Help! Headset help needed!

[LukeFRC]

Hello

I've not been around Retrobike for a while - I kinda stopped cycling for a bit...

My lovely old Raleigh SPD frame I'ld been taking up and down the river valley to work was great - up to the point where we moved house and there's now a lot more hills involved...

a very oversized frame is quite fun to ride - until you hit a hill!

So I recently picked up a old Harry Quinn bike off eBay, and swapping some of the more modern parts over to the frame (I'm not going to get the hang of downtube shifters - sorry!)

Picked up a Stronglight A9 from Amazon... went to put it in and turns out that my bike seems to have another size other than ISO - the bottom race wouldn't fit on.

I'm thinking the dimensions are the older english size.. which is the same as JIS I think?

Any headset recommendations?

 

[Midlife]

Good old Harry Quinn will be 26.4mm inside diameter crown race size very likely, JIS is bigger so head race will flop about. French came in bigger sizes too...

Is the crown race to tight or does it flop about?

Shaun

 

[The History Man]

And how big is your spd my dear................

 

[LukeFRC]

Good old Harry Quinn will be 26.4mm inside diameter crown race size very likely, JIS is bigger so head race will flop about. French came in bigger sizes too...

Is the crown race to tight or does it flop about?

Shaun

ISO (26.4mm) crown race is too tight.
Didn't try the press fit into the frame but felt a smidgin bigger too... part of me wonders if spending a lot of time cleaning very very hard gunk and finding ball bearings the right size and using the old Tange Levin that was on there might be easiest.

 

[LukeFRC]

And how big is your spd my dear................

? look keo pedals... confused... pretty sure they don't make much difference to the headset....


oh the Raleigh frame! 56cm lovely 351c wish it fitted my short short legs

 

[The History Man]

Touché!

If it was 62-65 I'd be offering you my kidney at this point.

 

[Midlife]

That is unusual, I would have thought the Quinn would have been a bog standard English size. Has someone used a punch on the fit surface of the fork crown?

Shaun

 

[LukeFRC]

That is unusual, I would have thought the Quinn would have been a bog standard English size. Has someone used a punch on the fit surface of the fork crown?

Shaun

Nope. It all looks like it should fit... except it does...

this quote here http://www.hilarystone.com/Headset3.html

Fork Crown Race Seat Diameter and Head tube Insert Race Diameter Campagnolo settled on a standard crown race seat diameter of 26.4mm with an insert race diameter of 30.2mm. Japan with the JIS standard settled upon 27.0mm crown race seat diameter with an insert race diameter of 30.0mm which was virtually identical to that used for the most part in the UK prior to about 1975 unless a Campag headset was fitted. However most frames from the last thirty years use the Campagnolo standard and even the Japanese manufacturers mostly made headsets to the Campag dimensions. If your frame and fork has JIS dimensions it can easily be reamed and cut to accept Campag dimensioned headsets by a good bike shop or framebuider.

makes me think that a different size might have been used... but thought I would ask the wisdom on here rather than just trusting one source (who's trying to sell bikes)

 

[LukeFRC]

Touché!

If it was 62-65 I'd be offering you my kidney at this point.

I think your kidneys could be longed than my legs!

 

[Midlife]

That is unusual, I would have thought the Quinn would have been a bog standard English size. Has someone used a punch on the fit surface of the fork crown?

Shaun

Nope. It all looks like it should fit... except it does...

this quote here http://www.hilarystone.com/Headset3.html

Fork Crown Race Seat Diameter and Head tube Insert Race Diameter Campagnolo settled on a standard crown race seat diameter of 26.4mm with an insert race diameter of 30.2mm. Japan with the JIS standard settled upon 27.0mm crown race seat diameter with an insert race diameter of 30.0mm which was virtually identical to that used for the most part in the UK prior to about 1975 unless a Campag headset was fitted. However most frames from the last thirty years use the Campagnolo standard and even the Japanese manufacturers mostly made headsets to the Campag dimensions. If your frame and fork has JIS dimensions it can easily be reamed and cut to accept Campag dimensioned headsets by a good bike shop or framebuider.

makes me think that a different size might have been used... but thought I would ask the wisdom on here rather than just trusting one source (who's trying to sell bikes)

I'd have thought a Harry Quinn would have been constructed with a Campagnolo headset in mind

Shaun