kona lava dome restoration

I'm restoring an abused 1997 kona lava dome and need to fit a new steerer bearing. It has a Tange ahead bearing that is crumbling away at the top. Does anyone know what size I need to replace the bearing? Is it simply case of measuring the ID of the steerer tube on the frame? Sorry if it is a dummy question but I've never done one before.

Hi mate

Tbh if the bearing is in that sort of condition the chances of the races being good are pretty slim ! i would budget on a new headset , you could probably pick one up from CRC or the for sale section here for a tenner
This might help too ; http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html

Cheers Paul

Headset for a '97 Lava Dome is 1 1/8"

...and not a dumb question at all, better to ask and be sure than guess and maybe end up with a headset you can't use

Hi

as an alternative, I found SJS cycles had a better selection of threaded headsets last time I was looking for a new one ... (bit more expensive than the standard one on CRC)

I bought a nice Shimano STX one there for my son's bike. That was 1 1/8 though, think the Kona may be 1" .... make sure you take good measurements and double check against the sheldon brown sizing guide before ordering

cheers
John

If your using the same P2 fork that came with the '97 Lava Dome it is a non threaded headset (ahead) and defo 1 1/8"

Thanks for all the info. Sorry, I didn't phrase my question very well. Yep, its 1 1/8 threadless, the cups are worn, the racer is crumbling and the bearings themselves are worn and under size. My question was more about buying the whole ahead set. Obviously I need a 1 1/8th but the cups are an interference fit into the frame head tube. So I am wondering if all frame head tubes with 1 1/8th forks have the same internal diameter or if you have to buy an aheadset with particular size cups to fit your particular model of frame. Obviously you don't want the cups slopping around in the frame tube or too big to go in at all.

Well I guess no one knows! Either that or you all lost interest in my rambling. Well for completeness I found that the od of the cup is 34.9mm. And that seems to be pretty common. The bearing was described as a 30mm cup. Anyway, now you know.

all 1" 1/8th headsets are nominally the same.

You should find that any quality 1 1.8 headset will fit correctly. Personally I'd buy a Hope as they have lasted well for me and don't have daft prices attached.