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Old 03-09-21 | 07:35 PM
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merziac
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Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2

Originally Posted by smontanaro
I discovered a corollary to the "Measure twice, cut once" theorem yesterday. I'm happily installing a headset on this Univega frame. Tap on the crown race, press in the lower cup. As I'm pressing in the upper race I think to myself, "Dang, I didn't measure the stack height of the frame. No problem, it will probably be fine" Sure enough, a monstrous amount of steerer tube was exposed once I snugged up the threaded race. I added every headset spacer I could find in the drawer (three), and still the top nut bottomed out. Dang. That's the corollary: "To measure twice, you have to have measured at least once."

So, I removed the pressed in/on parts and measured the stack height of the frame. It's a whopping 42mm! My Sutherland's 3rd edition lists one or two Nishiki (???) headsets with a large enough stack height. The mixed madness Campy headset I tried to use (Record parts but with SR crown race and top nut) was probably only around 35mm. I do have an actual Record/NR headset. Given the headset dimensions in Sutherland's, it seems I'm still going to need two, perhaps three spacers to make it work. (Maybe I could tart it up with a thicker SR spacer?) As I understand it, the Univega Super Speciale was outfitted with Campy NR/SR components, but I've not seen an actual bike or a spec sheet. Might some other Japanese headset have been installed from the factory? The common Tange Levin CDS headset only has a stack height of 33.3mm.
You need some of this.

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