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Had to pick between a threaded headset and a sealed bearing one on a 1987 Schwinn I flipped
A guy dropped off a 1987 Schwinn World Sport at my shop in Sacramento last month, wanted it tuned up and flipped. The original threaded headset felt gritty no matter how many times I repacked it, so I stood there in the aisle with two options: regrease the loose ball setup again or swap in a sealed bearing unit for about $28. I went with sealed because I was tired of chasing that notchy feeling on every test ride. Rode it around the block twice and the steering was so smooth I almost forgot it was a 40 year old bike. Anybody else find that sealed headsets are worth the extra cash on these old steel frames, or do you keep the loose balls for the sake of keeping it stock?
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king.val6d ago
That line about chasing that notchy feeling on every test ride hits home. A buddy of mine went through the same thing on an old Trek, repacked the loose balls three times and still had a dead spot in the steering, so he finally dropped in a sealed unit and said it felt like a whole new bike. He does say it took him a bit to get the stack height right since the sealed ones sit a little different. For a flip, I'd say go sealed every time since the next owner won't have to mess with it. Keeping it stock matters more if you're selling to a collector, but riders just want smooth steering, your mileage may vary.
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