Why I hate integrated headsets

Today I stripped and cleaned my cross bike in preparation before the next race. The last event at Herne Hill was incredibly muddy and so the oily bits took a pounding.


The frame has the usual accumulation of water and muck, but pulling out the integrated headset confirmed why I despise the confounded things! The top cartridge bearing (left) was perfect - all contact surfaces still perfect thanks to a good smearing of waterproof grease on assembly. The bottom bearing was a mess. It was jammed in place by a horrible brown paste - a mixture of the fitting grease and the fine mud.

The bearings themselves, being reasonably good quality, were fine. The problem is the grease/mud grinding paste that had worked its way between the frame and the bearing. Chris King has a great explanation of exactly why these headsets are evil, but in short, this muck gets into the seat between the frame and the bearing. With use it will cause the bearing to slowly damage the bearing seat; depending how much the bike is ridden in this state, this might at best need the bearing seats to be recut - at worst it makes the frame a throwaway. Sure, keeping it clean helps, but who really wants to be stripping out the headset after every wet ride?

Perhaps traditional cups don't look as good (though I don't agree with that), but at least the worst a bearing failure can do is wreck an easily replaceable bearing cup. And this is why Such frames won't use integrated headsets. Ever.