ndthornton – Member
1.5 isn’t dead – at least not on my bike. Its the obvious choice that was ditched for God-knows-what reason.

Not only id the steerer tube stiffer than tapered its lighter too. The wall thickness of a 1.5 is much thinner than the thickness of the 1,1/8 portion of a tapered tube. Not only that but the steerer stem interface is much better on a 1.5 as there is a bigger contact area. Also 1,1/8 stems look silly small and naff on a tapered head tube IMO.

OK so you may increase weight ever so slightly in the headtube and upper headset of a 1.5 but since the steerer is lighter to start with it really is in the noise. Also its much cheaper to manufacture a straight headtube over a tapered so the cost savings could go into making the frame even lighter!

Its just fashion and I eagerly await the return of 1.5 so I can upgrade my forks

Heavier headtube to accomodate the heavier steerer, bigger, heavier star nut, heavier top cap, heavier stem (that can’t be made short ‘cos it’s got a whopping great steerer in the middle). Heavier top cup for the headset, and heavier bearings

All for no benefit. 1.5 died for a good reason.

Can you fit a tapered fork to an old fashioned straight headtube if you use some kind of adapter on the bottom cup?

Can you fit a tapered fork to an old fashioned straight headtube if you use some kind of adapter on the bottom cup?

are we back here again….

just let it hang out the end.

or for £199 RRP

are we back here again…

I’m not.. was there some kind of big row about it? 🙂

just think about it but be quick my magic funnels are selling quick

Oh.. it’s one of these things where you think I’m asking something really stupid.. I see.

Well – perhaps I should ask another question – what’s the internal diameter of a standard headtube with a 1 1/8 steerer?

you can get it in a bit but most of the taper won’t fit, people keep suggesting you can use something but you will slacken the HA and jack up the front end. Basically you will need something that looks like that funnel to fit it into the head tube.

heavier stem

really….

From the Thomson website…

1/8? x 0° x 40 mm x 31.8 mm 155 g
1/8? x 0° x 50 mm x 31.8 mm 175 g

**From this we can reasonably assume a (none existent) 1,1/8 45mm stem would weigh about 165g**

1.5? x 0° x 45 mm x 31.8 mm 163 g

so actually 2g lighter

Given that both steerer tubes and stems become lighter with thinner tubes I reckon that a headtube would also be lighter than a tapered version – There are no stated weights for headtubes of course but the logic makes sense.

Bearings / top cap etc – yes I concede these will be marginally heavier although much stiffer and more robust.

Just for the record……

I don’t actually give a sh*t about 2g on a stem, my bike is a hard hitting heavyweight and 2 grams makes bugger all difference to me. but I do feel that it is worth highlighting some of the misinformation touted by manufacturers in order to sell products; If only to get the weight weenies on board so I can finally UPGRADE MY FORKS!!

another reason is that when you are making headtubes, the larger race at the bottom means it’s easier to get the inner section of the carbon mould out (cos it’s a cone not a tube)
(the design first appeared on road bikes and then the MTBs soon took up the new standard)

it’s easier to get the inner section of the carbon mould out

Thankyou
For the first time a justification I can believe!

So they save money on the manufacturing process and make up some BS to convince their Alu steerer customers they are gaining an advantage

Priceless 🙂

There’s no question it’s stiffer. It’s basic engineering principles.

The question is whether that additional stiffness provides any real world benefit. IMO, on its own probably not that much.

However, that’s kind of where the bike industry is right now – incremental improvements. A good bike from 10 years ago still rides well now but it is noticeable that all the small improvements in the last 10 years have made lighter, stiffer bikes that you can notice when switching from the 10 year old bike to a current one.

The small changes in themselves probably aren’t real world significant for most people but the overall effect of all the changes together may be.

And that’s where it really comes down to you as a rider and whether each small improvement is of benefit and how many of those small improvements are worthwhile enough in combination for you to splash out on a new frame/bike/wheels/fork/whatever.

(and no doubt there are manufacturing benefits to many of the changes too…)

when you are making headtubes, the larger race at the bottom means it’s easier to get the inner section of the carbon mould out (cos it’s a cone not a tube)

Thankyou
For the first time a justification I can believe!

Except there’s no carbon mold that comes out, or at least not a solid one .. how do they make frame tubes that have a BB / head tube / seat tube at the ends, or a long thin parallel seat stay?
: )

“I can finally UPGRADE MY FORKS!! “
You probably already can, to tapered forks. You just need to find a top cup for you headset that will run a 1 1/8″ steerer in a 1.5″ headtube. It’ll probably be an internal cup one
By the same token there’ll be a bottom cup to do the same job that’ll allow you to use a straight 1 1/8″ steerer

Would not not just be a hope 4?
http://cdn.hopetechnology.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HOPEHEADSETS2011Web.pdf