Hey fellas.

Felt too much play in my headset the other day. It was some janky Chinese one... Thought it was time for an upgrade.
Turns out the diameter of the stock fork on that bike is kinda unusually small: 25.5mm
The shop that installed the headset apparently used a 26.4mm crown race and shimmed it with aluminum from a soda can!

Question is anybody reading this have one of these bikes and needed a new headset? What did you use?

Here's a link to a photo of my bike, if interested:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxK...pxc1dVNGM/view

~M

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The diameter of the steerer is likely 25.4mm. The fork crown race seat is normally larger than the steerer. 26.4mm is a common size. Shimming with a piece of sheet metal can be fine. It is important not to permit any shim material to get UNDER the fork crown race during the seating process. Otherwise the race's alignment can be off.

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Maybe I oughtta find some better-skilled shimmers.

Or what do you think about buying this:

Even if it were a good fit on the race seat how do you know it would be compatible with the existing lower head cup?

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I thought the same thing. But my bike mechanic said it would work. will double check tomorrow.
thanks for chiming in.

The mixing of head parts is ever a bit of a challenge.

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Skandia labelled MCB products seem to be a bit uncommon. A local to me cycling friend took in one in the factory colour scheme of orange with white trim. The frame's metal and its paint finish look just like a Monark 319 or 320 from the early 1970's but the name on the bike is Skandia.

Lower model MCB cycles often employed a headset from Agrati. IIRC the 319 used Stronglight and the 320 employed Campag, during the early '70's at least.

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I concur. Mixing of headset races is challenging. It can change the loading angle on the balls dramatically, and consequently affect performance and life span. It is best to assemble then disassemble and compare the tracks in the grease with the original race. If the track is very high or low on the race, then it is likely not a compatible fit, though you should always compare the angle of the tangents to the track.

I've always found soda cans to be too soft for shim material. It is a satisfactory temporary fix but the race eventually becomes loose again. My preferred material is a steel feeler gauge cut to size. The advantage, besides the harder material, is that you can almost always obtain the exact thickness required and most automotive supply houses have 12" lengths that they sell as single units.

Skandia !
I am living in Sweden and I see Crescent bikes every day, but I have no recollection of the model Skandia. But there was a bicycle company named Skandia owned by A.B. Nymans Verkstäder I think.

You should know that there is a French connection with Swedish vintage bikes. Most Crescent and Monarks after WWII (probably even earlier) and until about late 70-s has often got French components or dimensions. More on the older models, and just a few odd bits on the later ones.

thanks for the info.

I have read that they used this orange color, which I really like, for their higher end models. The one I have was apparently called the "Pepita Special"... great name too. Thanks for the info on those headsets... maybe I have to actually find some old stock headset if I want to keep that fork. In the meantime, I have installed a modern fork to keep the bike on the road, since this is my daily rider.
Thanks again for all the info, fellas.

Sounds like you are on top of the headset situation with your mount - good to read!

"Pepita" was the Crescent model name for the 320.

The orange with white trim colour scheme was employed right down the line. Here it is on a model 305 bike. These have lugless frames and are fitted with Fauber one-piece chainsets, so they are well down the totem pole from the Pepita. Apologies for the photo's poor focus, harvested from a seller's ebay listing.

Next, here it is on a model 318 tourer. Note both machines fitted with the model of Agrati headset employed by MCB. The two bicycles hail from the early 1970's.

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man - i love it. makes me wish mine was in better cosmetic condition. that's exactly the bike. i'll look into the Agrati headset... thanks very much. Here are a couple of photos of my current situation:

https://goo.gl/photos/aYyZeaDe8UY1NsWaA
https://goo.gl/photos/vXFqXD4WGCsWHxQGA

Doesn't look too bad. It's actually a much lighter fork... but I like to keep things as original as I can. It's a slippery slope. If I accept this new fork, then there's no point in keeping that heavy ass cottered crank...
I want my old fork back. I will hunt down the correct headset and reinstall it. This shimming business is for the birds.
Thanks again everyone.