Bicycle Mechanics - talk to me about threadless headsets

I just got a Surly Cross Check frame and fork. Woohoo! I'm so excited!

I bought a headset for it.

The fork crown race is plastic! WTF?

Where can I find the procedure for installing the headset? Is it pretty much the same as it was when I wasn't an old man? I put in several headsets in, back when I was a young whippersnapper.

Parktool.com (http://parktool.com/repair/byregion.asp?catid=10&imageField2.x=34&imageField2.y=9) is your friend. And I have never come across a plastic race, but I am just a home mechanic.

Which headset?

Ritchey Logic Comp.

Thanks for the link, z415. The procedure looks to be the same.

The top cap appears to be plastic. The top cap's only function is to allow you to preload the bearings before tightening the stem. After that, you could remove it and it wouldn't make any difference. It is not a load bearing component hence why it's sometimes made of plastic. More expensive headsets use aluminum top caps which are slimmer and look nicer (IMO).

I'm almost certain that the crown race is steel for that headset.

I'll look again.

Thanks, folks!

You may have mistaken one of those plastic retainer rings for the race. I'm pretty sure the race has to be metal in a HS.

You may have mistaken one of those plastic retainer rings for the race. I'm pretty sure the race has to be metal in a HS.

The new LOOK carbon fiber road forks have the headset crown race built into the fork. That's the only example of a non-metal crown race of which I'm aware. But that is also only meant to be used with cartridge bearings. I've never seen a non-steel crown race meant to be used with a loose ball bearing headset.

I've never seen a non-steel crown race meant to be used with a loose ball bearing headset.
Perhaps a little obscure these days, but Nylfor made one (http://www.velobase.com/ViewSingleComponent.aspx?ID=C84F68C9-63B3-4B51-8728-595B1F92EE99&Enum=111&AbsPos=0):

http://www.velobase.com/CompImages/Headsets/625BFEB1-E22B-42DA-A370-7CA4D4586779.jpeg

Cane Creek has this new headset (http://www.canecreek.com/component-headsets?product=aer) with a composite upper bearing.

That Nylfor thing is quite interesting (and certainly obscure) though it doesn't mate a plastic crown race with loose ball bearings. It's all plastic from what I can tell.