I upgraded my fork last night and when I pulled the old one out I saw what looks like a bearing that froze in place on the tube. The tube is definitely notched and I can feel it with my thumbnail. The notch (highlighted in red) is 6.5mm wide. That's what I would expect to happen with a frozen headset bearing. The scoring is only on the back of the tube.
Here's the weird thing: the green square is where the top bearing in the headset sits. I checked it and drew on it w/ a Sharpie to make sure. There's no scoring or wear aside from of the anodization being lost (normal). It's also 6.5mm wide.
I checked inside the headset to see if there was anything at the back near the top and down tubes that could've caused it. I didn't see anything.
My working theory is that this fork was swapped from another bike and sold as new to me when I bought my bike. The LBS I bought it from in 2022 was close to going out of business (unknown to me). As annoying as that is, I hope it's the case.
If not, then I'm hoping someone on r/bikewrench can identify what happened. I would hate to have this occur on my new (and considerably more expensive) fork I just installed.
by PM_ME_UR_CODE_GIRL
17 Comments
I think your theory could be right, it looks exactly like you say, so it’s likely it came from a bike with a shorter head tube before you got it. I’m not sure if there’s a way to check the serial number of your fork to find the manufacturer date but maybe you can compare it to your 2022 bike
Rocks stuck on a headset bearing
Strange. I have no ideas.
But I also think the idea that a shop sold you a used fork on a new bike is highly unlikely. Even if they were going out of business that’s a crazy move I don’t see happening in any shop. It also doesn’t make sense even if it was the most unethical shop of all time. A fork that got used enough to develop this wear on the steerer would very clearly not appear as new. There would be dirt in the top caps, dials, seals, behind the arch, and in the bottom bolts. There would be scratches and messed up stickers on the lowers. There’s no way a fork with enough use to develop this wear on the steerer would be passable as “new” on a new bike.
Do you have cables that route through the head tube? If not, I got nothing.
Thats just leverage of fork making steer tube move around under compression ring, wearing effect is better if grease is dirty, headset is loose or leverage is higher (compression ring is lower on the steertube). Theres is always mark on anodising but i have not seen this bad wear
I think you’re right on that part being a swap out and really it’s not a big deal.
Here’s what I believe happened someone at the factory made an error in assembly and if I’m correct it’s no big deal. From what I can see I think all it means is this part was briefly was on the wrong bike the damage appears to be cosmetic.
I believe that someone at some point grabbed the wrong part on the line and didn’t notice until it was too late.
Could this be a manufacturing artifact? A place by which the fork was held while being painted, for example, out of sight of a common user?
I watched a video not long ago and it was about these rings. It is caused by the compression ring that is a part of the head set. The ring has not been compressed enough and is rotating with the bearing and causing wear.
What’s strange is that you have 2 ring marks. I think your theory that it was swapped from another bike, could be right.
https://youtu.be/ZTZ1h_tiRKI?si=Oi4rVM634bVv70PN
Sometimes the upper bearing can seize and then the split ring/compression ring will rotate on the steerer and wear it down (terrible if you have CF steerer). But I don’t know if this is bad enough to be that, it might just be [fretting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fretting).
One of two things in my experience; if you’re running an intergrated headset check the bearing for movement when in the frame (not play in the bearing itself). The bearing race should fit snug with no movement when installed, if its moving then over time it will rub enough to cause this lip and wear the paint off.
Second is a long shot, do you have internal gear routing with a cable guide that fits on the steerer? If so move the open end of that cable guide to the opposite side of the steerer. Sounds daft but something like half the Orbea bikes in 2024 came with these installed backwards from the factory, such a small thing that takes so long to fix haha
Compression plug or part of the headset bearing sits to tight/sized and instead of rotating with the tube it grids against it.
In my experience (which is lot), it’s to do with either insufficient headset preload, or shitty (usually Acros) headsets that have plastic somewhere in the stack. The lack of stiffness or the ability to flex slightly is usually what causes this.
Seems to me there’s definitely something up with the headset, using the wrong spacers, wedges, races or bearings can cause this. I had a customer at the shop I work at this past summer come in with the same issue. He wanted to replace the headset on his 2015s era Specialized Diverge and bought some cheapo bearings on Amazon and installed them himself. This same exact ring shape and size from OPs photo was on my customer’s CARBON steerer. It’s nearly worn right through. As far as I know, he’s still riding the fork, against my advice 🙂
Or the fork was on a diff bike in the showroom, might have been on a few parking lot test rides. Then parts swapped for some reason. Lots of that happened during the pandemic. Still new.
Its from a failing headset bearing.
Check the interior of your headtube for flaws. Otherwise those marks came from another situation. Looks superficial, however.
I had way worse marks. The lower bearing was not perfectly aligned (or it was the wrong size) and it ate itself into the steerer tube. Every time you turned the handlebar, the bearing didn’t turn. Thankfully you can replace steerer tube (ND Tuned).