XBR steering stem bearings

[guest1130]

Has some previous owner lost their balls or what??

The service manual says there are 19 balls on the lower end of the stem and 18 on the upper end. Is this a typo, or has someone really lost one ball, cause I counted 36 balls total = 18 balls per end, and I was extremely careful to collect ALL the balls on disassembly.

[Fuzz]

I would bin the whole lot & replace with Taper roller kit , available from Ebay....

IF they wont post , let me know & i'll get one & send it to you at cost.

[pigafetta]

Yup, what Fuzz said.

 I have had occasion in the past to accidentally drop one of the balls down the headstock hole where it got stuck out-of-sight behind the bearing race on a blob of grease. I KNEW I hadn't dropped one, yet there was one missing. I spent bloody hours looking for the bugger. It's just a thought...

Dave B

[guest288]

Just to confirm, the manual is correct- 37 in total 

[guest1130]

Got it.

I went through all the shops specialized in bearings and not one had 6,3 mm bearing balls to sell. Then it hit me; bicycle repair shops!! I figured that some bikes must have the same size balls on their axles or stems. So I got my missing ball for 0,40€.