I bought this bike as a frameset on line and had the shop press in the headset cups for me. The frame is a Fyxation Eastside:

Eastside Fixed Gear/Single Speed Bicycle | Fyxation

Headset is Ritchey Logic threadless 1 1/8:



I checked and I'm not missing any parts. The crown race is there but maybe not sitting flush. What's my problem here? Seems I shouldn't' have a gap like that

Who installed the headset? Did they press the bearing race flush to the crown. It does not look like if from the picture. Take a 1.25" pvc pipe and smack it down.

The shop did a lousy job pressing the crown race. It could be that they were lazy/sloppy, or that the crown race seat is too large and they jammed it on as far as they could and quit -- not too good on their part.

There's no need to bother, unless you want to let them finish the job you paid for.

If you do nothing at all, time and road shock will slowly settle the race until it bottoms. You'll be readjusting the headset a few times during the settling process.

BTW- this isn't all that rare, but worse than par. Settling of the pressed cups and crown race is why new bikes need headset readjustment within a few days.

Thanks guys, upon taking it apart it is definitely the crown race not being seated on the fork. If it won't cause any damage, I"m not going to worry. Feels ok so I will just keep adjusting my headset as needed

good advice and most likely correct, IMHO. but i will add that a while ago i managed to put TWO crown races on a fork, inadvertently of course. it looked similar to that. in my defense, i was in a hurry and the old race was painted over. enough said.

BTW, i've got two of those Richey headsets and found them to be the best value out there. good luck.

Does he not run the risk of ruining the bearing if the two aren't' parallel? I'd have them fix it, or do it myself. Odd that you would recommend him riding it in this condition, IMHO.

Not parallel -- How?

The crown race is started onto the seat, and riding will press it the same as actually pressing it. Parallelism is ensured because there's no other place it can go, and if it doesn't end up parallel, it's because the base on the crown, or the headtubes aren't.

OTOH, if riding doesn't settle it fairly quickly (usually takes longer with suspension) odds are the seat diameter is large, so it should be corrected, but that's a bridge he can cross when he gets to it.

As I said, it's poor worksmanship on the shop's part, but letting nature take it's course may be more convenient than bringing it back.

I trust your opinion, but I'd probably get it fixed ASAP. Riding with a loose headset assembly isn't good practice in my opinion.

Just, maybe .. the forks's crown race seat and the crown race ring are the wrong match.

well, i just tapped down the crown race ever so gingerly with a hammer and punch tool and it seems to be seated down flush now. No play in the headset and it moves smoothly side to side so I think I'm good

Would anything less that a top end frame have the crown milled on initial assembly? It seems a small effort-is it relevant these days? I'm thinking of buying the Park milling tool and wonder if I would ever need it as an adventurous hobby wrench.

Ouch. PVC would have been a better alternative. Hopefully, you didn't mar is too bad.

If I were the shop, and it was that "easy," I'd probably be expecting a phone call...at the very least.

I bought the frame/fork and headset on line from a pretty popular bike retailer that has a brick and mortar shop. I asked them to install the headset before shipping me the frame. They did , this is what I get.

I will not name names because I have had nothing but great experiences with them all around other then this one slight issue. I like to work on my own bikes generally and at this point the one tool I don't have nor will I get is a headset press because cost doesn't justify how much use I would get. Last frame set I bought on line and had my LBS install the headset. I have no problem doing that but my wife and I share a car, which means I can only use my car on the weekend and I'm generally too impatient to wait several days to have something like that done at the LBS when I know I'll have the frame and all the other parts and tools in my hand

PVC is cheaper than a new bearing race. No need for an actual press, although, I do own one myself. When you say "great experiences," does that mean that they have done other mechanical work for you, or did they simply give you a fair price on merchandise? I find it hard to believe that a reputable "brick and mortar" shop would let something like that go. Anyway, glad you got it sorted. Happy trails!