[Scarpa]

Just put together a new bike, small Chameleon frame with a Marz Z1 FR fork. The adjustment knobs on the fork hit the downtube and since I've already crashed a couple times there is a nice gouge on the downtube where I can see shiny aluminum instead of shiny green paint.

Will something like the Lizard Skins carbon patches prevent further damage? Will it damage my fork also? If so, is there anything I can do to provide more clearance? I've thought about grinding down the adjustment knobs but that seems kind of drastic and might not give enough clearance anyway.

thanks

 

[el-cid]

Ventana makes a spacer or "taller" lower headset cup to provide additional space between the bottom of the head tube and the fork crown. This will space your fork down a little bit and should give you the clearance. I'd check out Ventana's website: http://www.ventanausa.com/

 

[DWF]

Ventana makes a spacer or "taller" lower headset cup to provide additional space between the bottom of the head tube and the fork crown. This will space your fork down a little bit and should give you the clearance. I'd check out Ventana's website: http://www.ventanausa.com/

What he said or you can try an FSA Pig headset or Orbit which has 3mm of extra stack height compared to a normal headset (16vs 13mm). I think the stainless Syncros headsets are 16mm lower stack also.....and maybe the Crupi. Not pos on the last two.

 

[Evil4bc]

What he said or you can try an FSA Pig headset or Orbit which has 3mm of extra stack height compared to a normal headset (16vs 13mm). I think the stainless Syncros headsets are 16mm lower stack also.....and maybe the Crupi. Not pos on the last two.

There are 2 really easy methods of spacing your lower headset race off the fork crown .
1 call Chris King and get a 2-3mm taller lower crown race , problem solved .

or

Take a 1-mm thick 1 1/8 headset spacer and enlarge the hole so it will fit tightly under your lower crown race , most forks have a 3-5 mm tall section of the steerer tube the crown race can be pressed on to , just add the 1-mm spacer under your normal crown race ( hopefully from a headset with a tall stack height like a KING or a Syncross )

 

[Scarpa]

Thanks for the tips guys. I currently have "A Headset".

For the spacers, I would be putting that below the piece that's pressed on the fork right? That piece is the "lower crown race"?

 

[DWF]

There are 2 really easy methods of spacing your lower headset race off the fork crown .
1 call Chris King and get a 2-3mm taller lower crown race , problem solved .

or

Take a 1-mm thick 1 1/8 headset spacer and enlarge the hole so it will fit tightly under your lower crown race , most forks have a 3-5 mm tall section of the steerer tube the crown race can be pressed on to , just add the 1-mm spacer under your normal crown race ( hopefully from a headset with a tall stack height like a KING or a Syncross )

Showing my age here, but "back in the day" when few frames were set up properly for forks, a couple of outfits made aluminum spacers to get crown clearance. I used to be a big fan of Amp forks and you often needed to use a spacer with them so I got familiar with it. Without fail, the aluminum spacers would deform from use and you got the constant loose headset problem. With modern fork lengths being what they and as hard as folks ride now, I'd shy away from using an aluminum spacer. My plug nickel.

 

[Evil4bc]

Showing my age here, but "back in the day" when few frames were set up properly for forks, a couple of outfits made aluminum spacers to get crown clearance. I used to be a big fan of Amp forks and you often needed to use a spacer with them so I got familiar with it. Without fail, the aluminum spacers would deform from use and you got the constant loose headset problem. With modern fork lengths being what they and as hard as folks ride now, I'd shy away from using an aluminum spacer. My plug nickel.

Good point !
I machine the I.D. to be really tight and slamm these on with the crown race .
Havent had any problems to speak of.

The AMP fork did have quite a bit of vibration transfered via the legs so this might explain your headset problems ?
I'm sure it wasent the frame you were riding at the time

 

[Evil4bc]

Thanks for the tips guys. I currently have "A Headset".

For the spacers, I would be putting that below the piece that's pressed on the fork right? That piece is the "lower crown race"?

Yes that would be the genral idea

Look into getting a headset with a taller stack height , the DiaComp/CaneCreek A headset is between 10-11mm stack a King will give you a 14mm !
This may solve your problem without haveing to add spacers .

You can also order your KING with a extended stack height lower crown race .
Good luck !

 

[DWF]

Good point !
I machine the I.D. to be really tight and slamm these on with the crown race .
Havent had any problems to speak of.

The AMP fork did have quite a bit of vibration transfered via the legs so this might explain your headset problems ?
I'm sure it wasent the frame you were riding at the time

This was more than 10 years ago now, Cannondale, steel GTs, Slingshot, MountainCycle, oh yeah baby, all the good shite!

 

[Godzilla]

I used to be a big fan of Amp forks and you often needed to use a spacer with them so I got familiar with it. Without fail, the aluminum spacers would deform from use and you got the constant loose headset problem.

Fock me! You mean that whole time it was my headset and not a fork with 8 bearingless pivot points that was causing that vague feeling?

 

[DWF]

Fock me! You mean that whole time it was my headset and not a fork with 8 bearingless pivot points that was causing that vague feeling?

Shhhh. Bearingless pivot points are currently de rigueur (look it up bi+ch).

Seriously, Amps were awesome. I really liked how the axle path traveled backwards in addition to steepening the HTA! It made every descent gnarcore! But, compared to Mag21's and Scott Unicrowns, they were the Super Monster of their day!

 

[Scarpa]

Is a CK headset really worth $100 more than an FSA Pig/Pig DH?

The Pig DH headset has a 16mm lower stack height. The regular Pig headset has a 13.5mm. How do I determine how much I need?

 

[KevinM[Freerider]]

There are 2 really easy methods of spacing your lower headset race off the fork crown .
1 call Chris King and get a 2-3mm taller lower crown race , problem solved .

)

i was told by my lbs that doing that doesnt work correctly..?

 

[Godzilla]

i was told by my lbs that doing that doesnt work correctly..?

Hmmm... who to trust? The framebuilder - or the shop monkey?

Nothing against shop monkeys, for the record.

 

[Evil4bc]

Hmmm... who to trust? The framebuilder - or the shop monkey?

Nothing against shop monkeys, for the record.

Well hmmmmmmm
Kevin why woulnt this work ?
You are using proven headset system , to increase your fork crown-race to fork crown clearance woulnt it make sense to get a machined part that fit perfectly with the intended bearing surface ( IE: the headset ? )

The only drawback to this is it will add 1-3mm of height to you axle to crown .
On most bikes this wont even change the HA , if your really worries you can ajust the travel in your fork by adding 1-3mm of sag .

This is what the minds at Chris King suggest !

Or would you suggest just making a shim with duct tape and beer cans ?

Not to "get in your face about this "
But you seem to have been calling out my last few post with no real information to back it up ???

I'm always open to suggestions but the common "That wont work "
doesn't carry much weight on this board !