Bought this Kona Lava Dome to turn into a commuter. This is my first time taking a bike headset apart. I took it apart in hopes to just clean and re-lube it. I started to put it back together and just wanted to make sure I’m doing it correctly. However when trying to find online resources I cannot find anything that looks similar to this. There’s a couple things about it that don’t seem very conventional, like the lack of a traditional lock nut, the top piece with the hand-tightening nut, the rubber cup that goes around the bottom bearing. Can anyone please help identify what I’m dealing with here and what I should know about re-installing it? Do I need a new headset altogether? Thanks
by gaper4
1 Comment
This is a Joe Murray Impact headset common on early/mid-90s Kona bikes. The idea with the pinch-bolt top cover was making adjustments on the trail possible with just a 5mm hex. There’s some good info on the headset here: http://www.bikepro.com/arch_products/headsets/ajoemurray_hset.html
Unfortunately, I have seen a couple of these top caps cracked from being over-tightened or just fatigue over the years. They are a neat example of early 90s bike innovation but John Rader’s threadless headset design would win out.