than the bottom one, so it doesn't fit. My only solution is to replace the cups as well, which mean buy the tools to do it, but I'm worried that the upper cup I bought won't fit in the frame since the top of the tube has a smaller diameter (img 4).
This is the first time I have to work on this part of a bike, I'm a complete newbie haha. Can someone help me? Thank you!
by GreenLenux
1 Comment
You don’t need the cage, just the balls. Return the new headset. Buy the same size balls you already had. Fill the upper race with new balls then remove 1 so they have room. A generous application of grease to the upper race will hold the balls in place while doing this. You can even have the steerer in there while placing the balls, just grease up the lower balls (and their cage) first.