Is an xt headset serviceable?

I've got a 1 inch xt headset and the lower bearings are rough. It seems a rubber seal can be removed but the bearing it reveals is sealed. Can this be serviced and/or replaced?

Re:

Is that the late silver version ? Cartridge were the same on all shimano headset at that time I thought...
Had an stx one...cartridges was same as cane creek I also have...so you cant open it :?
A good wd40 night cleaning and some regrease sometimes works :mrgreen:
But if balls are too damaged....no way other to find some new cartridges :|

Cheers
Christophe

Re:

Thanks.

Probably should be a bit clearer. It's from around 93 I think. The upper bearing seems to come out of the cup, but it's fine anyway.

The lower bearing seems to be pressed in. Appears to be a cartridge bearing pressed into the cup, and a rubber seal fits over the whole bearing, not inside the cartridge as per say a 6903 2rs or similar.

I've tried flushing and regreasing but it's too far gone, a lot of play.

Not averse to removing the bearing and replacing but I've no idea what size I'd need. It's kind of a side project as I'm hoping to find an aheadset friendly fork in 1 inch. If that fails I plan to use the original forks and annoyingly just sold a 2nut kit for the Chris king that would have been perfect (though it's a full xt build now).

Re:

Have you a photo of said bearing?

Discovered that the bearings do come out easily so it will be a case of finding the right replacement. Anyone know what bearings might fit? They are of the sealed variety.

IIRC they are a Shimano special but still available.

I think it's this one...
http://bicikli.de/shop/SHIMANO-spare-pa ... -Y00E98030

Thanks, though that looks like its something to do with ultegra levers?

It is truly an awful website!

I did manage to find the Shimano part number: Y-78A-98030

Have fun trawling the site...

As someone who works (well worked until made redundant earlier in the year) in the web industry, that does rank up there with the worst of them, though in all honesty, many, many websites considered good have plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to mobile (must resist rant).

You need to measure width, inner and outer diamters and decide on seal type.

Look on simpky bearings and or bearing boys web sites. Also ebay.