Hi all,

I am not sure there is an answer to my question but here goes.

I have a frame that uses a 42mm Campagnolo Integrated Style drop in headset with a 1-1/8" steerer. I would like to purchase a newer 1-1/8" to 1-1/2" tapered fork and was wondering is there was an adapter for the lower headset race?

It seems to me that a drop in bearing that is still 42mm in the outer diameter but narrower in the inner diameter would work but I am not sure this exists.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

In a word NO.

Simple spacial concepts, You can adapt a hole to accept a smaller peg, but not the other way around.

The lower end of your head tube is sized for a 1-1/8" steerer and cannot be made bigger to accept one 1-1/2" in diameter.

It's possible that I'm misreading your post, but if not, and if you're going to a larger steerer, you're SOL.

As FB, it isn't going to work, you either need a new frame, or non-tapered fork.

Hmmm, maybe I can clarify.

The head tube is larger than 1-1/8", but is made to accept a Campagnolo Integrated Headset which by definition has a 42mm outer bearing diameter. These bearings fit directly into the head tube without any external cups as they are already specified within the head tube itself. The inner diameter of these headset bearings are spaced to fit a 1-1/8" fork steerer tube both above and below.

I was thinking that the lower bearing, still using a 42mm outer diameter to allow it to be used within the head tube, however instead of the inner diameter supporting a 1-1/8" it supports a 1-1/2" tapered fork steerer. That's 38mm by my calculations so the inner bearing diameter is 38mm and the outer diameter is 42mm. That only leaves 4mm for the thickness of the bearings, but maybe that's possible.

Not unless you fabricate it yourself. But even if you do, it'll screw up your stack height, your effective fork length, your head angle and, ultimately, your ride.

Just buy a different fork.

In theory yes, but to my knowledge no such bearing exists.

Yeah, that's my problem: I'm not finding any 700c carbon disc brake road forks except those that are now coming out for cyclocross and they all have tapered steerers.

I don't know your budget, but you might find something if you keep looking. But in general, you're asking for something that is a bit off the straight and narrow path, and the combination of Carbon, Disc, & Road are somewhat contradictory and one may have to go.

Before you give up, email a few builders, including Richie Sachs, and Chris Igleheart, and others and ask if they know of any. Richard Sachs especially may know of a DB carbon fork made for x-cross but with 1-1/8" steerers since there's so much out there to provide a retrofit market.

"That only leaves 4mm for the thickness of the bearings"
Since you are working with diameters you have to divide by 2, so that actually leaves 2mm for the bearing thickness. It is very unlikely that inner and outer races and balls or rollers with thickness totaling 2mm, strong enough, can be fabricated.

:confused: What am I missing here? VERY quick google pulled these up:

One ($115)

Two

Three

Four

Five

Looks like you can do it with an external cup lower race, pic 4, second diagram in pic 6.



EDIT: oops, I was thinking 44mm not 42mm...

Thanks, I contacted CK already in regards to this and they also confirmed that their i7 headset (pratical as it is), won't help me and my 42mm drop in headset. I also know that CaneCreek make a nifty converter but that also doesn't apply in my case.

Thanks for taking the time to look these up. I naturally have done a bunch of searching but the Spot CX fork didn't get a hit on my radar. I will check it out.

Since I have a Frankenstein build, my ultimate goal is to find a 650c carbon disc fork with 1-1/8" steerer. I mistyped earlier and wrote 700c but ideally it would be 650c (700c works too though). Ironically, I have found a bunch of 26" forks that match my needs however the axel to crown length is quite a bit longer than my existing fork. Since MTB forks seem to be suspension corrected or have tons of tire clearence so they are actually "longer" than my existing 700c fork.

The new Enve 2.0 road fork with disc brake looks like it would work just great should it have a straight 1-1/8" steerer or I found a headset conversion.

Talk about challenging!