Bicycles Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who build and repair bicycles, people who train cycling, or commute on bicycles. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I'm looking to replace the bearings in the headset on a brand new GT mountain Bike (they have disintegrated after 4 weeks).They were the caged type but exposed so I can see each of the balls in the ring (i.e. not sealed)
I know from Cane Creek site that I have ZS 44/28.6 & ZS44/30 sized headset but no clue what the relationship is to my bearing size....sorry if this is a silly question!
Can anyone please recommend where I can buy the bearings?
Ball size is ideally measured either with a caliper or, more commonly in shops, with a purpose-made tool that has a hole for each size to compare against. 5/32" is the most common size for headset bearings by far, but 1/4" and 3/16" are also around. (So it's not a silly question, and it doesn't have any relationship to the headset size per se.) There aren't any oddball in-between ball bearing sizes used on bikes, so to get the size you're safe holding an individual bearing next to a ruler and eyeballing the 5/32" or 3.97mm.
It's likely to be the most common of them, 5/32x22 (22 balls). 5/32x20 also exists so it's wise to count or compare the old alongside the new. Both are common and super cheap bike shop items.
