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I am building up a bike for my GF out of odd parts etc. So far so good however im coming up against an issue with the headset/fork set up.
The forks i took off the bike were knackered so i threw them away (i made sure everything was removed from the forks before i did so, accept the crown race) i have replaced these with a set of Tora's which seem to not fit as snugly as the old forks so much so that when i put it all together it wobbles and there is lots of play. Whats baffling me is its as if the steerer tube is the wrong size but it cant be because the spacers and the stem fit it fine with no space or play (and these came off the old forks) Also i have the crown race that came with the Tora's (ive been told to always keep the crown race that came with the forks when possibile) One thing ive noticed is that the bearings and seals dont seem to sit in the headset too well. Im baffled as im pretty sure there is nothing missing to this set up and when i put the bearings etc together (without the forks) the seal and bearings sit in ok.
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.
I may not have given enough info so please ask me any questions and ill try and give as much info as possibile.
Crown races are headset specific not fork specific
check you bearings are the right way up.
wow thanks for the quick replies, i was still edting the post he he (correcting my grammer etc)
ahhhh i didn't know crown races were headset specific!!! i think its a cane creek headset, basically its a decathlon frame which has either had that head set put on or it came with a cane creek head set.
ill double check bearing set up.
jim, if you get in real trouble I have a spare headset too including crown race)... what gonk told you about keeping the crown race for the fork, not Countrygent was it?
what was said about the bearings right way up is true, there is a taper/chamfer the crown race fits into for the bottom bearing (thats why the race is headset specific, though some are very much the same thing) and similar for the top bearing..
tinsy ygm at your work account :o)
now you mention it about the crown race, i know that the frame the old Tora's came off had a built in head set (or integrated might be a better word) The frame i am fitting them to now has a (what i'd call it) propper head set fitted so that could be why im having issues then.
I had a quick look last night, and the bearings in their races are sitting the right way round, but the bottom bearing doesn't quite sit snugly on the crown race. Jim_1980 do you still have the crown race from the original forks?
I have a whole spare cane creek headset, its probably a lot better than the one that was in the bike anyhow though it is used, with a bit of luck it might even be the same type so just re use all the guts of it on the cups in the frame, or I can remove and re fit the whole headset... I got the big hammer you see.
'big hammer' is the way forward.
Sometimes.... if that fails I have some gaffa tape and a cable tie... bit like we used to get jim home when CG had installed his new forks without enough spacers!
dont have the crown race off the original forks due to being told you need to keep the crown race with the forks. so assumed as im not fitting those forks i dont need it.
Then you had better bring the mish mash of unassembled cack around at some stage and I will sort it out, or just pick up the hedset I have and see if its the same type as you have.
surely the headset you have will not work either if i have the wrong crown race?
I have the whole headset including the race it was designed for. 🙂
ill tell you what tinsy, how about another bottle of bolly and ill take it all off ya hands.........along with that 180 disc? ;o)
Done... will dig out the disk and the headset.... 🙂
perfick! lets hope all i need is that crown race. Or ill have to get my mallet out.