DirtyOldTown

I have an old Steyr and I'd like to replace the headset. The problem is that it is (the best I can tell) an oddball size that I haven't been able to find anywhere. According to Sheldon Brown's site it's an Austrian sized headset. I measured all the components with a dial caliper and they matched the sizes he has posted. I checked tons of places online and no one even makes mention of an Austrian headset. My two questions are as follows:

1) Does anyone know where I can find one of these headsets?

2) If not, does anyone know if there is a set of adapters I can purchase (or make - I have access to a machine shop) so that I can use a different sized headset instead of the Austrian?

I emailed Sheldon Brown and he sent me a couple links, but no dice. This is a cheap frame I got at a thrift store and I won't be heart broken if I can't make it work, but I figured I'd ask. Thanks in advance.

acorn_user

Is it a Waffenrad (old single/3speed in black)?
There is a significant fan base for these in Germany and Austria that could help you. Why do you want to replace it? You might be able to get it to work well with new bearings and grease.

btw, if you need to search in German, the word is Steuerstaz.

DirtyOldTown

It's a Clubman - I believe it was a 10 speed. Right now it's stripped down to the bare metal. I may end up just putting the old one back in with new bearings, though the races are in bad shape which is why I wanted to replace it. I don't know too much about the bike other than it's pretty cheap, and I've seen very few of them. Thanks for the tip on the German - or should I say danke. I'll see where it takes me on google.

nick burns

I have a Puch that came with an Austrian headset. Once it became pitted, I found out that pretty much my only option was to buy a new fork. Don't despair though, a new fork can be had relatively inexpensively.

DirtyOldTown

I'm not sure I understand. The frame cup outside diameter on a normal 1" threaded headset is 30.2mm, but on an Austrian it's 30.8mm. Regular cups won't fit. What I'm having trouble understanding is how a fork would help if the frame cups were bad.

nick burns

Huh, it was only the Austrian threading on the fork that was the fly in the ointment on my bike. Standard headset cups fit my frame no problem.

DirtyOldTown

Ah. The threads are fine in my case, but the cups are larger than normal. Looks like a 1" threaded at a glance, but it's greater in diameter when you measure it. I'm sure I'll find something eventually, but I guess for the time being I'll try to clean up what I've got and replace the bearings. It'd be better than nothing.