[Atomik Carbon]

I need to bounce something off everyone.

I own a 2000 Ellsworth Dare. Last year I sheared off a set of Cane Creek S2's when flying down a rough trail in Jamaica. Yea, it is made for light weight and I should not have been using it, but it was what I had and I had not thought of myself as being too tough on equipment. Anyways, I jumped on the phone and ordered a set of Pig DH's, when they came I noticed that the frame was reamed for a regular headset and not a deep headset. Since I did not want to hang the bike for a couple of months and did not trust any of the locals to work on the frame, I decided to cut off a piece of the cups, making it a non deep cup. It installed without any problems and have been riding it till last week. I started hearing a slight creak and put some spray oil at the headtube/headset interface to to make sure. Sure enough it stopped, which leads me to believe that it is moving slightly in the headtube.

I ordered a set of Race Face Diabolus and brought it to the local bike shop in Tampa ( moved here a few months ago). Mechanic takes alook and said that I need to buy a regular set since the Diabolus is too deep. Says he will try and press it in anyways, I tell him to first measure the depth of the headset and compare it to how deep the headtube was reamed. He did not and presses it in anyways, of course it does not go in all the way and I figure that my chance of returning it is now screwed.

My choices are.....:

1. Machine a bit off of the end of the headset so that it fits the headtube. About 1/8".

2. Have the headtube reamed a bit deeper.

3. Grind off a bit of the headset so that it does not sit so deep.

4. Change the headset to a regular depth type.

Before you decide, let me tell you my thoughts:

A. I do not want to go back to a regular depth headset because if the headtube is slightly ovalized, the new headset will not help.

B. If I grind the headset lower, it will accomplish the same thing as above. I will save the $ by reusing the same headset.

C. Between grinding down the headset or reaming out the headtube a bit more, I prefer reaming out the headtube deeper. The problem with this is that most bike shops will not have the proper tools. Do you think a machine shop can do the job?? If they cut the headtube more that necessary I am screwed. I would much rather they screw up a headset than the frame.

Ideas anyone??

 

[dogonfr]

Obviously the LBS you used didnt have the proper tools to do the job that is why they didnt listen whey you suggested measuring the head tube beffor inserting. I dont know the laws in Flordia but here in Cali you just have to say BBB & they will have a new headset for you & send you away to find a dealer that can do the job right. You should check into the laws, in most cases the consumer will win 97% of all cases so it's cheaper for the dealer to replace the headset & refund your labor charge for being dummies. :rant:

 

[XSL_WiLL]

That's some bull.

Ream out the headtube. If you think it's ovalized, get a King Steelset and epoxy that baby in. It won't ever come out again, but if it's ovalized, that's the way to go. I managed to really flare out one of my BMX headtubes once. I used a FSA Pig DH Pro DC on that one.

 

[Atomik Carbon]

Agreed

That's some bull.

Ream out the headtube. If you think it's ovalized, get a King Steelset and epoxy that baby in. It won't ever come out again, but if it's ovalized, that's the way to go. I managed to really flare out one of my BMX headtubes once. I used a FSA Pig DH Pro DC on that one.

I think I will call around to a few bike shops tomorrow to see if they have a reamer. If not, I will take it to a machine shop to see what they can do.

I sure won't be going back to that bike shop, must think I am some sort of idiot. Mechanic told me that it is a downhill frame and not a freeride frame, that is why it cannot handle the deep headset. Downhill bikes are not designed to handle the stresses like freeride frames bacause they are not as hard on the headsets because they mostly do trannies in downhill racing. Wanted me to buy a Race Face aluminum set he had in stock. Never mind that I have destroyed 2 already and may have possibly started ovalizing the headtube. Dumba__:nono: .

 

[RED5]

Obviously the LBS you used didnt have the proper tools to do the job that is why they didnt listen whey you suggested measuring the head tube beffor inserting. I dont know the laws in Flordia but here in Cali you just have to say BBB & they will have a new headset for you & send you away to find a dealer that can do the job right. You should check into the laws, in most cases the consumer will win 97% of all cases so it's cheaper for the dealer to replace the headset & refund your labor charge for being dummies. :rant:

FYI, the BBB won't do crap. I reported 2 different shops for shoddy practices and in both cases was told by the BBB they would make a note of my complaint and see what the shops response is. It's up to the shop to own up, if not your screwed, the BBB can't & won't do shiat.

 

[dogonfr]

FYI, the BBB won't do crap. I reported 2 different shops for shoddy practices and in both cases was told by the BBB they would make a note of my complaint and see what the shops response is. It's up to the shop to own up, if not your screwed, the BBB can't & won't do shiat.

There is always small claims court, if you have all the proof your right threaten small claims if they dont flinch, file the claim. They will be really bumming since most small claims cases are wone by the consumer not the dealer or shop.

 

[milhouse]

Question: When you say that material needs to be reamed out of the head tube, are you just talking about smoothing it out and removing overspray or are you saying that there is significant metal that actually has to be removed?

 

[Atomik Carbon]

Look INSIDE the headtube

Question: When you say that material needs to be reamed out of the head tube, are you just talking about smoothing it out and removing overspray or are you saying that there is significant metal that actually has to be removed?

When you measure the part of the headset that goes into the headtube, it is longer than the section that was previously reamed. The frame needs to be reamed an additional 1/4" so that the headset can sit flush with the top.

Yes, a little bit of metal needs to be removed from inside the headtube.

I would assume that anyone wishing to install a deep cup headset should have to have this process done.

 

[XSL_WiLL]

No, some headtubes are straight the entire way through. Some frame need to be reamed, some don't. If you use a deep cup on a Specialized Bighit, like half the insertion is not making contact, it's just hanging there, so it doesn't really make a difference.

 

[Atomik Carbon]

Lathe...

Well contacted a machine shop with cnc machines and such and they said they can do it. They charge a minimum of $75 / hr. Hope it does not take more than an hour to do. My other alternative is to cut the cup down so that it can fit, but remember I have already messed up 2 headsets, so don't want to do that again.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[XSL_WiLL]

Make sure they are a good machine shop and won't fcuk up your headtube real bad.