[Closed] Tapered head tube or just 1.5?

I've wondered this too, it's frustrating if you have a 1.5 fork already.

Most common answers seem to be weight of frame and aesthetics.

Tapered means you can use a wide range of convential stems.
1.5 stems are almost all 'Swansea girls': short, clumpy, ugly, heavy biffers.

😉

1.5 stems are almost all 'Swansea girls': short, clumpy, ugly, heavy biffers.

Post of the day!

A few DH/FR bikes are coming out with tapered headtubes though (Big Hit, Faith) - where a 1.5 would seem more sensible to me.

Ah yes, stem choice, that makes tapered appealing.

Ah yes, stem choice, that makes tapered appealing.

Can't you use a tapered steerer in a 1.5" headtube if you want to?

Ah yes, stem choice, that makes tapered appealing.

Can't you use a tapered steerer in a 1.5" headtube if you want to?

Doh! Good point!

I ordered this with a 1.5" headtube and I think it looks awesome... the 1-1/8" option looks wrong and requires a heavy deep insertion headset.

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I picked up the 1.5" 36 Float secondhand or I probaby would have gone tapered (Tapered headset options exist).

The choice of stems is limited but if you hunt around there are a few under 200g... and if you wait long enough ebay will pop up a bargain or two... The Gravity Lite on here cost me £15... strong, light, and cheap... Mr Bontrager can be proved wrong 😆

I have another bike with 1.5" and the Travis forks on it cost me £115...

1.5's clearly the better standard IMO, unless it has some major secret construction benefit. 1.5 can replicate tapered, tapered can't replicate 1.5. Victory.

And of course 1.5 has the edges of adjustable geometry to boot, there's already a selection of head angle modifiers and it has the potential to effectively change the length of the TT too (though I don't know if such a thing can be bought)