Headset bearings for Specialized Allez E5 Smartweld

I have a 2015 Specialized Allez and the lower headset bearing (a cage and balls) shattered last week. I've dropped Specialized an email and they say that they can order a new one in to any store for £50, which seems like a huge amount to me.

Is there anywhere I can get them cheaper? Nowhere can I find any specs at all. That @hippy fella thinks I should just throw loose ball bearings in there, which makes sense - but where do I source new ones the right size?

This is the frame in question. Any help much appreciated.

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1-1/8" upper, 1-3/8" lower, integrated Cr-Mo cartridge bearings, 20mm cone spacer, w/ 20mm of spacers

The spec says it's an integrated cartridge bearing - so you can buy a suitable integrated headset which will cost you around £30.

The top is, but the bottom was a cage and balls. Unless the cartridge broke at some points and there were balls inside? But then why the cage?

Sound like your cartridge have worn out so much that it broke apart, the other part must still be inside your frame.

Not uncommon to happen.

TBH, I'd special order from Specialized too.

where do I source new ones the right size?

From a bearing shop. If the bearings are as you describe, separate cone, cup and caged balls, and the races are in good condition, take your balls to a bearing shop and get them to measure and match them. ⅛" and 5/32" are the most common sizes for headsets, but there are some metric ones out there and you don't want to get caught out by guessing or even measuring with a cheap digital caliper, you want a decent micrometer to tell the difference between 4.00mm and 5/32" or 3.225mm and ⅛"

Unless the cartridge broke at some points and there were balls inside? But then why the cage?

Most cartridge bearings have cages.

All that's left of the bottom is a cage and balls. The cage is shattered. So did I at some point lose the rest of the cartridge?

no, it's highly likely it's rusted to the headset giving you an impression that it's cup and cones.

May need to pry it out with a flat headed screw driver.

did I at some point lose the rest of the cartridge?

Pix would help. You should have a crown race still attached to the fork and a cup still in the head tube.

Burn the whole lot with fire and start again

Battled for months searching to find a solution to a similar problem.

Bottom line is Allez headsets are an absolute nightmare. Go with the manufacturer extortion option, the time you'll spend looking for alterntives is worth more than the £50 you'll spend with Specialized.

Concept store Kingston quoted me around £33 a while back if that helps.

Specialized Mindset is basically an Integrated headtube with steel races pressed in to take normal ball bearings

If you knock out the races you can fit integrated cartridge bearings (im not sure what size)

That's the lower end Allez AFAIK (took me a while to figure out which integrated headset to replace it with).
The smart weld one have a tapered headtube and it's actually cartridge, @Sparky didn't realised that it broken apart due to wear and tear.

I'm finally unpacking this from the bike box, so I'll put some pictures up. Here's what's left of the lower bearing. This was sitting atop the crown race when I dropped the forks out.

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This was sitting on top of the crown race also. I guess this is a fragment of the broken cartridge bearing?

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And this is the crown race and fork.

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With a bit of persuasion this came out of the bottom of the headtube. Together with the other half this looks like a cartridge bearing. It makes a bit more sense now...

No markings whatsoever that would indicate size.

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With a bit of persuasion this came out of the bottom of the headtube. Together with the other half this looks like a cartridge bearing. It makes a bit more sense now...

Yup.

Surprisingly common for this to happen, usually cause by wear and tear and/or loose headset.

Told Specialized that £50 was shocking and they said it'd be £40 with free postage. Ordered.

I hate how BBs and headsets have become so crazily proprietary.

Which bike that have proprietary BB? only one I think of is Trek BB90 own bearing which isn't that pricey.

£50 is fine, just above average.

£50 is fine

uwotmate? It's a pair of bearings that seem less than average in durability

Welcome back Jeez!

Welcome back Jeez!

Don't be a dick - a generic integrated headset can set you back as little as £15.

Even Cannondale will sell you the lower bearing separately and still give you change from a £20 note.

Sorry, I was joshing but forgot the smileys!

👍😊🐱

I was thinking the same but didn't want to sound like a total cheapskate.

Is the frame/headset in question just a bog standard, bearing in frame integrated headset? If so, £10 should be more than enough to buy replacement bearings.