Need some help please ,,,,, Just bought a 2nd hand Kona frame seems to have 44mm internal head set, can I fit a Nuke Proof head set and run with a Taper steerer or does it have to be 1 1/8″ internal top and bottom?

yeah you can run a nukeproof. their site will tell you which model you need. You can also get a hope one if you prefer.

44mm headsets on a Kona Blast? Are you sure?

If it has a 44 mm zero stack head set you should be able to fit tapered forks. I have used one of the Nuke Proof head sets to do this on my Iron Horse MkIII. However I needed to modify the head set prior to fitting as the extended lower cup was too long for my frame (20mm where my frame was designed around an 8.5 mm fitting). All you need to do is replace the lower cup, the upper cup is exactly the same as a standard 44mm internal headset, because of this it may work out cheaper to simply buy a cane creek lower cup for the bike if the upper cup is in good condition.

This will throw out the angles of the bike a little as it is essentially extending the axle to crown distance by the depth of the external crown race (10mm or so) this was not an issue in my case as the bike had quite a steep head angle and low bottom bracket.

Just a quick measuremnt with a ruler the top and bottom openings are approx 44mm, I don’t have a vernier to measure accurately but on first glance of the ruler they look like 44mm not sure how deep they go, Thanks for your help 🙂

from the Kona web site it would appear the 2010, 2011 and 2012 bikes all have 44mm zero stack head sets

So if I get a NP head set I will have to have the bottom cup turned down to 8.5mm , which will give me an external cup to take the 1.5″ section on the steerer tube, I have a Taper fox fork or a set of Pikes just trying to get an idea which will be best , frame is usually 100mm travel so the extra 10mm or so will slacken the head angle, I can wind the Pikes down to 110mm, and the Fox will goto 110mm its a Talas 150,
the bike is a winter project, frame also has a post mount rear brake fitting 😯

Hope do mix and match I think. I got a cane creek one; not too expensive.

Try and measure the insetion depth before getting it turned down the more that is in the frame the better. i found i only needed to turn mine down to 9.5 mm tapered up to 12mm to provide the maximum insertion, if you are taking it to a machine shop they should have calipers to check the depth.

I really wouldn’t think the extra 10mm will make that much difference, it did not in my case. i just wanted to make you aware it would happen.

Either fork would work well but at full extention may be a little much for the frame.

wrecker

Don’t think Hope do a zerostack (44mm) to 1.5 lower cup, if they did i would have bought that over a nuke proof one, althogh so far the nuke proof one has been good.

😀 it would be like a chopper at full extension 😀 I’d like to eventually sort out a 100mm fork, but if I can run a taper fork , gives me more options. Wish I had a lathe 😯

Looking at the Hope website they do a 44mm external headset for 1.5″

A Hope S.H.I.S. : EC44/40

could you not just hack saw it and smooth off the edges? it’s just depth we’re talking about.

Hack saw did cross my mind, new blade, a file and some care 😀

Has anyone tried the Hope headset A Hope S.H.I.S. : EC44/40 in a 44mm head set and run a taper fork ? cheeers

Damit Jeffus, if only i had known about that one a year ago. It looks from the pictures as though the Hope one would not need any modification as it doesn’t have the extended cup that the Nuke Proof one has.

Might be worth starting a new tread to see if anyone is using that lower cup.

Yes Rusty Mac, they look just the right size I’m just going to order one today from my LBS and give it a go.

Hi Rusty Mac placed my order hopefully have the head set Tuesday , I’ll let you know how well it fits 😀